
Martin Chalfie
Columbia University
USA
EMBO | EMBL Symposium
This conference will take place at EMBL Heidelberg, with the option to attend virtually.
This symposium, initiated in 2010 and held every two years since, brings together both early-career and established researchers from around the world who share an interest in microtubule biology and its relevance to human health and disease. It has grown into a central venue for fostering collaboration and exchanging new ideas in the field.
The microtubule cytoskeleton plays a vital role in diverse cellular processes, including chromosome segregation, vesicle and organelle transport, cell motility, and the establishment of polarity. When microtubule function is impaired, the consequences include human diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, making microtubules key therapeutic targets. Recent advances have come from interdisciplinary approaches that integrate cell biology, genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, and mathematical modeling, greatly expanding the impact and scope of microtubule research.
As the field continues to diversify, the need for a strong, unifying meeting becomes increasingly important. This symposium addresses that need by bringing together researchers across disciplines and career stages. The program will feature inspiring keynote lectures, numerous short talks selected from submitted abstracts, dynamic poster sessions, and dedicated opportunities for networking and community building.
Columbia University
USA
Columbia University
USA
University of Geneva
Switzerland
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Germany
Institute of Biotechnology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Czech Republic
Harvard University
USA
Wageningen University
The Netherlands
Colorado State University
USA
Université Grenoble-Alpes
France
University of California, Davis
USA
University of Edinburgh
UK
Yale University
USA
Tsinghua University
China
Raman Research Institute
India
Saarland University
Germany
University College London
UK
University of Hamburg
Germany
i3s, University of Porto
Portugal
Massachusetts General Hospital
USA
National Yang-Ming University
Taiwan
University of Edinburgh
UK
University of California, Berkeley
USA
Institut Curie
France
Czech Academy of Sciences
Czech Republic
University of Cambridge
UK
University of California
USA
EMBL Heidelberg
Germany
Are you on social media? Post using #EESMicrotubules and don’t forget to tag @EMBLEvents.
Time (Europe/Berlin) | Session |
---|---|
12:30 – 14:00 | Registration and light refreshments |
14:00 – 14:10 | Opening remarks |
Session 1: Harnessing microtubules Chair: tbc | |
14:10 – 14:35 | Talk title tbc Charlotte Aumeier – University of Geneva, Switzerland |
14:35 – 14:50 | Selected short talk #1 |
14:50 – 15:15 | Talk title tbc Guangshuo Ou – Tsinghua University, China |
15:15 – 15:30 | Selected short talk #2 |
15:30 – 15:55 | Decoding MAP-induced lattice dynamics in microtubules: a theoretical framework Karin John – Université Grenoble-Alpes, France |
15:55 – 16:25 | Coffee Break |
Session 2: Emerging Topics 1 Chair: tbc | |
16:25 – 16:40 | Selected short talk #3 |
16:40 – 16:55 | Selected short talk #4 |
16:55 – 17:10 | Selected short talk #5 |
17:10 – 17:25 | Selected short talk #6 |
17:25 – 17:40 | Selected short talk #7 |
17:40 – 17:55 | Selected short talk #8 |
17:55 – 18:55 | Speed networking |
18:55 – 20:30 | Dinner in Canteen |
20:30 – 23:00 | Welcome reception with drinks and preview of all posters |
Time (Europe/Berlin) | Session |
---|---|
09:00 – 09:40 | 1st Landmark Lecture Talk title tbc Michael L. Shelanski – Columbia University , USA Chair: Kassandra Ori-McKenney – University of California, USA |
09:40 – 10:15 | Coffee Break |
Session 3: Microtubule-based cell architecture Chair: tbc | |
10:15 – 10:40 | Talk title tbc Arp Schnittger – University of Hamburg, Germany |
10:40 – 10:55 | Selected short talk #9 |
