FAL2010_12mos by C Verschuur

Dear Colleague, As we welcome the new year, we also welcome the new covers of the FEMS Journals. But before you go on reading, please be reminded that the latest issue of the FEMS Focus is also available. Just click the icon on the right. Happy new year and happy reading!

New year, new covers for FEMS Journals

DEADLINES Meeting Grants March 1, 2010 for meetings taking place in 2011 Meeting Attendance Grants April 1, 2010 for meetings taking place in May 1— September 30, 2010

As 2010 begins, we present to you the new covers of the FEMS journals. Publications Manager Fergus Priest and the FEMS Publications Department thank the following authors for sending the images used in the journals above: • Maria Moustaka-Gouni of Greece for the FEMSEC cover image • Ifesan et al. for the FEMSIM Cover image • Muehe et al. for the FEMSLE cover image • James E. Berleman and John R. Kirby of Iowa, USA for the FEMSRE cover image • Kathryn Cross of Norwich, UK for the FEMSYR cover image

FEMS FEMS thanks “Eye of Science” meetings 2010: and Tuebingen group for image March 29, Italy FEMS would like to ECFG10

recognize “Eye of Science” and the Geomicrobiology group of the University of Tuebingen, Germany for this image used for the 2009 Season’s Greetings card. FEMS apologizes for incorrectly putting Dr Bernhard Schink as the owner of the image.

Best Regards, FEMS Central Office FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

These images, accompanied by the legend, will be used by the journals of FEMS the whole year of 2010. They will also appear in miniatures on the FEMS website and the publisher’s website. In addition, the covers, will be used for further promotion of the FEMS journals. These images, modified by the Publications Department, were sent as replies to the call for images in the August 2009 issue of the FEMS Affiliates Letter. The Publications Department also wants to thank the following journal editors who will soon be stopping their editorial work for all their efforts: • FEMSLE editor Masao Mitsuyama • FEMSIM editor Willem van Leeuwen • FEMSRE editors Keith Chater, Ramon Diaz-Orejas and Rafael Giraldo.

FEMS journals, free to the developing world As you may already know, the FEMS journals are free to developing countries through the Research4Life project. In addition to this project, free online access to the FEMS Microbiology Ecology journal is also made available through the Online Access to Research in the Environment initiative in conjunction with the United NaOnline subs tions Environment cription to the full s Programme. et of the FEMS journals for only 181 euro affiliates@fems-microbiology.org www.fems-microbiology.org

Dear Colleague, This issue of the FEMS Affiliates Letter will focus on the FEMS Meeting grants and the FEMS Meeting attendance grants. But before you read on, check us out on Twitter! Click the icon on the right to follow us and be updated!

Deadlines for FEMS Grants near DEADLINES Meeting Grants March 1, 2010 for meetings taking place in 2011 Meeting Attendance Grants April 1, 2010 for meetings taking place in May 1— September 30, 2010

FEMS meetings 2010: March 29, The Netherlands ECFG10 April 7, Italy Virology 2010

The months of March and April are special for FEMS Grants. March 1 of each year is set as annual deadline for FEMS Meeting Grants (FMG). This is for meetings that will take place in 2011. April 1, on the other hand, is set as deadline for FEMS Meeting Attendance Grants (FMAG).

The FEMS Meetings Attendance Grants (FMAG) Around 25 FMAG grantees are supported by FEMS every year. FMAGs are awarded to individuals (scientists younger than 36 years of age) who want to attend microbiology meetings that are not supported by FEMS, unlike the FMG which is for organizers of microbiology meetings.

The FEMS Meetings Grants (FMG) The FMG started in 1988 with only one grant offered per year. Since 1997, the number of Meetings Grants ballooned to 10 to 13 grants per year. This year alone, FEMS has a budget of 150,000 euros for 15 FEMS-sponsored meetings.

FEMS Meeting Attendance Grants • For scientists younger than 36 years of age • Applicants may apply directly at the FEMS Central office • For microbiology meetings not sponsored by FEMS • Please click here for the FMAG regulations

The Meeting Grants are meant to support Young Scientists and Invited Speakers. Scientists younger than 36 years of age may apply for a Young Scientist Meeting Grant (YSMG) with the organizer of the said meeting.

FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

If you are interested in organizing a microbiology meeting and are looking for support, you may contact our Grants Administrator Mrs. Marlies Jander at grants@femsmicrobiology.org.

We often get calls at the FEMS Central Office asking to clear the differences between these two grants. Indeed, reading the titles of the grants once is a bit confusing. To clarify this, the FEMS Meeting Grant is for organizers of microbiology meetings and the FEMS Meeting Attendance Grant for individuals (scientists younger than 36 years of age) who want to attend microbiology meetings that are not supported by FEMS.

FEMS Meeting Grants • For meeting organizers • Young Scientist grants come from meeting organizers • Young Scientists must apply with meeting organizers • Please click here for the FMG regulations

Best Regards, FEMS Central Office

FEMS supports about 200 of them each year.

FMAG grantees may directly apply for the grant at the FEMS Central Office, unlike Young Scientists of FEMSsponsored meetings who are awarded by organizers of said meetings and must, therefore, apply for the grant with the respective organizers. Interested in applying for the FMAG? Please contact our Grants Administrator Mrs. Marlies Jander at grants@femsmicrobiology.org. FEMS President sponsors The Water Research Conference. affiliates@fems-microbiology.org www.fems-microbiology.org

Dear Colleague, Aviram Rasouly of Israel is the FEMS-Jensen awardee for 2010! If you’re following us on Twitter, you must have known about this already. If you haven’t checked us out, click the icon on the right and be updated!

FEMS President Rasouly is 2nd FEMS-Jensen Dr Da Costa hind your study of Dr Aviram Rasouly of Tel Aviv, Israel is the sponsors microbiology? lucky FEMS-Jensen awardee of 2010. The 30-year-old microbiologist just started with his research project titled “Defining the genetic basis of intracellular signaling regulating the expression of virulence factors by Pseudomonas aeruginosa” in February this year. FEMS Affiliates Letter got hold of Dr Rasouly and asked him about his feelings upon receiving the award and his choice of research. Here’s what he has to say:

Yeast named after FEMS Yeast Research founder and former Chief Editor Lex Scheffers

DEADLINE Meeting Attendance Grants April 1, 2010 for meetings taking place in May 1September 30, 2010

FEMS Affiliates Letter (FAL): What motivated you to apply for a FEMS-Jensen award? Dr. Rasouly (AR): I was motivated to apply for the FEMS-Jensen award as receiving it helps the young microbiologist and his/her family in the transition from the PhD to the post-doctoral research period. FAL: How does it feel to be the 2nd FEMSJensen awardee? Is this your first FEMS award? AR: I must say that I am honored to receive the FEMS-Jensen award. I received meeting grants from FEMS in the past but the FEMSJensen award is the first award I am receiving from FEMS. FAL: How long have you been a microbiologist? Where did you study microbiology? AR: I consider myself a microbiologist for six years now. I performed both my MSc and PhD in the laboratory of Prof. Eliora Ron from the Molecular Microbiology Department in Tel Aviv University, Israel. The lab of Dr Ron provides an excellent environment for a young microbiologist that consists of cutting edge technologies and enthusiastic skillful lab members. I attribute to Dr Ron much of my development as a microbiologist. FAL: What was the driving force be-

awardee

What are your dreams as a microbiologist? AR: I chose to study Microbiology mainly because bacteria are an excellent model system to explore the function of conserved genes and cellular procDr Aviram Rasouly esses shared FEMS Jensen awardee 2010 throughout kingdoms of life. In the future, I aim to lead a research group that will focus on studying regulation of gene expression. FAL: Why did you choose to do this research? What do you wish to achieve in pursuing this? AR: The current research attracts me as many yet to be answered aspects in this area still exist. I hope by the end of my post doctoral research to answer some of these principal research questions. Dr Rasouly joins Dr Maria-Luisa del Rio Gonzales in the list of FEMS-Jensen awardees. Dr Gonzales received the award in 2005.

FEMS meetings 2010: March 29,

The Netherlands

ECFG10

April 7, Italy Virology 2010

Best Regards, FEMS Central Office FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

FEMS Affiliates Letter, April 2010

Dear Colleague, In this issue of FEMS Affiliates Letter, FEMS interviewed Dr Teun Boekhout, the Chief Editor of FEMS Yeast Research who will be stopping with his editorial work at the end of the year.

The Yeast discovery will go on...

