TREC Symposium 2025

Programme
TREC Data Sessions
Art&Science
Practical information

Programme

Each session features long talks (12 mins presentation + 3 mins Q&A), and/or short talks (5 or 10 mins presentation). Side events run as outlined in the daily programme below.

Online participation via Zoom here!

To help us plan the sufficient number of shuttles to and from the Symposium, please indicate in this form, whether you plan to use the shuttle bus on each day of the event.

Day 1: Monday, 1 December 2025

9:30 – 10:30	Registration & Coffee Operon Foyer
10:30 – 10:45	*Welcome to the TREC symposium* Paola Bertucci, Head of EMBL Scientific Expeditions, EMBL Peer Bork, Interim Director General, TREC Scientific Director, EMBL

10:45 – 13:00	*Session 1: Planetary Microbial Systems Biology* Chaired by Peer Bork
10:45 – 10:50	Introduction to Planetary Microbial Systems Biology Peer Bork, EMBL, Germany
10:50 – 11:05	Biogeographic Structure of Marine Plankton Along European Coasts Revealed by Their Metagenome Olivier Jaillon, Nicolas Toro Llanco, Genoscope, France
11:05 – 11:20	Macro to Microplankton quantification and characterization across European seas Marion Vilain, Fabien Lombard, Institut de la Mer de Villefranche, France
11:20 – 11:35	Airborne microplastics: enumerating, chemically characterizing and exploring the bacteria associated with them Michel Flores, Researcher, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
11:35 – 11:50	Planetary microbiome structure and generalist-driven dissemination of ARG Daniel Podlesny, Research Scientist, EMBL, Germany
11:50 – 12:05	Exploring the leaf fungal diversity along European coastlines Niloufar Hagh Doust, Research Fellow, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia
12:05 – 12:10	Estuarine microbiome changes along European environmental gradients Mathieu Chevalier, IFREMER, France
12:10 – 12:25	From Coast to Lab: Cultivating and Exploring Picoalgae Diversity (RBM3) Gwenael Piganeau, CNRS Research Director, Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, France
12:25 – 12:30	Horizontal Gene Transfer across environments Chan Yeong Kim, Postdoctoral Fellow, EMBL, Germany
12:30 – 12:35	JEDI marker to measure planetary biodiversity Taylor Priest, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland Nicolas Henry, Station Biologique de Roscoff, France
12:35 – 12:50	TREC Data Flow and Data Hub Kerstin Leberecht, Matej Trojak, TREC Data Hub Team, EMBL, Germany
13:00 – 13:10	Symposium Picture, ATC Foyer
13:10 – 14:00	Lunch, Operon Foyer

14:00 – 15:30	*Session 2: Planetary Cell Biology* Chaired by Gautam Dey
14:00 – 14:05	An introduction to planetary cell biology Gautam Dey, Group Leader, EMBL, Germany
14:05 – 14:20	Advanced mobile technologies for environmental cell biology Niko Leisch, Head of Mobile Laboratories, EMBL, Germany
14:20 – 14:35	Identification of dinoflagellates with replaced or transient plastids to study the process of plastid integration Elisabeth Hehenberger, Group Leader, CAS, Czech Republic
14:35 – 14:50	Ultrastructural insights into dinomitosis: a volume EM approach Chandni Bhickta, Predoctoral Fellow, EMBL, Germany
14:50 – 15:05	Pyrenoid diversity with cryoET Manon Demulder, Biozentrum, Switzerland
15:05 – 15:10	5-min break
15:10 – 15:15	Advanced feedback microscopy for high resolution imaging of plankton Tina Wiegand, Imaging Specialist, EMBL, Germany
15:15 – 15:20	Diatom ultrastructural diversity across controlled and natural environments Serena Flori, Postdoctoral Fellow, EMBL, Germany
15:20 – 15:25	In situ and in vitro exploration of environmental drivers of chain length plasticity in diatom genus Chaetoceros Nina Guerin, Postdoctoral Fellow, EMBL, Germany
15:25 – 15:30	Concluding remarks + new faces Gautam Dey, Group Leader, EMBL, Germany Florian Wollweber, Group Leader, EMBL, France
15:30 – 16:00	Coffee break, Operon Foyer in parallel: Data Hub Tutorial I – Browse and access metadata (Small Operon / via Zoom)

