For my PhD I’m looking at genes involved in the colonisation of biocontrol (beneficial) bacteria on plant surfaces. Along with the challenge of filtering out predatory conferences, it was really frustrating trying to find meetings that would be relevant for my research area. So I thought I’d share my search strategy and the events I found so you can save time and get a head start.

There’s so many different synonyms for conference –> meeting, symposium, congress, conference, forum, seminar, event, and so on… I wanted to broaden my search without having to do every combination of words to find relevant events, so I devised a shortcut. Keywords that identified for my area of study are: plant, soil, rhizosphere, plant-microbe, microbiology, beneficial bacteria and biocontrol. I googled each keyword along with the year I was looking for. Still a lot of searches, but waaaay less than if I had to include every synonym for conference.

This is the list of conferences I came up with (in chronological order) and a summary of the information I noted down. Based on past conference dates I’ve guessed some conference timings (I’ve noted them as predicted). Please let me know if you have more information on any conferences listed here or other conferences that fit in my list. As I find more conferences or more details I’ll update the list*.

Enjoy!

*last updated 15 February 2020

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2020

Plant and Animal Genome XXVIII
January 11-15, 2020 – San Diego, California, USA

16th Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union
March 23-27, 2020 – Limassol, Cyprus

Microbiology Society Annual Conference
March 31-April 3, 2020 – Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Plant Biology Europe 2020
(bi-annual event jointly organised by EPSO and FESPB)
June 29-July 2 – Turin, Italy

14th International Conference on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria (ICPPB)
June 7-12, 2020 – Assisi, Umbria, Italy

IOBC-WPRS Working Groups “Integrated Plant Protection in Fruit Crops”, Sub Group “Pome Fruit Diseases”
June 15-18, 2020 – Plovdiv, Bulgaria

ASM Microbe 2020
June 18-22, 2020 – Chicago, Illinois, USA

25th International Conference on Virus and other Graft Transmissible Diseases of Fruit Crops
June 22-26, 2020 – Amersfoort, The Netherlands

8th Conference on Beneficial Microbes
July 12-16, 2020 – Madison, Wisconsin, USA

ASPB Plant Biology 2020
July 25-29, 2020 – Washington DC, USA

IOBC-WPRS Working Groups “Integrated Control in Protected Crops, Temperate and Mediterranean Climate”
August 31–September 3, 2020 – Brest, France

Plant Health, Agriculture & Bioscience conference (PHAB 2020)
September 9-11, 2020 – The Hague, Netherlands

Asian Conference on Plant Pathology 2020 (ACPP 2020)
September 15-18, 2020 – Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki, Japan

Combio 2020
September 29 – October 2, 2020 – Melbourne, Australia
Incorporates annual meetings of five Australian and New Zealand biological societies

International Plant Health Conference
October 5-8, 2020 – Helsinki, Finland
‘Protecting Plant Health in a Changing World’ – one of the key events of the International Year of Plant Health

Harnessing the Plant Microbiome
October 23-25, 2020 – University of California, Davis, USA
Announced on Nature Conferences

13th Arab Conference of Plant Protection
November 1-6, 2020 – Hammamat, Tunisia

11th Australasian Soilborne Disease Symposium
November 24-27, 2020 – Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Predicted: 10th meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Working Group “Biological and Integrated Control of Plant Pathogens”

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2021

Plant and Animal Genome XXIX
January 9-13, 2021 – San Diego, California, USA

ASM Microbe 2021
3-7 June, 2021 – Anaheim, California

XIX Congress of International Society of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
25-29 June 2021 – Jeju, Korea

13th International Congress on Plant Molecular Biology (IPMB2021)
October 24-28, 2021 – Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Triennial conference (last one held in 2018)

Predicted: AusME – Australian Microbial Ecology conference
(held every 2 years – last one 2019)

ISRR 11th International Symposium
Predicted: Missouri, USA (provisional)

Biennial conference of Australasian Plant Pathology Society
Hobart, Tasmania
(held every 2 years – last one 2019)

Predicted: 12th International Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Workshop
(Held every 3 years – last one 2018)

Predicted: Micrope2021
(Held every 2 years – last one 2019)

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2022

Predicted: 5th International Symposium on Biological Control of Bacterial Plant Diseases
(Held every 3 years – last one 2019)

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2023

ICPP2023: 12th International Plant Protection Congress
“ONE HEALTH for all plants, crops and trees”
(Held every 5 years)
August 20-25, 2023 – Lyon, France

XX IBC 2023
July 1-7, 2023 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Predicted: Rhizosphere6
(Held every 4 years? last one 2019, one before 2015)

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Past conferences: 2018

2nd Plant Microbiome Symposium
February 19-21, 2018 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Microbiology Society Annual Conference 2018
April 10-13 – Birmingham, UK

XV Meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Working Group “Biological and integrated control of plant pathogens” – Biocontrol products: from lab testing to product development
International Organisation for Biological and Integrated Control (IOBC)
April 23-26, 2018 Lleida, Catalonia, Spain

1st International Congress of Biological Control
May 14-16, 2018 – Beijing, China

ASM Microbe 2018
June 7-11, 2018 – Atlanta, Georgia, USA

11th International Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Workshop
(Held every 3 years)
June 17-21, 2018 – Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Plant Biology Europe 2018
June 18-21, 2018 – Copenhagen, Denmark

Plant Biotic Stresses & Resistance Mechanisms III
July 2-3, 2018 – Vienna, Austria