Yeast named after FEMS Yeast Research founder and former Chief Editor Lex Scheffers

Dr Teun Boekhout has been at the helm of the FEMS Yeast Research journal for ten years now — as Deputy Chief Editor for the first five years and as Chief Editor for the last five years until the end of this year. He used to work with Ir Lex Scheffers, the Founder and fomer Chief Editor of the journal. “At the beginning, I was sort of frightened to take over the responsibility. Of course, it is a major responsibility. But in the end, with the nice group of editors, which is very important, and the wonderful editorial board, I think it’s a great job to do”, he expressed.

FEMS Meetings 2010

2nd CESC 5 July, Hungary 18th IOM 11 July, Italy

Deeply satisfied with his experience as Chief Editor of FEMS Yeast Research, Dr Boekhout recommends this kind of experience to fellow experts in the field, “If you like to communicate, if you have a good sense and feeling for publications, including books, then it’s perfect. It is a really nice job. When papers are admirably received by the community, that feels great. It makes you feel like ‘wow, it had a purpose’. It is fulfilling to be a part of this global community in the communication of science. That people use you as vehicle to communicate their work to the outside work, that is motivating.” He asserts however that the job also entails hard work and a lot of patience. “This is a long-term investment. Factors go up and down, sometimes it is bad, sometimes it is good. But you have to think in the long-term. So if

Pathogenomics 22 April, Hungary 7th Joint Rowett/ INRA Symposium 23 June, UK

on. You are updated. Early.”

Dr Boekhout showing one of his first books, “Yeasts in Food”

He finds the international component in his work as a microbiologist very important. An element that FEMS Yeast Research also fully and easily satisfies. “It is very important to work on a global scale with colleagues from all over the world – from China, United States, Dr Boekhout talking with a student in the lab South America, Australia – and that is also something you find in the publishing world because you get manuscripts from things do not develop the way you want, you every corner in the world. You have editorial should make changes.” board members and editors from different countries. So for me, it is like a global enter- At the moment, he has a lot on his hands. He is still guarding the fort until the end of this prise. Global action”, he added. year. But his leaving does not mean taking a He also refers to the job as an effective man- rest, “The yeast discovery will go on. In many ner to update oneself in the goings-on in sci- areas in the world, there are still many, many different species and their properties to be ence, “The manuscripts come through your explored.” hands. So you get a feeling of what is going

Best Regards, FEMS Central Office FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 2628CL Delft, The Netherlands Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

FEMS Affiliates Letter, May 2010

For the PDF version, please click here

Dear Colleague, This issue of the FEMS Affiliates Letter will focus on the FEMS Research Fellowships (FRF) and the FEMS Visiting Scientist Grants (FVSG). Both have deadlines on June 15 and December 1.

June 15 of every year is another busy time for the FEMS Grants Board. This is because two big FEMS Grants have deadlines on this day — the FEMS Research Fellowship (FRF) and the FEMS Visiting Scientists Grants (FVSG) . Grants with the same deadlines can easily confuse interested applicants. So FEMS devotes this issue of the FEMS Affiliates Letter to discuss these two different grants further.

ILABLE Now AVA

June 23-25 Aberdeen, UK Rowett-INRA 2010 July 5-9 Szeged, Hungary 2nd Central European Summer Course on Microbiology

FEMS Research Fellowship  Intended for individuals, European scientists younger than 36 years of age  Exclusive to members of FEMS Member Societies  Allows for research of up to 3 months outside country of residence  Supports travel and living costs of fellow  Please click here for the FRF regulations

Interested in the FRF? Please read the regulations thoroughly. If you have any more questions that are not handled in the regulations, please do not hesitate to contact our Grants Administrator Mrs. Marlies Jander at grants@femsmicrobiology.org. The FEMS Visiting Scientist Grant (FVSG) The FVSG is granted to outstanding European scientists to attend special, scientific, microbiology meetings within the European area but outside his country of residence which are not supported with a FEMS Meeting Grant. This is especially intended for meeting organisers. They are the ones who invite Visiting Scientists into their meetings. They are also the ones who must apply for this certain grant.

