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Keynote & Workshop Speakers
Meet our invited speakers—leading experts sharing their latest research and tools.
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Petra Bleeker

University of Amsterdam

Petra Bleeker's scientific career spans both industry and academia. Her research interests are in plant defensive metabolites, specifically phloem- and trichome-based resistance in tomato to whiteflies.

Plant Physiology - SILS - UvA

Prof. Alex Costa
University of Milan
Alex Costa is well known within the field of Calcium imaging and signaling, employing state-of-the-art fluorescence microscopy and imaging techniques to visualize Calcium dynamics.

Costa Alex | University of Milano Statale

RNDr. Jan Petrášek
Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Jan Petrášek has been working on many aspects of the phytohormone auxin. These include, but are not limited to auxin transport, auxin action and evolution of auxin responses.

Laboratory of Hormonal Regulations

Dr. Jan Götze
Free University of Berlin
The group of Jan Götze is focused on the physicochemical modeling of light harvesting complexes, using quantum chemistry to understand the photosynthetic apparatus.

Quantum Chemistry of Biological Systems

Workshops
Dr. Tom Schreiber
Gene editing
What you'll do:     
Choosing the right tool for your desired plant genome edit
Dr. Fabio Esteban Herrera Rocha
Using online bioinformatic tools
What you'll do:     
From Raw Data to Meaning: Chemical and Biological Data Analysis and Visualization with Free Online Tools
Day 1 — June 10, 2026
Check-in • Welcome • Keynote • Talks • Workshop • Posters • BBQ
08:30–09:00
☀️ Check-in at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
09:00–09:30
👋 Welcome & Opening Remarks     
Prof. Dr. Alain Tissier & PhD Representatives
09:30–10:30
🌿 Keynote lecture: Metabolic Defenses of Tomato Against Whiteflies at, and below the surface     
Speaker: Dr. Petra Bleeker
10:30–11:00
☕ Coffee break
11:00–12:00
🌱 PhD student presentations     
3 sessions: 20 min each (15 min presentation + 5 min discussion)
11:00–11:20
Sai Keerthana Nimmalagottu    — Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research
Title: Guide RNA: The molecular GPS of the cas endonuclease complex
11:20–11:40
Vanessa Brückner    — Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Title: TIGER – Tissue culture-free genome engineering for enhanced resilience
11:40–12:00
Nils Nicolai    — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: All You Need Is Heat? - Exploring Trichome Development via a Heat-induced Developmental Fate Change
12:00–13:00
🍽️ Networking Lunch
13:00–14:40
🌱 PhD student presentations    
5 sessions: 20 min each (15 min presentation + 5 min discussion)
13:00–13:20
Ben Kohnert    — Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Title: Increasing the protein use efficiency of the MAGIC-WHEAT population WM-800
13:20–13:40
David Jones    — Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research
Title: From reads to chromosomes: assembling the genomes of cool-season grasses
13:40–14:00
Yixuan Gao    — Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research
Title: Exploring the genetic basis and mechanisms of meiotic temperature resilience in wild barley
14:00–14:20
Jesarit Dithlumdub    — Wageningen University & Research
Title: Long-term natural aging under ambient conditions reveals population-specific QTLs for seed longevity in Arabidopsis thaliana
14:20–14:40
Natalie Vogelgsang    — Julius Kühn Institute
Title: Carnosic Acid and beyond: Unlocking the bioactive potential of Rosemary under central European conditions
14:45–16:00
🧪 Workshop: "Choosing the right tool for your desired plant genome edit"    
Speaker: Dr. Tom Schreiber

