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- ICoN 9 Conference a great success
ICoN 9 Conference a great success
A tear in one eye and a smile in the other, we look back at the ICoN9 conference. The Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology hosted the “International Conference on Nitrification and Related Processes” (ICoN) from June 22 to 27, 2025, in the city of Bremen in Northern Germany. ICoN is the premier conference on the nitrogen cycle that brings together academic, government, and industrial investigators to share insights and cutting-edge discoveries on the nitrogen cycle and its connection to other global processes.
“ICoN is a really important meeting for me and my colleagues and this one, ICoN9, was a wonderful scientific gathering for international nitrogen researchers.” Bess Ward, Princeton, USA
After the Early Career Researcher Workshop, the conference kicked off with an opening lecture from Jeanette Norton from the Utah State University, and the lifetime achievement lecture by Mike Jetten (Radboud University, The Netherlands), who has been instrumental in the discovery of many new nitrogen-cycling microorganisms.
This was followed by the U Bremen Research Alliance Workshop on Oceanic Nitrogen Cycling and four days of sessions on nitrogencycling in different environments, new research on the metabolism, physiology and biochemistry of the organisms involved in the nitrogen cycle and insights into new methods. Furthermore, the application of the nitrogen cycling microorganisms in industrial settings such as agriculture and wastewater treatment were presented and discussed, with an aim to solve issues such as nitrogen pollution and global warming.
On Friday after the end of the official conference, the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology hosted another workshop on Biological Nitrification Inhibition. The conference’s scientific program was complemented by an excursion to the institute’s labs and workshops.
“IcoN9 has been truly unforgettable — from the outstanding quality of the presentations to the perfect balance between scientific content and space for social exchange. A fantastic experience from start to finish.” Michele Laureni, TU Delft, NL
“The ICoN conferences have been the cornerstone of global nitrification research since 2009. As with the other ICoN conferences, ICoN9 opened opportunities to many early career researchers to share their projects on the main stage, and provided them with precious networking space aimed at enhancing their ideas and growing interest in the field of nitrification research.” Lisa Stein, University of Alberta, CA
More than 200 participants from all over the world took part in the conference and helped to make it a big success. The were lively discussions during the sessions as well during the poster presentations. Many researchers took the opportunity to get in touch and exchange ideas and start new collaborations.
We thank all the participants, the organizers and the many helping hands to make the ICoN9 conference such an outstanding and enjoyable event! We are already looking forward to ICoN10, which will be hosted by Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, South Korea in 2027.
“After a very successful ICoN9 here in Bremen, hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, I would like to thank all the attendees for making this a very exciting and vibrant ICoN! I am grateful to all my colleagues that helped make this possible, and our supporters, in particular Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology as well as German Research Foundation DFG, U Bremen Research Alliance, International Society for Microbial Ecology and PyroScience GmbH.” Boran Kartal, MPIMM, DE
Further information
Group leader
Microbial Physiology Research Group
MPI for Marine Microbiology
Celsiusstr. 1
D-28359 Bremen
Germany
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3126 |
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Impressions from ICoN9 in Bremen