16:00 – 17:45	Session 3: *Microbial & Organismal Interactions* Chaired by Flora Vincent
16:00 – 16:05	Introduction to Microbial & Organismal Interactions Flora Vincent, Group Leader, EMBL, Germany
16:05 – 16:20	Insights into diversity of viruses of picoeukaryotic phytoplankton from targeted enrichment cultures Sheree Yau, CNRS Researcher, CNRS, France
16:20 – 16:25	Biogeography and isolation of giant viruses infecting heterotrophic flagellates Matthias Fischer, Group Leader, MPI, Germany
16:25 – 16:40	AtlaSymbio: Shedding light on photosymbiosis using 3D electron microscopy Gaëlle Toullec, Postdoctoral fellow, Grenoble Alpes University, France
16:40 – 16:45	Adaptive feedback microscopy to decipher holobionts at the single cell level Laurine Planat, PhD fellow, EMBL, Germany
16:45 – 16:50	Metagenomic exploration of the triptych Photosynthesis / Fungi / Bacteria on European coasts Caroline Juery, Postdoctoral fellow, EMBL, Germany
16:50 – 17:05	Symbiosis boosts diatom-ciliate metabolic capacity Thomas Beavis, PhD fellow, EMBL, Germany
17:05 – 17:10	Characterising microbial behaviours in European coastal waters (ONLINE) Jean-Baptiste Raina, Group Leader, Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, France
17:10 – 17:25	Uncovering the Hidden Partners: The Microbiome of Zostera marina Roots Hanin Alzubaidy, Head of SEAMIR Group, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany
17:25 – 17:30	*Microbiome variation in Platynereis dumerilii* across Europe Alvin Han**, Postdoctoral fellow, EMBL, Germany
17:30 – 17:40	Animal-algal photosymbiosis along environmental and evolutionary gradients + Cross SMS pitch Liz Hambleton, Group Leader, University of Vienna, Austria
17:40 – 17:45	Conclusion remarks and new faces Exploring species diversity and habitat expansion in benthic endosymbioses Megan Sørensen, Group Leader, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Germany Flora Vincent, Group Leader, EMBL, Germany
17:45 – 18:00	Coffee Break, Operon Foyer

18:00 – 19:05	Session 4: *Ecology and Development* Chaired by Detlev Arendt
18:00 – 18:05	Introduction to Ecology and Development Detlev Arendt, Senior Scientist, EMBL, Germany
18:05 – 18:20	Searching for conserved regions: Insights from the population structure of Platynereis dumerilii Tobias Gerber, Postdoctoral Fellow, EMBL, Germany
18:20 – 18:35	Acoustic biogeography of European marine forests (ONLINE) Marine Etheve, University of Perpignan, France
18:35 – 18:50	Cellular Adaptation to Temperature in Platynereis Michael Dorrity, Group Leader, EMBL, Germany
18:50 – 19:05	Meiofauna imaging for biodiversity study Cecilia Teillet, Valentin Foulon, IFREMER, France
19:05 – 20:45	Dinner, EMBL Canteen

Day 2: Tuesday, 2 December 2025

8:30 – 9:00	Coffee, Operon Foyer
9:00 – 10:50	Session 5: Paleocore Studies Chaired by Raffaele Siano
9:00 – 9:10	Introduction Paleocores Raffaele Siano, Senior Scientist, Ifremer Brest, France
9:10 – 9:25	Paleocore sampling, data base and geological frame Raffaele Siano, Angelique Roubi, Axel Ehrold, Ifremer; Sabine Schmidt, University Bordeaux, France
9:25 – 9:40	Contaminants profiles over time Javier Castro Jimenez, Nicolas Briant, Ifremer Nantes, France
9:40 – 9:55	Pollen analyses of Mediterranean cores Federico di Rita, Associate Professor in Systematic Botany, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Aurelie Penaud, University Brest, France
9:55 –10:10	Amplicon sequencing data processing and global statistics Arthur Monjot, Université de Bretagne Occidentale / Ifremer, France
10:10 –10:25	MetaG data and eutrophication impact across time in Europe Guillermo Rangel, Antonio Fernandez Guerra, University Copenhagen, Denmark
10:25 – 10:40	Aquaculture and industrialisation impact across time in Europe Ioli Skouroliakou, Mathisse Meyneng, Ifremer Brest, France
10:40 – 10:45	*Temperature optima of resurrected Chaetoceros* spp. from the Mediterranean Sea Anna Ikonen** and Conny Sjoqvist, Åbo Akademi University,Finland
10:45 – 10:50	Concluding remarks Raffaele Siano
10:50 – 11:20	Coffee Break, Operon Foyer in parallel: Data Hub Tutorial II – Download and access data (Small Operon / via Zoom)

