COVID-19 is still with us. For safety reasons, the EFB Microbial Stress 2020 meeting will now be held on-line. The good news: registration and abstract submission are now open. More short talks and flash poster presentations are available. Abstract submission deadlines:

• To be considered for oral or poster presentation: 30 September
• Poster only submission: 15 October

This 3-day meeting of the European Federation of Biotechnology addresses the exciting and important field of microbial responses to stress and has a programme that covers both fundamental and applied aspects.

The meeting, the 5^th in the series, has received much attention in the last 10 years and has become a “must attend” meeting in the field.

We have an outstanding panel of internationally recognised invited speakers who will present on stress responses in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms. They will present the latest developments in the field of microbial responses to stress, at different levels: from molecular to population and system levels.

The meeting programme addresses important subtopics in the stress response field, which will be covered from a variety of interesting perspectives. The breadth of topics covered will encourage interdisciplinary cross-fertilisation and create an environment for the development of new collaborations. The meeting welcomes, amongst others, microbiologists, biotechnologists, system biologists, biochemists and molecular biologists from both the academic and industrial sectors.

Applied and fundamental aspects of the microbial stress physiology underpin many biotechnological applications and innovations that use prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms to produce foods, beverages, medicines for human consumption and employed in the bio-based production of fuels and industrial building-blocks.

Last, but not least, the Scientific Programme is designed to offer plenty of opportunities not only to established scientists to speak, but also to Early Career Scientists to present their work orally and as posters at this meeting. Focused meetings, such as this, are incredibly beneficial to young researchers because they encourage the development of professional networks and allow close interactions with established scientists in an informal and friendly environment.

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