10:55 – 11:20 | How a mitotic kinase finds the cell center for cytokinesis Radhika Subramanian – Massachusetts General Hospital, USA |
11:20 – 11:35 | Selected short talk #10 |
11:35 – 12:00 | Talk title tbc Eva Deinum – Wageningen University, Netherlands |
12:00 – 13:45 | Lunch and meet the speakers |
Session 4: Emerging topics 2 Chair: tbc | |
13:45 – 14:00 | Selected short talk #11 |
14:00 – 14:15 | Selected short talk #12 |
14:15 – 14:30 | Selected short talk #13 |
14:30 – 14:45 | Selected short talk #14 |
14:45 – 15:00 | Selected short talk #15 |
15:00 – 15:30 | Flash talk session 1 |
15:30 – 16:00 | Coffee Break |
16:00 – 18:45 | Poster Session 1 (odd numbers) |
18:45 – 20:00 | Dinner in EMBL Canteen |
20:00 – 22:30 | After dinner drinks and possibility to continue poster session |
Time (Europe/Berlin) | Session |
---|---|
Session 5: Microtubules in the nervous system Chair: tbc | |
09:00 – 09:25 | Talk title tbc Giampietro Schiavo – University College London, United Kingdom |
09:25 – 09:40 | Selected short talk #16 |
09:40 – 10:05 | Microtubules in sensory neuron axon asymmetry Mónica Sousa – i3s, University of Porto, Portugal |
10:05 – 10:30 | The roles of microtubule-associated proteins in cortical development and malformations Jin-Wu Tsai – National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan |
10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee Break |
Session 6: Microtubule inside neurons Chair: tbc | |
11:00 – 11:25 | Probing the stability of axonal microtubules Pramod Pullarkat – Raman Research Institute, India |
11:25 – 11:50 | Talk title tbc Frank Bradke – German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Germany |
11:50 – 12:05 | Selected short talk #17 |
12:05 – 12:30 | Decoding MAP-induced lattice dynamics in microtubules Laura Schaedel – Saarland University, Germany |
12:30 – 14:00 | Lunch and meet the speakers |
14:00-14:40 | 2nd Landmark Lecture What the microtubules of C. elegans have told us Martin Chalfie – Columbia University , USA Chair: Zdenek Lansky – Institute of Biotechnology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic |
14:40 – 15:20 | Roundtable discussion |
15:20 – 15:40 | Flash talk session 2 |
15:40 – 16:10 | Coffee Break |
16:10 – 19:00 | Poster Session 2 (even numbers) |
19:00 – 21:00 | BBQ |
21:00 – 00:00 | Party |
Time (Europe/Berlin) | Session |
---|---|
Session 7: Decoding Microtubules Chair: tbc | |
09:30 – 09:45 | Selected short talk #18 |
09:45 – 10:10 | Talk title tbc Pleasantine Mill – University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
10:10 – 10:25 | Selected short talk #19 |
10:25 – 10:50 | The layered regulation of Tau protein association with microtubules Marcus Braun – Institute of Biotechnology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic |
10:50 – 11:20 | Coffee Break |
Session 8: Control of microtubule-based transport Chair: tbc | |
11:20 – 11:45 | Regulation of kinesin motility Richard McKenney – University of California, Davis, USA |
11:45 – 12:10 | Talk title tbc Alan Brown – Harvard University, USA |
12:10 – 12:35 | The regulation of motors by microtubule-associated proteins Ahmet Yildiz – University of California, Berkeley, USA |
12:35 – 12:50 | Selected short talk #20 |
13:00 – 14:30 | Lunch |
Session 9: Microtubules in cell division Chair: tbc | |
14:30 – 14:55 | Deciphering the tubulin code in female meiosis Binyam Mogessie – Yale University, USA |
14:55 – 15:10 | Selected short talk #21 |
15:10 – 15:35 | Kinetochore-microtubule regulation in mitosis Jennifer DeLuca – Colorado State University, USA |
15:35 – 15:50 | Selected short talk #22 |
15:50 – 16:15 | Adaptation of the microtubule cytoskeleton in germ cells Julie Welburn – University of Edinburgh, UK |
16:15 – 16:30 | Poster prizes |
16:30 – 16:45 | Closing remarks |
Accommodation and travel are not included in the fees. Participants are expected to book and pay their own expenses.