FEMS Visiting Scientist Grant  Intended for meeting organizers  Meeting should take place within the European area  Only 1 Visiting Scientist Grant awarded per meeting  Visiting Scientists must apply with the meeting organizer  Please click here for the FVSG regulations

The FEMS Research Fellowship (FRF) Around two FRF grantees are supported by FEMS every year. FRFs are awarded to deserving young European scientists (scientists younger than 36 years of age). This is granted so that they can pursue their research of up to 3 months in a There is no age limit for this grant. European country other than their Only one outstanding European sciencountry of residence. The FRF intist is awarded the grant per meeting. tends to cover the travel and living costs of the fellow. If you are interested in the FVSG and Applicants must be working microbi- are looking for support, you may contact our Grants Administrator Mrs. Marologists and members of a FEMS lies Jander at grants@femsMember Society. microbiology.org.

Best Regards, FEMS Central Office FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

Dear Colleague, This issue of the FEMS Affiliates Letter will focus on the 2010 FEMSESCMID Conference which will be held in October in Switzerland.

The FEMSLWOFF Award is open for nominations

SALMONELLA TAKES CENTER STAGE IN 2010 FEMS-ESCMID CONFERENCE The Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) and the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) will hold its annual conference in Villars-surOllon, Switzerland this year. The event is the 6th FEMS-ESCMID conference will zero in on Salmonella. It is dubbed the “6th Conference on New Frontiers in Microbiology and Infection”. The conference will begin on Sunday, October 3 and stretch until Thursday, October 7. Plenary lectures will include Pathogenesis, Antimicrobial resistance and Clinical aspects and epidemiology of Salmonella. This event is intended to :

 Focus on state-of-the-art understand-

July 5-9 Szeged, Hungary 2nd Central European Summer Course on Microbiology July 11-16 Bologna, Italy 18th Congress of the International Organization for Mycoplasmology

ing of the pathogenesis, antimicrobial resistance and epidemiology of “Salmonella” and its impact on clinical practice.  Transfer knowledge and initiate a stimulating dialogue between basic and clinical microbiologists as well as infectious disease specialists.  Give young scientists the opportunity to discuss their work with leading experts in this field. All scientists with a research interest in the wide field of Salmonella and infectious disease physicians are invited to attend.

The 6th FEMS-ESCMID Conference website

tions, the conference will include about 15 outstanding invited speakers together with only 60 participants selected on the basis of their scientific work and their interest in the chosen topic. Grants are also available to help interested participants. The program as well as deadlines for abstract submission, application and registration are available at the conference website. Drs. Roland Koerner and Jean-Claude Piffaretti represent FEMS as Congress Coordinators of this partnership. The previous FEMS-ESCMID conferences focused on E. Coli, Mycobacteria, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Clostridia and Antivirulence drugs.

Aside from young scientists, this conference also offers infectious diseases experts the opportunity to discuss their specific subjects of interest in depth. To stimulate and optimize the interac-

Best Regards, FEMS Central Office FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

FEMS Affiliates Letter, July 2010

Dear Colleague, FEMS is delighted to let you know that FEMS Journals received high impact factors in the recently released journals citation report. This reflects the high number of citations of journal articles in 2009. Read on for further information.

FEMS JOURNALS, HIGH ON IMPACT FACTORS

Thematic issue on Biofilms now available!

The Impact Factors (IF) of the FEMS Journals continue to go up. This is shown in the summary of the latest Impact Factors report received by the FEMS Publications Department.

Reviews from its number 8 ranking in year 2008 to number 6 in 2009 and FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology from rank 57 to 50.

According to the records produced by the Thomson Institute for Scientific Information, here are the following impact factors achieved by the five FEMS Journals:

FEMS Microbiology Ecology currently ranks 26 among 94 microbiology journals reviewed, FEMS Microbiology Letters ranks 54 and FEMS Yeast Research ranks 66.

 FEMS Microbiology Reviews: 9.783  FEMS Microbiology Ecology: 3.598  FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology: 2.335  FEMS Microbiology Letters: 2.199  FEMS Yeast Research: 1.785

FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology is coming up with a new Thematic Issue this month. The issue focuses on Biofilms, a topic inspired by the 2009 FEMS-Sponsored meeting, “EuroBiofilms 2009”, the first European Congress in Microbial Biofilms.

The impact factor is a tool used to measure the frequency in which an article in a science journal has been cited in a given period of time. In a given year (e.g. 2009), the impact factor of a journal is the average number of citations to those papers that were published during the two preceding years (e.g. 2007 and 2008).