11:20 – 13:00	*Session 6: Planetary Environmental* *Profiling* Chaired by Michael Zimmermann and Georg Pohnert
11:20 – 11:30	Introduction to Planetary Environmental Profiling Michael Zimmermann, Group Leader, EMBL, Germany Georg Pohnert, Group Leader, University of Jena, Germany
11:30 – 11:45	Metabolic networks in water samples Georg Pohnert, Group Leader, University of Jena, Germany
11:45 – 12:00	Tracking domoic acid production along the European Coastline Antonella Ruggiero, Postdoc, EMBL Germany
12:00 – 12:15	Monitoring marine pollutants along the European Coastline Michael Zimmermann, Vanessa Pahl, Richard Jacoby, EMBL, Germany
12:15 – 12:30	Measurements of forever chemicals in TREC samples Maria Vila-Costa, Research Scientist, IDAEA-CSIC, Spain
12:30 – 12:40	Advocacy work using TREC data on chemical pollutants Martin Alessandrini, Tara Ocean Foundation, France
12:40 – 12:55	Contamination map of European coastal sediments – CONTRAST Aourell Mauffret, Ecotoxicologist, Ifremer Nantes, France
13:00 – 14:00	Lunch, Operon Foyer

14:00 – 15:15	*Continue Session 6: Planetary Environmental Profiling*
14:00 – 14:15	Chemical profiling data in the Metabolights repository Thomas Payne, Juan Antonio Vizcaino, EMBL-EBI, UK
14:15 – 14:20	Marine microbiomes under pesticide stress, from Lorient to Cadix Soraya Zwahlen, Predoctoral fellow, EMBL, Germany
14:20 – 14:35	Metal concentrations in European soils and sediments: exploring the land-sea connectivity Nicolas Briant, Geochemist, Ifremer Nantes, France; Clémentine Lapie, Nantes University, France
14:35 – 14:45	Study of total dissolvable trace metals along European coasts Hugo Berthelot, Research scientist, Ifremer Brest, France Helene Planquette, CNRS, France Corentin Baudet, Brest University, France Emilie Le Roy, LEMAR, France
14:45 – 14:50	Lithium concentration and lithium isotopic composition of European littoral waters (ONLINE) Nathalie Vigier, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, France
14:50 – 14:55	Mercury species in European coastal waters (ONLINE) Lars-Eric Heimbürger-Boavida, Chemical Oceanographer, CNRS-MIO, France
14:55 – 15:10	Correlating Xenobiotics in the Dissolved Organic Matter Pool to Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Abundance (ONLINE) Daniel Petras, University of California Riverside / University of Tuebingen
15:10 – 15:40	Coffee Break, Operon Foyer in parallel: Data Hub Tutorial III – Upload and share data (Small Operon / via Zoom)