On-site Academia | €650 |
On-site PhD Student | €750 |
On-site Industry | €950 |
On-site Journal Editors* | €300 |
* Editors from scientific journals are allowed to attend at a reduced rate, but asked to contribute to the conference in return by taking part in ‘meet the editors’ sessions or other planned activities within the programme. Please contact Sophie Dutzi to ask for the special registration link for editors.
Virtual Academia | €190 |
Virtual PhD Student | €240 |
Virtual Industry | €290 |
Note: Accredited journalists may be eligible to register for complimentary on-site or virtual press registration. Registrants may be required to provide accreditation or equivalent proof of press membership after registration. Please contact Sophie Dutzi for more information.
Registration will be on a first come, first served basis. You can register and submit your abstract without paying the conference fee in advance but your place can only be confirmed after payment of the registration fee.
If you are added to our waiting list, please consider taking advantage of our offerings to participate virtually.
On-site participants: types of payments accepted are international bank transfers and credit card payments.
Virtual participants: we are only able to accept card payments. In exceptional cases we can accept bank transfers. Please contact events@embl.de for details.
If you are no longer able to take part in the conference, please inform your conference contact responsible for this event. Your registration and the submitted abstract will be deleted.
Please also check our Terms and Conditions for the cancellation policy.
Only participants registering to attend the on-site event are eligible to submit an abstract. Unfortunately, abstracts will not be accepted from virtual participants.
After registration you can submit your abstract via a separate link that will be provided in the email confirmation. Alternatively, you can access the link on the confirmation page directly after registering. The same login credentials are used for both processes.
Abstract body: The limit of 2,000 characters refers to manually typed text and excludes spaces. If an error occurs try using a different web browser (preferably Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox).
If you copy-paste the text into the form, hidden formatting might still be included which may cause the text to exceed the 2,000 character limit resulting in an error message. We recommend you clear all formatting before pasting in the text.
If you have special symbols in your text, make sure you are using Unicode characters, otherwise these will not be recognised.
Title: The title should not exceed 20 words. Only the first word of the title should start with a capital letter and the rest should be lowercase.
Authors and affiliations: Please fill in the author’s details as requested in the online form. The compulsory fields are: First Name, Last Name, Organisation Name (Affiliation or Company), Country and Email.
Kindly mark only one author in the role of First Author and please don’t forget to indicate who will be the Presenter.
Please enter your co-authors correctly via the system by adding accounts together with their organisation/institute. Do not copy-paste them into the body of the abstract text, as they will not be indexed in the abstract book.
Presentation types: When submitting your abstract, you can apply for an oral or poster presentation. A selection process will take place with the results announced 3 weeks after the abstract submission deadline (delays may occur).
For detailed instructions on how to submit a conference abstract, follow the instructions provided in this video.
Please check our FAQs pages for further information on how to submit an abstract.
Limited financial assistance is provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO in the form of registration fee waivers, travel grants and childcare grants.
Your place in the meeting is only confirmed by paying the registration fee, which is mandatory even when receiving a fee waiver.
The fee waiver will cover the registration sum that you have paid to attend the course or conference.
The travel grant will cover the cost of travel to an on-site event (airfare, train, bus, taxi, accommodation, visa) and is provided up to specified caps which are normally as follows:
–up to €400 for participants travelling to an EMBO | EMBL Symposium from within Europe.
–up to €1000 for participants travelling to an EMBO | EMBL Symposium from outside Europe.
The organisers may reduce the grant cap to accommodate more participants. Recipients will be notified of their travel cap amount when they are informed of the outcome of their application. Receipts (and boarding passes for air travel) must be provided via email with your signature for all costs incurred within two months of completion of travel.