SEB Masters of Biology
July 3-6, 2018

7th Conference on Beneficial Microbes
July 8-11, 2018 – Madison Wisconsin

ISRR-10 Exposing the Hidden Half: Root Research at the Forefront of Science
July 8-12, 2018 – Israel

ASPB Plant Biology 2018
July 14-18 – Montreal, Canada

11th International Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP): Plant Health in a Global Economy
(Held every 5 years)
July 29-August 3, 2018 – Boston, USA

ICOBM-2018 International Conference on Beneficial Microbes: Microbes for the Benefit of Mankind
August 1-3, 2018 – Kuching, Malaysia

10th Australasian Soilborne Diseases Symposium
September 4-7, 2018 – Adelaide, Australia

ComBio 2018
September 23-26, 2018 – Sydney, Australia

1st International Conference on Biological Control: Approaches and Applications
September 27-29, 2018 – Bengaluru, India

Microbes Underpinning Agriculture: Focused Meeting 2018
October 1-2, 2018 – Cork, Ireland

AusBiotech 2018
October 31-November 2, 2018 – Brisbane, Australia

International Symposium of the Plant Microbiome: Exploration of Plant-Microbe Interactions for Improving Agricultural Productivity
November 18-22, 2018 – Hurghada Egypt

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Past conferences: 2019

Plant and Animal Genome XXVII
January 12-16, 2019 – San Diego, California, USA

8th International Conference on Polar and Alpine Microbiology
February 4-8, 2019 – Hamilton, New Zealand

AusME – Australian Microbial Ecology conference
February 11-13, 2019 – University of Western Australia

19th International Meeting on Visualising Biological Data
13-15 March, 2019 – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

Microbiology Society Annual Conference 2019
April 8-11, 2019 – Belfast Waterfront, UK

ASM Microbe 2019
June 20-24, 2019 – San Francisco, California, USA

Biopesticide Summit 2019
July 2-3, 2019 – Swansea University, Swansea, UK

Rhizosphere5
July 7-11, 2019 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

8th Congress of European Microbiologists (FEMS)
July 7-11, 2019 – Glasgow, Scotland

4th International Symposium on Biological Control of Bacterial Plant Diseases
July 9-11, 2019 – Viterbo, Italy

New Approaches and Concepts in Microbiology (Symposium)
9-12 July, 2019 – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

Canadian Soil Science annual meeting
July 9-13, 2019 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Gordon Research Conference & Seminar
July 13-19, 2019 – Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, USA

XVIII International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (ISMPMI)
July 14-18, 2019 – Glasgow, Scotland

17th International Conference on Pseudomonas
July 22-26, 2019 – Malaysia

2019 International Congress on Invertebrate Pathology and Microbial Control
(52nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology)
(17th Meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Working Group “Microbial and Nematode Control of Invertebrate Pests”)
July 28-August 1, 2019 – Valencia, Spain

ASPB Plant Biology 2019
August 3-7, 2019 – San Jose, California, USA

Plant Health 2019
American Phytopathological Society annual meeting
August 3-7, 2019 Cleveland, Ohio, USA

6th International Conference on Bacterial Blight and Bacterial Leaf Streak of Rice
August 18-22, 2019 – Cantho City, Vietnam

Arms Race: The Evolution of Plant Pathogens and Their Hosts
September 2-3, 2019 – Bristol, UK

3rd Wild Plant Pathosystems Conference
September 16-19, 2019 – close to Frankfurt, Germany

Biocontrol Asia
September 25-27, 2019 – Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

9th meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Working Group “Integrated Protection in Oak Forests”
October 7-11, 2019 – Oeiras, Portugal

2nd Biopesticides North America Conference
October 9-10, 2019 – Orlando, Florida, USA

Meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Working Group “Integrated Protection of Field Vegetables”
October 13-16, 2019 – Stratford-upon-Avon, UK

ABIM 2019, Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM)
October 21-23, 2019 – Basel, Switzerland

Meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Working Group “Integrated Protection in Viticulture”
November 5-8, 2019 – Vila Real, Portugal

XIX International Plant Protection Congress (IPPC2019)
November 10-14, 2019 – Hyderabad, India

Plant BioProTech 2019: 2nd International Symposium on Plant Bioprotection Sciences and Technologies
November 19-22, 2019 – Marrakesh, Morocco

Advances in Biocontrol and IPM 2019: Addressing the Innovation Crisis
November 20-21, 2019 – Lincolnshire, UK

22nd Biennial Australasian Plant Pathology Society conference
November 25-28, 2019 – Melbourne, Australia

4th Australian Pathogen Bioinformatic Symposium (APBS)
Additional ‘workshop’ for Australasian Plant Pathology Society conference
November 25, 2019 – Melbourne Australia

Australian Society of Plant Scientists (ASPS) conference
November 24-29, 2019 – Melbourne, Australia

Ecological Society of Australia conference
November 24-29, 2019 – Hobart, Australia

New Zealand Microbiological Society (NZMS) annual conference
November 25-28, 2019 – Palmerston North, New Zealand

VIII Congress on Plant Protection: “Integrated Plant Protection for Sustainable Crop Production and Forestry
November 25-29, 2019 – Zlatibor, Serbia

Micrope2019 International Symposium: Microbe-Assisted Crop Production – Opportunities, Challenges and Needs
December 2-5, 2019 – Vienna, Austria

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