August 1-6 Edinburgh, UK IMC9: The Biology of Fungi August 21-29 Dubrovnik, Croatia Microbial Metabolites: Signals to Drugs FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

These are the total number of citations FEMS Journals achieved in the year 2009, reported and summarized in 2010:

FEMS Letters Spots Disputes in Microbiology FEMS Microbiology Letters has a new article type titled “Current Controversies in Microbiology”. These are short discussion articles that review the benefits and potential pitfalls of recently developed microbiological methods. The first article to be published under this new article type is the “Transcriptional analysis in microbial fuel cells: common pitfalls in global gene expression studies of microbial Biofilms”. This article is freely available here.

 FEMS Microbiology Reviews: 6025  FEMS Microbiology Ecology: 7168  FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology: 3391  FEMS Microbiology Letters: 15800  FEMS Yeast Research: 1892 Said IF catapulted FEMS Microbiology

FEMS Affiliates Letter, August 2010

For the pdf version, please click here

Dear Colleague, This issue of the FEMS Affiliates Letter will focus on our 90day subscription promo. If you’re interested in getting a free subscription to the FEMS journals, please stay put and continue reading...

Answer our survey and get a free subscription to the FEMS Journals The Federation of European and Microbiological Societies and Wiley Blackwell are giving away free 90-day subscription to all five FEMS journals. To qualify for this promotion, all you have to do is answer this survey. It will not take you more than 15 minutes to complete it. Afterwards, you will get the full information on how to access your 90-day free subscription.

The new Wiley Blackwell website which carries the FEMS Journals features a clean and simple interface. It boasts of an easy-to-use new design where relevant content is easily discoverable through comprehensive search optimization.

With the activation of content alerts and RSS feeds, you are kept updated of the latest published research, including In relation to this, our journal publisher journal tables of contents, EarlyView Wiley Blackwell website gets an online and AcceptedArticles and search results. facelift. You can check it out by clicking this link.

FEMS Journals open for 2011 cover images Suggestions for cover illustrations of the FEMS journals are now being encourThematic issue on Global aged. Control now available! Every year, the FEMS journals get new cover images. The images accompanied by the legend are used for all issues of the FEMS journals for the whole calendar year. They also appear in miniatures on the FEMS website and the publisher’s website. In addition, the covers are September 1 used for promotional purposes.

Acinetobacter 2010 Rome, Italy September 5 Bacterial Networks San Feliu, Spain September 12-16 8th Int’l Congress of Extremophiles Azores, Portugal

FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

If you or your group have images of microorganisms that you would like to be considered for the 2011 covers, please contact the FEMS Editorial Office at publications@fems-microbiology.org. The following authors were responsible for the images used in the journals this year (2010):

 Maria Moustaka-Gouni of Greece for the FEMSEC cover image  Beatrice Olawami Temilade Ifesan et al. of Songkla, Thailand for the FEMSIM Cover image  Eva Marie Muehe et al. of Tubingen, Germany for the FEMSLE cover image  James E. Berleman and John R. Kirby of Iowa, USA for the FEMSRE cover image  Kathryn Cross of Norwich, UK for the FEMSYR cover image

GRANTS DEADLINES Meeting Attendance Grants September 1, 2010 for attendance at meetings opening between October 1, 2010 and April 30, 2011 FEMS Advanced Fellowship October 1, 2010 affiliates@fems-microbiology.org www.fems-microbiology.org

FEMS Affiliates Letter, September 2010

For the pdf version, please click here

Dear Colleague, Meet the awardees of this year’s FEMS-ESCMID joint fellowship.

FEMS-ESCMID joint fellowship awardees for 2010, selected GRANTS DEADLINES FEMS Advanced Fellowship October 1, 2010

David P. Fewer M.Sc. Ph. D. was chosen for the next FEMSESCMID joint fellowship award on the side of FEMS.

To represent ESCMID, Corine Geurts van Kessel MD Ph. D. was selected. Geurts van Kessel hails from The Netherlands and is currently a medical specialist training in medical microbiologyvirology at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The 35-yearold microbiologist hails from Ireland and currently works at the Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology at the University of Helsinki.

