The 4th edition of the Mendel Early Career Symposium will take place on May 21-22, 2026 at the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (GMI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). The GMI is part of the Vienna BioCenter (VBC) - one of Europe's most active and collaborative research hubs.  

This two-day event will bring together PhD students, postdocs, and junior group leaders/assistant professors to discuss the latest discoveries across all areas of plant science. The program will feature 10 invited speakers (spanning different career stages) and two keynote speakers, who will share both their science and their career trajectories. Eight additional talks will be selected from submitted abstracts, and all participants are encouraged to present a poster.

New this year, we will also feature a peer-learning workshop in the spirit of HDYDI (“How Do You Do It?”), an informal VBC seminar series where PhD students and postdocs teach their peers a method, tool, or practical skill that helps them thrive in science. This edition will focus on ChimeraX and AlphaFold and will provide practical guidance on interpreting experimental and predicted structures using ChimeraX. The workshop will be led by Matthias Vorländer (Institute of Molecular Pathology, VBC).

The symposium will be followed by a networking dinner at the Vienna Rathauskeller, kindly supported by the City of Vienna. 

Registration for MECS2026 is now open: Mendel Early Career Symposium 2026

Applicants for a talk should submit their abstract by March 13, 2026, and all other participants can submit abstracts for poster presentations by March 30, 2026.