NVBMB prize and Westenbrink award winners, Speaker of the Year lectures in April, NVBMB Spring Meeting in May, call for nominations for the Westenbrink prize, and more.

Dr. Tony Hyman will give three lectures in The Netherlands. These lectures are open for the public. For more information, please contact the local hosts. You can download the poster here.

"Phase separation in cell physiology and disease"

Mon 22 april 14.30 h Technical University Eindhoven
ICMS 0.31 (Building Ceres), Groene Loper 3, 5612 AE Eindhoven
Host: prof. Luc Brunsveld (l.brunsveld@tue.nl)

Tue 23 april 15.30 h  Wageningen University
Orion building room C1005, Bronland 1, Building 103, 6708 WH Wageningen
Host: Dr. Jan Willem Borst (janwillem.borst@wur.nl)

Wed 24 april 16.00 h Vrije Universiteit
Auditorium O|2 Building, De Boelelaan 1108, 1081HZ Amsterdam
Host: Dr. Yves Bollen (yves.bollen@vu.nl)

The NVBMB prize is handed out  every year to highly talented young independent biochemist or molecular biologist working in the Netherlands. This year, the NVBMB prize has been awarded to Dr. Christian Büll, Radboud University to acknowledge his groundbreaking work and innovative contributions to glycobiology. Dr. Büll's impact extends beyond his field into areas like cell biology and tumor immunology. He will organize the NVBMB fall meeting 2024 about Glycobiology Advancements.

The H.G.K. Westenbrink Prize 2022-2023 has been awarded to Mandy Koopman for her thesis entitled ‘From cellular vulnerability to altered circuit activity: a systems biology approach to study amyotrophic lateral sclerosis’. The research was conducted in the group of Ellen Nollen, at the University of Groningen. Koopmans used highly innovative approaches to find means to address the complex disease ALS. The Westenbrink award will be presented to Mandy Koopman at the NVBMB's Spring Symposium in 2024 at the University of Twente.

Thursday, May 30, 2024
University of Twente in Enschede

As the production of data surpasses the capability for manual analysis, grasping the basic concepts of AI has become crucial. This symposium will help participants to enhance their skills in understanding complex biological systems, predicting molecular interactions, and modeling dynamic processes. 

The next General Assembly (ALV) of NVBMB members will take place during the lunch break of the Spring Symposium in Enschede (see above) on Thursday May 30 (12:30-13:15h).

Agenda:

1. Opening
2. Minutes ALV 2023
3. Short report on board changes and activities organized in the past year
4. Financial annual report 2023 and budget 2024
5. Election of new board members
6. FEBS Congress in NL
7. Closing

Ad 4. Members can request the financial report by sending an email to nvbmb@kncv.nl.

Ad 5. Luc Brunsveld, Toon de Kroon and Dirk-Jan Slotboom are leaving the board. We thank Luc, Toon, and Dirk-Jan for all their valuable contributions to the society. Janine Post replaces Luc as Chair, Roy van der Meel replaces Toon as treasurer and the board proposes as new board member Arjan Kortholt (RU Groningen). Other candidates for membership of the NVBMB board should send an e-mail (including a short CV) before April 22 to nvbmb@kncv.nl.

When: 4-8 July 2026
Where: MECC Maastricht

NVBMB, together with FEBS organizes the annual FEBS congress in 2026 in Maastricht (MECC conference centre). This 50th FEBS conference will be chaired by Ineke Braakman (Utrecht University). Topics will include infection and immunity, plant hormone signaling, super molecular assemblies, biomolecular condensates, host microbial interaction, organoids systems biology, lipid metabolism, receptor-ligand interactions, carbon fixation and single cell biology. Join us on 4-8 July 2026 at this exciting event.

The H.G.K. Westenbrink prize is awarded each year to the best PhD thesis in the area of biochemistry and molecular biology in the previous academic year. We invite you to nominate candidates before July 15, 2024. Please note the following:

• candidates can only be nominated by their promotor or co-promotor;
• candidates have to defend at a Dutch university but need not be of Dutch nationality;
• the research should be in the broad area of the molecular life sciences

Check out the NVBMB home page for events and meetings in the field of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.