We recognize excellence in microbiology and its contribution to society through our high-profile awards programme. With the launch of two new awards, we aim to strengthen connections between academia and industry and support career development for microbiologists in applied microbiology, and help promote the importance of microbiology education.

We are pleased to announce an expansion of the FEMS Ambassador program, which was launched in 2019 to advance microbiology and support microbiologists outside Europe.

Fungi are a crucial part of the ecosystem and essential for countless applications and processes, yet research on them lags behind, and conservation efforts are less compared to other organisms.

The Flora Fauna Funga initiative aims at changing this. This starts with a name – adding “funga” when referring to the conservation of plants (flora) and animals (fauna). You can read their statement and sign it below.

“We are unthinkable without fungi, yet seldom do we think about them. It is an ignorance we can’t afford to sustain.”

A rogue researcher far out at sea has second thoughts about her mission at the last minute. The mission – upregulation of microbially-produced sulfur aerosols – can help counter the greenhouse effect. But is the science there yet? And what could be the unintended consequences?

Read the flash fiction story “Mutiny” by Gavin Douglas, winner of the #FEMSmicroBlog Writing Competition on “How Microbiology will Change our Future”.

You can now watch the recording of our recent webinar on Microbial Ecology in a Changing Climate! The interplay of microbial communities and the changing climate is a complex issue. This webinar explores the results from 3 recent papers that discover the effects of climate change on microbial ecosystems. Read the accompanying Special Issue: Microbes in a changing climate