  This workshop focuses on matching gene editing goals with the most suitable editing tools. Through practical case studies, participants will analyze various editing scenarios and develop effective strategies for tool selection and construct design. The workshop highlights the strengths, limitations, and practical design principles behind modern genome engineering approaches.
16:00–16:30
☕ Coffee break
16:30–18:00
🪧 Poster session I    
Group A
17:00–18:00
✨ Meet the speakers    
Dr. Petra Bleeker
18:00–21:00    +
🫕 BBQ & Networking
Day 2 — June 11, 2026
Keynote • Talks • Posters • Dinner
09:00–10:00
🌿 Keynote lecture: Calcium imaging in plants, from single cell to entire organism   
Speaker: Prof. Alex Costa
10:00–10:20
☕ Coffee break
10:20–12:00
🌱 PhD student presentations   
5 sessions: 20 min each (15 min presentation + 5 min discussion)
10:20–10:40
Jan Oehlschläger   — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Calcium-dependent protein kinases and intrinsically disordered regions jointly regulate the systemic immune response in plants
10:40–11:00
Isabel Wünsche   — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Natural variation at a signaling hub links immune signaling with environment
11:00–11:20
Paul Rohn   — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Natural Variation in the Arabidopsis SRO Protein RCD1: Proteoform Function in Oxidative and Salinity Stress Tolerance
11:20–11:40
Adithya Acharya   — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Proteolytic processing of plant immune receptor kinases
11:40–12:00
Alexander L. Ciattoni   — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Engineering the Apoplastic Immune Proteases SAP1 and SAP2
12:00–13:00
🍽️ Networking Lunch
13:00–14:00
🌿 Keynote lecture: The evolutionary origin and significance of auxin and auxin transport   
Speaker: RNDr. Jan Petrasek
14:00–14:20
☕ Coffee break
14:20–16:00
🌱 PhD student presentations   
5 sessions: 20 min each (15 min presentation + 5 min discussion)
14:20–14:40
Twan C. Hofland   — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Impact of JAZ allelic variations on proteoform structure, Ja-Ile co-receptor assembly and plant performance
14:40–15:00
Frieda Rößler   — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Regulation of the Arabidopsis thaliana LOX4 jasmonate biosynthesis enzyme
15:00–15:20
Natalie Leutert   — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Impact of Natural LPR1 Proteoforms on Fe-dependent Phosphate Sensing
15:20–15:40
Ronja Lindlar   — Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Title: SMT1: A Senescence-Induced Transporter Linking Metal Homeostasis and Senescence in Arabidopsis
15:40–16:00
Lieselotte Rauh   — Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Title: PIF4-regulating (b)HLH proteins as modulators of thermomorphogenesis
16:00–17:30
🪧 Poster session II    
Group B
16:00–17:00
✨ Meet the speakers    
Prof. Alex Costa & RNDr. Jan Petrasek
17:30–18:00
🌐 IPB Campus Tour
18:00–21:00   +
💃 Conference Dinner
Day 3 — June 12, 2026
Keynote • Talks • Workshop • Closing remarks
09:00–10:15
🧪 Workshop: "From Raw Data to Meaning: Chemical and Biological Data Analysis and Visualization with Free Online Tools"     
Speaker: Dr. Fabio Herrera Rocha

  Modern chemistry and biology is increasingly driven by data, requiring accessible tools for analysis, interpretation, and visualization of information. This talk will introduce participants to the fundamentals of chemical data analysis using free and open online platforms. The session will begin with a conceptual overview of data representation, descriptors, and visualization techniques used in data science. Participants will then explore practical workflows for retrieving, analyzing, and visualizing chemical datasets using widely accessible online tools. Through interactive examples, attendees will learn how to explore molecular properties, visualize data, and identify patterns within datasets. The tutorial is designed for researchers interested in computational chemistry, bioinformatics, and data-driven scientific research, requiring little to no prior programming experience.
10:15–10:30
☕ Coffee break
10:30–11:30
🌿 Keynote lecture: Observing the unobservable: Classical and quantum simulations visualize biomolecules on the (sub-)atomic level      
Speaker: Dr. Jan Götze
11:30–12:30
🌱 PhD student presentations      
3 sessions: 20 min each (15 min presentation + 5 min discussion)
11:30–11:50
Mohammad Yousefi    — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Uncovering the mechanism of product specificity in chalcone synthase and improving it with Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents
11:50–12:10
Milica Tomic    — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: Implementing Natural Products in Cancer Therapy using Peptide-Drug Conjugates
12:10–12:30
Valentin Petrick    — Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry
Title: From slime molds to targeted cancer therapy: Natural bisindole alkaloids targeting leukemia
12:30–13:30
✨ Meet the speakers      
Dr. Jan Götze      

📋 Voting Break/ 🍽️ Lunch
13:30–14:00
🏆 Best Poster Awards & Closing Remarks
Our Donors
We gratefully acknowledge the support of our generous partners without whom this event would not take place.