Lucija Podrzaj: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria Meeting: ASM Microbe 2022, Washington, D.C, United States of America Dates: 9 - 13 June 2022 FEMS Member Society Membership: Austrian Society for Hygiene, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine ‘I am a third year PhD Student at University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria. My research focuses on characterization of Clostridium tyrobutyricum by studying the phenotypical and genotypic diversity of C. tyrobutyricum strains to understand their ability to cause late blowing defect in cheese. ASM Microbe 2022, organized by American Society of Microbiology (ASM), is the largest gathering of microbiologists in the world and the only meeting in the field that explores the full scope of microbiology - from basic science to translational and clinical application. This year, the meeting was held in June 9th-2th in Washington D.C. (USA). I applied for a FEMS grant as I hoped it will give me the opportunity to increase the chance of getting my work visible, network with peers and develop potential collaborations. Being awarded a FEMS Attendance Grant granted me the fantastic opportunity of attending the ASM Microbe Conference in Washington, DC. Here I presented a poster on my research on genomic diversity of Clostridium tyrobutyricum. Not only did this enable me to practice presentation skills, but it also gave me the opportunity to network and discuss my research with experts, opening the possibility of collaborations in the future. I also had the privilege of enjoying a range of talks from across the entire spectrum of microbiology research. Without the FEMS Meeting Attendance grant, my attendance to the conference would have been difficult. Thank you very much once again for this opportunity!’’ |