15:40 – 17:45	*Session 7: Planetary* *Processes* Chaired by Chiara Santinelli
15:40 – 15:45	Introduction to Planetary Processes Chiara Santinelli, Senior researcher, Biophysics Institute CNR (CNR-IBF), Italy
15:45 – 16:00	Dissolved gas measurements in oceanic and coastal waters (ONLINE) Ulisse Cardini, Senior Researcher, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Italy
16:00 – 16:15	Biogeography and ecophysiology of autotrophic prokaryotes in coastal habitats Anna Mankowski, Postdoctoral fellow, EMBL, Germany
16:15 – 16:30	Biogeography of nitrogen fixing prokaryotes in the coastal ecosystem Lucas Ustick, Postdoctoral fellow, EMBL Germany
16:30 – 16:35	Coastal Diazotrophy along the Mediterranean coast Maud Chevalier, Predoctoral fellow, Ifremer Brest, France
16:35 – 16:50	Distribution of Archaea across coastal environments Kiley Seitz, Soil Microbiologist, EMBL, Germany
16:50 – 17:05	Dissolved Organic Matter distribution and optical properties along the European coasts Chiara Santinelli, Senior researcher, Biophysics Institute, CNR (CNR-IBF), Italy
17:05 – 17:15	An inseparable liaison: microbial diversity and DOM dynamics in coastal areas Jonas Schiller, Postdoctoral fellow, EMBL, Germany
17:15 – 17:30	Dynamics of DOM molecular composition along the European Coast Jessika Fuessel, Postdoctoral Researcher, University Oldenburg, Germany
17:30 – 17:45	HyperBOOST: Hyperspectral Bio-Optical Observations Sailing on Tara Vittorio Brando, CNR ISMAR, Italy
17:45 – 18:00	Coffee Break, Operon Foyer
18:00 – 19:00	*Thematic discussions* Led and moderated by the session chairs
19:00 – 23:30	Dinner, drinks and music, Operon Foyer

Day 3: Wednesday, 3 December 2025

9:30 – 10:00	Coffee, Operon Foyer
10:00 – 10:30	The Science of Team Science Matt Sullivan, Professor and Founding Director of Center of Microbiome Science, Ohio State University, USA
10:30 – 12:20	Traversing Ecosystems forward look
10:30 – 10:35	Introduction Paola Bertucci, Head of EMBL Scientific Expeditions, EMBL, Germany Peer Bork, Interim Director General, TREC Scientific Director, EMBL, Germany
10:35 – 10:50	Bridging geosphere–biosphere interactions across scales Donato Giovannelli, University of Naples, Italy
10:50 – 11:05	The Vanishing Glaciers Project: From Discovery to Action Tom Battin, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
11:05 – 11:20	Connecting waters: early insights into aquatic fungal and fish biodiversity studies through eDNA Kristel Panksep, University of Tartu, Estonia
11:20 – 11:35	Exploring protist endosymbioses: an eco-evo perspective Anna Karnkowska, Associate Professor, University of Warsaw, Poland
11:35 – 11:50	Finding novel metabolisms in extreme environments (ONLINE) Maria Garcia, EMBL Germany
11:50 – 12:05	Hg ecotoxicology, bioaccumulation and effects in biota Claudia Cosio, Professeure Titulaire de la Chaire BASE, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France
12:05 – 12:20	Long-term shifts in the benthic community of River Rhine Carola Winkelmann, Head of Department of Animal Ecology, Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde (BfG), Germany

	In parallel & after the symposium ends
10:30 – 13:00	Dancing the unseen I – An immersive Art & Science workshop Tina Wiegand, Amaranta Kahn, Ning Xi Pre-registration required, max. for 15 persons. Register here!
12.20 – 12.50	Visit to the AML (Pre-registration required, limited capacity available) Register here!
12:50	End of symposium
TBC	TBC Dancing the unseen II – An immersive Art & Science workshop Tina Wiegand, Amaranta Kahn, Ning Xi Pre-registration required, max. for 15 persons. Register here!

TREC Data Sessions

Do you want your TREC data published and FAIR? Sign up for TREC Data Sessions offered during the event!

The following TREC data-related sessions will be openly available during the Symposium, in the Operon Foyer and the Small Operon.

Individual TREC Data(hub) consultation (pre-registration required)

Do you want to discuss anything about TREC data hub? Do you have any TREC data-related questions? Need help submitting your data into the data hub? Book your individual data consultation session with our data experts, where you can discuss any topic around TREC data and the data hub! Register here and drop by at our Data Hub booth in the Operon Foyer.

BioImage Archive submission booth

Do you create imaging data? Make it BioImage Archive ready! Visit our booth and we can do it together! Visit our booth in the Operon Foyer spontaneously to book a slot for 15 minutes or a 1-hour data stewardship consultation session.

The STANDFLOW team is looking forward to your visit any time during the Symposium.

