We have experienced the 1st FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE event in Spain!

The FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE Conference is a special event entirely organized by and for young researchers under the auspices of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB). It is based on a successful ENABLE initiative of four renowned European Research Institutes: IRB Barcelona in Spain, NNF CPR in Denmark, RIMLS in the Netherlands and SEMM in Italy initially funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme.

The FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE 2022 Conference was hosted by the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS) in Spain. The conference took place at the campus of Virgen Del Rocío University Hospital in Sevilla, Spain on 16th-18th November 2022 and accommodated about 300 participants. On the first day, the conference program was kicked-off at the Casa de la Ciencia, an iconic place for education and popularization of science located in the heart of Sevilla. The same day we took a city tour and enjoyed the impressive architecture of the historic city of Sevilla.

The main congress program was held in the University Hospital. On Wednesday and Thursday, we heard excellent talks delivered by renowned scientists in the field and short talks delivered by young scientists. The auditorium was particularly impressed with the keynote speaker professor Laura Cancedda, who revealed how the basic research of her group transformed to a funded start-up.

I enjoyed the conference very much, such a vibrant event! I was honored by the opportunity to deliver a short talk, which I really appreciate. I would definitely recommend attending the next year's FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE event to other young scientists! — Barbora Smolková, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic

Poster session was the place where all the buzz was happening! During the four poster sessions, PhD students and postdocs discussed their research projects. What a pleasure to chat with peers about methodological challenges and research ideas while sipping coffee.

On the last day of conference, we advanced to several parallel interactive workshops. We expanded our knowledge on publishing, soft skills, and career paths. Chiefly, participants had an opportunity to learn more about professional identity and gain career clarity in a wonderful workshop led by Dr. Amani Said. Moreover, the exhibition of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies was on display.

I enjoyed mostly the workshop sessions because there were many options to attend, ranging from “job interview” to “presentation skills” and “writing an academic article”. I will strongly recommend the ENABLE congress to my friends and colleagues. It should be best way to earn experience from experts around the world. — Harun Ün, Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, Turkey

At the end of the conference, the best posters and speakers were awarded. To sum up, the conference took place at the University Hospital in the beautiful region of Sevilla located in Spanish Andalusia. We would like to thank the organizers of the event, including local organizing committee (LOC), scientific organizing committee (SOC), Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS), and mentioned organizations FEBS and IUBMB. Another FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE event is coming to University of Cologne in 2023 and we are sure it will be again a great experience. Stay tuned!

Adam Frtús
Terezie Pániková
Karolína Honzejková
Vlastimil Kulda