Beyond her vast experience in Virology in and out of medical school, she also boasts of an extensive international experience. Dr. Geurts van Kessel has served in hospitals in Nepal, Thailand, France and Belgium.

He has published 21 scientific papers in 16 international journals since 2002. These papers have been cited 190 times with an average citation of 10.94 per article.

Her research is titled, “The role of dendritic cells in bronchus associated lymphoid tissue formation following influenza virus infections.”

Fewer’s research is titled, “Mining the Nodularia spumigena genome for new natural products and genes encoding biosynthetic pathways.” The completion of his research will involve a stay in the laboratory of Prof. Enrique Flores at the University of Seville in Spain. Prof. Flores is one of the foremost cyanobacterial molecular biologists of our time.

The main objective of her project is to identify the mechanism by which dendritic cells (DCs) contribute to organization of iBALT following influenza virus infection. Particular emphasis will be on the role of lymphotoxin αβ on DCs.

September 22 Power of Microbes Malinska, Croatia October 3 International Symposium on BioPolymers Stuttgart, Germany FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

FEMS Affiliates Letter, October 2010

For the pdf version, please click here

Dear Colleague, FEMS changes guards. Who are the new officers of the Executive Board? Read on for the details.

FEMS bids Dr Da Costa farewell, welcomes Drs Schink and Piffaretti at the 37th FEMS Council Meeting FEMS bid farewell to President Dr Milton Da Costa (20072010) at the 37th FEMS Council Meeting in Prague, Czech Republic.

GRANTS DEADLINES

During his leadership, two initiatives of FEMS were launched, the European Microbiology Forum and the European Academy of Microbiology. Three new grants — EMBO-FEMS Travel Grants, ASM-FEMS Grants and Start-up Grants — were also approved under his capacity as FEMS President.

Visiting Scientist Grant Research Fellowship December 1, 2010 Dr Bernhard Schink, who was Vice President in the same period Dr Da Costa was President, was elected to the presidency during the 36th Council Meeting in Barcelona last year. He formally took office in this year’s council meeting. Dr Jean-Claude Piffaretti took his place as Vice President of FEMS. Along with his task as FEMS President, Dr Schink is currently professor of Microbial Ecology and Head of the Institute of Limnology of the University of Konstanz in Germany. Online subscription to the full set of the FEMS Journals for only 181 euros FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

During his incumbency as president of FEMS, Dr Schink intends to increase the active cooperation of member societies and their delegates in the activities of FEMS and establish the European Academy for Microbiology (EAM) and the European Microbiology Forum (EMF) as operating structures within FEMS. Dr Piffaretti, the new Vice President, is also the Founder and Director of Interlifescience. He was President of the Swiss Society for Microbiology and since 1993 an associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, where he is still teaching microbiology to the pharmacy and biology students on a weekly basis. His goals include the development of the FEMS Central Office to a strong infrastructure for FEMS operations. In other positions, Dr Roland Koerner took over from Dr Maurice Lock who resigned earlier and Dr Hans Wolf was elected Member-at-Large.

He is also a member of the scientific council which advises the German government and its federal states in the development of science and research. affiliates@fems-microbiology.org www.fems-microbiology.org Click here to unsubscribe to this newsletter © 2010 Federation of European Microbiological Societies

FEMS Affiliates Letter, November 2010

For the pdf version, please click here

Dear Colleague, This issue of the FEMS Affiliates Letter will focus on the next FEMS Congress. How are the arrangements going? Let’s hear it from Drs Jacques Schrenzel and Jean Claude Piffaretti, who are at the helm of the preparations.

FEMS 2011: Good science guaranteed About 2000 microbiologists from all over the world are expected to grace the 4th FEMS Congress which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland and hosted by the Swiss Society of Microbiology.

gramme Committee to invite outstanding European and overseas scientists: good science will thus be guaranteed.

