Welcome Message

Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends,  

It is our great pleasure to invite you to participate in the 45th FEBS Congress, entitled “Molecules of Life: Towards New Horizons“, which will be held as a virtual event from July 3th to July 8th, 2021, hosted by the Slovenian Biochemical Society together with the Croatian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The 45th FEBS Congress was planned originally to be held in July 2020 in Ljubljana, Slovenia (with the preceding FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum (YSF) in Lovran, Croatia). However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the arrangements had to change: first, the Congress was postponed to July 2021 in the expectation that in-person international events would be able to proceed again by then, and now, faced with the reality of the continuing pandemic situation, it will convert to an online experience. As the host societies for the 45th FEBS Congress, the Slovenian Biochemical Society and the Croatian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology are still hoping to bring a little flavour of the originally planned locations of the Congress and YSF to the virtual events.

We are aware that a virtual Congress cannot be equal to a physical one, particularly regarding social interactions, but there are some benefits as well and we will do our best to ensure that it keeps attractive features of the previous FEBS Congresses, such as excellent scientific presentations and discussions, poster sessions and interesting special sessions and workshops. The Congress will feature an impressive number of distinguished scientists presenting key research findings on biochemistry and molecular biology and other related disciplines.

Besides prestigious plenary and invited symposium lectures, various shorter talks (short, speed and early-bird) and poster sessions will give the opportunity to most participants to present their work at the Congress. The program includes also a range of science-related educational and social topics as well as an exhibition and updates from non-academic partners and industry.  

We are therefore pleased to be able to offer the FEBS Congress this year in a new, reimagined format to suit this extraordinary time of the COVID pandemic. It is a period when science has provided solutions to a global problem, and also when researchers and educators may need extra support and encouragement from coming together as a community.

On behalf of the Slovenian Biochemical Society, the Croatian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Federation of the European Biochemical Societies (FEBS), you are cordially invited to join us at the 45th FEBS Congress.

Yours faithfully, 
Janko Kos 
Congress Chair