29-Jun-2026
The 7th Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference 2026 (IBSBC2026) was a huge success, bringing together more than 250 researchers from across the world to discuss and share the latest technologies, research, and updates from within structural biology.
Taking place in Brussels from 27-29 May 2026, the conference kicked off with the second Instruct-ERIC Women in Science Workshop, which was an opportunity for the structural biology community to reflect on progress made in advancing gender equality in the field, and to discuss initiatives that grow diversity and equality in science.
The IBSBC2026 began with an opening talk from Instruct-ERIC Director Prof. Harald Schwalbe, who gave an outline of Instruct’s recent achievements, and the future directions of structural biology – a precursor to the talks then presented by speakers over the next two days.
The Ivano Bertini Award was then presented, as previous holder Martin Blackledge introduced the new winner Jose Maria Carazo of CNB-CSIC, for their work on data processing and management software for cryo-electron microscopy. The award was sponsored by Bruker Bio-Spin.
The first session on Macromolecular Design then included talks from Eva Kowalinski (EMBL Grenoble), Ansatassia Vorobieva (VIB-VUB), and Roman Jerala (Kemijski Institut), interweaved with presentations from promoted abstract speakers Lucia Ilkovicova (Masaryk University) and Anastasia Tsagkarakou (University of Naples Federico II).
The first half of the second session on New Technologies saw talks from Michael Sattler (Helmholtz Munich) and Joana Pereira (VIB.AI and KU Leuven), plus a fantastic talk from Itziar Serna-Martin, who presented latest advances in cryo-ET at ThermoFisher.
The afternoon included the poster session, in which the structural biology community truly came alive, sharing and discussing the latest developments in the field, networking, all while the Scientific Organising Committee (SOC) explored each stand to select the winner of the “Best Poster Prize”!
Promoted abstract speakers in the New Technology session included Steven de Gieter (VIB-VUB) and Shourav Saha (Paul Scherrer Institute), while the attendees were also treated to talks from Maya Topf (CSSB (LIV and UKE) and Philip Gribbon (EU-OPENSCREEN). The first day ended with a walking dinner at the historic KVS Royal Flemish Theatre in Brussels.
The second day began with another award – Prof. Daniel Hurdiss of Utrecht University was awarded the inaugural Sir David Stuart award, presented by Sir David and co-sponsored by ThermoFisher, for their work on understanding fundamental processes of positive-strand RNA viruses.
Arnaud Vanden Broeck (University of Liège) and Albert Weixlbaumer (IGBMC Strasbourg) gave talks in the follow Molecular Motors and Dynamic Systems session, which also included presentations from promoted speakers Joseph Thrush (Rosalind Franklin Institute) and Jorge Cuéllar (CNB-CSIC), plus a talk from Daniel Mathieu of Bruker BioSpin. The session was followed a trip into the Brussels Grand Place in front of the historic Bourse Building, for the group photo!
The final session of the conference, The Architecture of Life, saw talks from Han Remaut (VIB-VUB), Michal Sharon (Weizmann Institute of Science), and Savvas Savvides (Ghent University and VIB), plus a promoted talk from Maria Carrasquero-Ordaz (University of Oxford).
The conference closed with recognition of all student fellows who attended, as well as the winners of both poster prizes – Assia Khalid (ULB) won the prize presented by the SOC, and Zeynep Ilgın Kılıç (Hubrecht Institute) won the People’s Choice Award. Finally, host and head of Nanobodies4Instruct Jan Steyaert announced the location of the next Biennial Conference, which will take place May 2028 in Athens.
Thank you to everyone who attended and made the event both possible, and hugely successful. The opportunity to get the integrated structural biology community under one roof for an event is rare, but impactful, and will help to progress the field further in the coming years.
We look forward to seeing you all in Greece!