There is the possibility to apply for a childcare grant to offset child care costs incurred by participants, speakers and organisers when attending a conference. Eligible costs include (but are not limited to) fees for a baby-sitter or child-care facility and travel costs for a caregiver. Please note that priority will be given to early stage researchers.
You may apply for a childcare grant at the same time when submitting your abstract. There is a limited amount of funding available for the childcare grants and funds will be distributed amongst eligible applicants.
On-site participants
You may apply for financial assistance when submitting your abstract. In your application you will be asked to answer questions regarding why your lab cannot fund your attendance and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.
Virtual participants
If you are attending virtually, you can apply for financial assistance in the submission portal by the abstract deadline. Read the instructions on how to apply for financial assistance. Only submissions for financial assistance will be accepted. Presentation abstracts cannot be submitted here and will be declined.
In your application you will be asked to summarise your current work, answer questions regarding why your lab cannot fund your attendance, and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.
The scientific organisers will select the recipients of all financial assistance during the abstract selection process. Results will be announced approximately 6 – 8 weeks before the event start date, however for some events this may be delayed. Selection results do not impact your admission to the meeting. Selection for registration fee waivers and travel grants is based on scientific merit, your current work or study location, the reasons for needing financial support, and the impact this event will have on your career.
Childcare grants will be allocated in the same timeframe (6-8 weeks before the event start date). Please note that priority will be given to early-stage researchers.
Costs will be reimbursed after the meeting only once a reimbursement form and original receipts (from travel costs) have been received.
View our list of external funding opportunities or refer to the FAQ page.
At our conferences we also offer the option to become an event reporter. By attending the meeting, sharing your insights on social media, and writing a detailed report, you can offset the conference fees. Please read the instructions on how to apply.
We can send you a registration confirmation to support your visa procedure (not an official invitation letter) after you have paid the registration fee. Please contact the conference officer responsible for your event. For more information, please see here.
If you are travelling to Heidelberg via aeroplane, train, car or long-distance bus, you can find useful information here.
Accommodation is not included in the conference registration fee.
As further changes in our events are possible, you should book flights, trains and hotels with flexible options and favourable cancellation conditions.
Invited speakers please be wary of fraudulent ‘hotel services’ contacting you to ask for payments, see our Accommodation Scam Alert for more information.
A list of hotels with room blocks will be shared soon.
Conference shuttle buses are free of charge for participants, and depart from designated bus stops near the hotels to EMBL and back, mornings and evenings.
The bus stops for this conference are:
View Conference shuttle bus stops and hotels in a larger map. Please note that not every bus stop will be used for every event.
In addition to the shuttle busses, there is also the public bus 28 that serves the EMBL campus and taxis can be easily booked at any time. For more information, see here.
Address: EMBL, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
For more information about accommodation and travel, please refer to the FAQ page.
Here you will find useful information for when you are onsite at the event.
All meals and coffee breaks as indicated in the porgramme are included in the registration fee. Our catering staff will prepare a variety of vegetarian meals, meat and fish dishes, soups, pasta, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a variety of desserts.
Please wear your badge at all times when serving yourself.
No food or drinks are allowed in the auditorium.
Wi-Fi is available on campus using the EMBL-Events network and the event specific password, which will be provided on site. The eduroam network (secure, worldwide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community) is also available.
During the conference, an EMBL Photographer may be taking photos. If you would not like to appear in these, please inform the photographer or a member of the Course and Conference Office.
There are lockers available next to the stairs leading down into the Auditorium. You will find some of those equipped with sockets to charge your smartphone/tablet etc.
In most places the electricity is 220 volts AC (50 cycles). An adaptor and a plug that fits the German socket may be needed for your appliances/laptop (i.e. American, Japanese, etc.). A USB charging station for electronic devices is available at the registration desk.
We can help to print your boarding pass/train ticket. Please send it to events@embl.de and collect your print-outs at the registration desk.
There are lockers available on-site to store your luggage, which require a 2 EURO coin to operate. There is another luggage room on level E0, which is free to use but remains unlocked during the conference.