Because of the broad range of the selected topics, the congress will constitute an excellent opportunity to update knowledge not only in one's own field but also in others domains, which is fundamental to gain new ideas in the ongoing own research. The congress will be a great opportunity to meet colleagues and to make new collaborations. For individuals, particularly young scientists, How far are you in the preparations? the congress will constitute an opportuIt is progressing satisfactorily. The main nity to present and discuss own results. items of the scientific programme have been decided upon and nearly all the Any encouraging words to those who invited speakers have already accepted are still undecided to come? to participate. Exhibition and sponsor- Aside from the meticulously planned programme and an excellent opportuship are also progressing nicely. nity to update and exchange one’s How will this congress be different knowledge, it is also good to know that Dr Jean-Claude Piffaretti from the past ones? Switzerland and Geneva are very atChair, Programme Cmte The structure of the upcoming event is tractive places to spend a few days in FEMS 2011 similar. We do not want to change a late June. successful format. Each morning we will have parallel symposia on attractive In addition, a high number of grants current topics related to bacteria, vi- have been allowed by FEMS for young ruses or fungi. The afternoons will be scientists and we encourage them to dedicated to symposia, which will in- make appropriate requests. We would clude two main talks by invited lecturers also like to emphasize that low-cost and about four short oral presentations flight companies are landing in Geneva. selected from the abstracts submitted. In addition, a special effort will be done During the lunch breaks, we will also to make low-cost accommodation availhave oral poster presentations and spe- able to participants. cial events organized by microbiology GRANTS societies and organisations, as well as DEADLINES industries.

Drs Jacques Schrenzel (Chair, Organizing Board) and Jean-Claude Piffaretti Dr Jacques Schrenzel (Chair, Programme Committee and Chair, Organizing Board FEMS Vice-President) are very positive about the progress in preparations and FEMS 2011 even gave some tips for microbiologists who would like to join but are in a tight budget:

Visiting Scientist Grant Research Fellowship December 1, 2010 FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

What can the participants expect from the 4th FEMS congress? As with preceding congresses, continuous effort has been made by the Proaffiliates@fems-microbiology.org www.fems-microbiology.org Click here to unsubscribe to this newsletter © 2010 Federation of European Microbiological Societies

FEMS Affiliates Letter, December 2010

For the pdf version, please click here

Dear Colleague, This issue of the FEMS Affiliates Letter recollects the events of 2010.

2010, a year of new undertakings

Visit the 4th FEMS Congress in Geneva, Switzerland. Click the icon above for more information.

2010 was a year of new adventures for FEMS. There were quite a lot of new undertakings, namely; a new set of officers, new approach of reaching out to member societies and microbiologists and new courses of action in promoting the voice of microbiology in Europe. During the first quarter of the year, @FEMSTweets or FEMS on Twitter was launched. From zero number of followers, we are, as of this writing, followed by more than a hundred!

Republic. This also marked the assumption of Drs Bernhard Schink and JeanClaude Piffaretti as the new FEMS President and Vice-President, respectively.

IMPORTANT FEMS-LWOFF AWARD NOMINATIONS JANUARY 10, 2011 FEMS CONGRESS ABSTRACT SUBMISSION JANUARY 14, 2011

During the second quarter, we joined the Virology Congress in Italy where we gained about a hundred more affiliates.

In the third quarter, we reported to you the high impact factors of the journals and many of you got free subscriptions FEMS CONGRESS GRANTS FOR YOUNG after answering our survey. SCIENTISTS JANUARY 14, 2011 FEMS CONGRESS EARLY REGISTRATION MARCH 14, 2011

FIRST FEMS-sponsored meeting, 2011 Biofilms in Nosocomial Fungal Infections January 31 Paris, France FEMS Central Office Keverling Buismanweg 4 NL- 2628CL Delft Tel: +31 15 269 3920 Fax: +31 15 269 3921

Drs Bernhard Schink (left) and Jean-Claude Piffaretti (right) are the new President and Vice-President of FEMS

Also in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the year, two FEMS Advanced Fellowship grantees — Dr Celia Murciano Camps (Spain) and Dr Cinzia Borgogna (Italy) — started their fellowship periods of 2 years and 1 year, respectively. From their host laboratories, they are both going to the United Kingdom to complete their projects. Dr Camps will zero in on fungi while Dr Borgogna on the papillomavirus. This last quarter, the 37th FEMS Council Meeting was held in Prague, Czech

Just last month, you received updated information on the FEMS Congress next year which is to be held in Geneva, Switzerland. This will be one of the biggest undertakings of FEMS in 2011 and we hope that you will be there to join us. And that is not all, because FEMS is also most recently joined in by three new member societies: the Belarusian Non-governmental Association of Microbiologists, the Society for Microbiology of Moldova and the Serbian Society for Microbiology. Welcome to our new member societies!