Data Hub Tutorials – during coffee breaks in the Small Operon / via Zoom here

Data Hub Tutorial I – 1 December, 15:30 – 16:00

Browse and access metadata: learn how to navigate the datahub, access, filter and export TREC metadata and discover how it’s all connected.

Data Hub Tutorial II – 2 December, 10:50 – 11:20

Download and access data: learn how to filter for data of interest, discover available data for selected samples, download the data.

Data Hub Tutorial III – 2 December, 15:10 – 15:40

Upload and share data: learn how to upload your data, the necessary information required for it, and various types of files sharing and their structuring.

Art&Science

“Dancing the unseen – An immersive Art & Science workshop (pre-registration required)

Dancing the unseen invites participants to step into dialogue with the invisible. Through the lens of live microscopy, the secret lives of microbes, how they flow, cluster, and communicate are revealed and projected into the space. These fleeting, fragile worlds will be mirrored in the body, as choreographer and interactive dance artist Ning Xi guides participants to transform microscopic rhythms into human movement. Edited films will accelerate time, making imperceptible dances visible, while projected live imaging keeps us tethered to the unfolding pulse of the unseen. A soundscape created live by sound artist Cyril Leclerc using field recordings throws us into the environment, where the microorganisms are found. This workshop is both performance and experiment: a new way of sensing, moving, and relating to the tiny architectures of life that surround and sustain us. By translating microbial motion and underwater sounds into embodied expression, we uncover kinships between scales, weaving science and art into a shared language of wonder, movement, and connection.

Register here for the workshop!

“I took the one less traveled by”

The exhibit (in the Operon Foyer) presents a snapshot of the TREC expedition through the eyes of EMBL Photographers.

Practical information

General information

Registration as well as the on-site catering will be free of charge for those joining in person.

The event will be held in the Large Operon, coffee breaks will be organized in the Operon Foyer, and the side events (TREC Data Sessions, Data Hub tutorials and the Art & Science events) in Large and Small Operon (all located in Building 4 on the map below).

Lunch, dinner and evening drinks will be served in either the EMBL canteen (located in Building 11 on the map), or in the Operon Foyer in Building 4 on the map.

Please refer to the daily program to check which venue is used for the various side events and meals.

You can find general travel information to EMBL here. For more symposium-specific travel information, please see further below on this page.

Shuttle bus information

The following shuttle services will be offered in the mornings from Heidelberg downtown (Alois-Link-Platz bus stop) to EMBL and in the evenings from EMBL to Heidelberg downtown (Alois-Link-Platz bus stop). The shuttles will be run by our partner Hoffmann Reisen and will have a big EMBL sign displayed on the front windshield.

Please make sure to arrive on time, as the bus will leave after maximum a few minutes of waiting time. The evening shuttles always take the same route as the morning shuttles, but going the other direction, to Heidelberg downtown (Alois-Link-Platz bus stop) from EMBL.

To help us plan the sufficient number of shuttles, please indicate in this form, whether you plan to use the shuttle bus on each day of the event.

Shuttle schedule – Monday 1 December 2025

Morning shuttles, reaching EMBL at ~9:30 – 9:45:

9:15 from Alois-Link-Platz

9:30 from ISG Hotel

Evening shuttles leaving from EMBL at 20:45 both to Alois-Link-Platz and to ISG Hotel.

Shuttle schedule – Monday 2 December 2025

Morning shuttles, reaching EMBL at ~8:30 – 8:45:

8:15 from Alois-Link-Platz

8:30 from ISG Hotel

Evening shuttles, to Alois-Link-Platz and to ISG Hotel

22:15
23:45

Shuttle schedule – Wednesday 3 December 2025

Morning shuttles, reaching EMBL at ~9:30 – 9:45:

9:15 from Alois-Link-Platz

9:30 from ISG Hotel

End-of-symposium shuttle leaving from EMBL at 13:00 to Alois-Link-Platz.

Public transport information

Please make sure you buy a single ticket for each journey prior to boarding, or latest at the bus driver (drivers only accept cash). Information available about buying options here.

Bus 28 to EMBL (from Heidelberg Main Station)

Bus 28 (in direction of Mombertplatz) from Heidelberg Main Station South (HD Hauptbahnhof Süd), via Alois-Link-Platz, stop at EMBL