‘’Lost and Found’’ items are kept at the registration desk until the end of the conference.
If you are interested in purchasing EMBL merchandise (products presented in the glass display in the registration area), please email the EMBL shop to place an order.
Kindly note the EMBL shop is only open upon request and all purchases must be made in cash (Euros only).
There is a nursing room available in the ATC Rooftop Lounge on level A29.
There is a room for prayer, yoga, and meditation, located on level E0 behind the Auditorium. Please be respectful of others using the room.
Please take a moment to read our health and safety policy.
If first aid is required
In case of fire
Beyond first aid
The Heidelberg University Hospital or ‘Universitätsklinikum‘ has a 24 hour accident and emergency facility and is at ‘Im Neuenheimer Feld 672’. It is a 8km or a 20 minute taxi ride away from EMBL. In a medical emergency, the ambulance service generally transports patients to this hospital.
Please remember to bring your own medication, if needed, to the conference. Note that the next pharmacy is a 4-minute drive from the EMBL, but for many medications you will be required to see a doctor to get a prescription.
Ensure in advance that your medical insurance will cover you during your visit in the event that you do need to see a doctor while in Heidelberg.
The EMBL course and conference office team are able to advise you on where to turn for emergency or non-emergency medical treatment in Heidelberg and can assist you in making appointments and / or arranging transport to get to the pharmacy or a doctor of your choice if necessary. Please note, we are not however permitted to personally accompany you off-campus.
A variety of activities in Heidelberg can be found on the website of Heidelberg Marketing.
Access to the event platform is given to all on-site and virtual participants.
You can use the event platform to:
More information about the platform will be shared ahead of the conference.
Additional information can be found in our Code of Conduct.
The programme is planned based on the Europe/Berlin time zone, unless otherwise stated. Please take your time zone into consideration when planning your attendance.
Please find additional information including FAQs, terms and conditions, and travelling to EMBL on our Information for participants page.
Sponsorship opportunities
We offer a variety of event sponsoring possibilities, with the flexibility to select a set sponsorship package or combine individual sponsorship options to suit your event budget. Discounts are available for companies sponsoring multiple events at EMBL Heidelberg. View other conferences, or contact sponsorship@embl.de for further information.
If you are interested in becoming a media partner of this event, please visit our media partnerships webpage.
EMBL wishes to warn sponsors of EMBL conferences and courses of fraudulent schemes purporting to offer sponsorship opportunities on behalf of EMBL or affiliated with EMBL officials. One current scam campaign of which we are aware is conducted using the name ‘Judy Eastman’ (judy@gopcontact.a2hosted.com) and entails approaches to sponsors offering sponsorship opportunities on EMBL’s behalf. Please be kindly advised that all relevant communication regarding sponsorship of EMBL conferences, symposia and courses is handled by EMBL directly and is sent from an official EMBL account. EMBL does not work with any external providers on sponsorship acquisition.
Please also note that:
Suspicious communications purportedly from, for or on behalf of EMBL should be reported to EMBL at the following email address sponsorship@embl.de.
EMBO | EMBL Symposia promote scientific communication and collaboration in the European research area. They provide scientists with a platform to discuss and exchange ideas on forward-looking topics and new developments in the life sciences.
Topics emphasise upcoming developments and the interdisciplinary nature of related fields. Jointly funded and organised by EMBO and EMBL – and complementary to their respective courses, workshops, and conference programmes – the symposia promote scientific communication and collaboration.
All symposia are held in the EMBL Advanced Training Centre (ATC) in Heidelberg, Germany, or virtually.
Want to let others know you’re attending this event? Take a look at our shareable media and feel free to use them in your social media channels or presentations.
Date: 17 - 20 Jun 2026
Location: EMBL Heidelberg and Virtual
Venue: EMBL Advanced Training Centre
Deadline(s):
Abstract submission: 11 Mar 2026
Registration (On-site): 6 May 2026
Registration (Virtual): 10 Jun 2026
Organisers:
Contact: Sophie Dutzi