Cyano 2023: Eighth VAAM Young Scientists Symposium on Cyanobacteria.

The aim of Cyano is to provide a platform for exchange and networking between young scientists as well as to bring the upcoming generation of science to the fore. By having a young audience, participants are also encouraged to actively participate in the question and answer session, which this year's participants did with commitment.

With 15 talks by PhDs and post-docs and five talks by experienced keynote speakers, Cyano 2023 offered a variety of research presentations that provided a comprehensive overview of current research topics and advances in cyanobacterial work. Furthermore, all participants had the opportunity to present their research in two poster sessions. During these sessions, numerous ideas were exchanged and plans for future collaborations were made. In particular, the toolkits of Alistair McCormick and Stephan Klähn, which aim to make modular vectors and genetic elements for model organisms such as Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 available to the general public, should be of great interest to many.

This year's poster award was decided by a vote of all participants, resulting in the selection of three outstanding posters: Congratulations to Sadanand Gupta, Elena Carrasquer-Alvarez and Jonas Hammerl!

 The VAAM as organizer and the University of Kassel as venue made Cyano 2023 possible. Many thanks also to the co-organizers Frauke Caliebe, Johanna Caliebe, Nadine Strabel and Marius Theune from the AG Gutekunst. Many thanks also to the other members of the AG Gutekunst, who actively supported us in the set-up and daily routine on the conference days. We would also like to thank our sponsors NEB, Sarstedt and Starlab, who were kind enough to provide lab-related giveaways.

More information about the Department of Molecular Plant Physiology Bioenergetics in Photoautotrophs at the University of Kassel: Molecular Plant Physiology Bioenergetics in Photoautotrophs.

Author: Florian Paul

Contact: ag_gutekunst@uni-kassel.de