European Culture Collections' Organisation
The organizers of the XLIV ECCO Meeting are pleased to welcome you to the University of the Azores in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island (Azores, Portugal), from 14th to 16th September 2026. The theme of this year’s meeting will be: “Integrative OMICS for a Changing Planet: New Frontiers in Taxonomy, […]
The European Commission has published a practical guide for researchers in the EU, which explains key ABS terms and concepts and describes the steps researchers should follow to comply with Regulation (EU) No 511/2014. The document is available here: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2779/0071515 and here. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2779/0071515
International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS) organise IUMS Biennial Congress 2026 on 4-6 November 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal.
The Culture Collection of algae and Protozoa are thrilled to announce the next in-person training course that will take place at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Oban, on the 28 and 29th of October. This two day course in a mix of hands-on lab practical classes and lectures. […]
Registration for ECCO XLIII (Utrecht. the Netherlands) is now open! The organisers (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute) of this year’s ECCO meeting are pleased to welcome you to Utrecht, the Netherlands, from 15th to 17th September. For more information and to register visit the meeting website: eccomeeting2025.org
Venue & Date Programs Social Poster Back to ECCO XLII . . The importance of fungi for food security under climate change scenario, Lene Lange Fungi in marine plastisphere: ecological role and biotechnological potential, Federica Spina, Giulia Stilo, Francesco Venice, Anita Fiorin, Alessia Reginato, Matteo Florio Furno, Pierangiola Bracco, Maya […]
Dear all, I have the pleasure to inform you that registration for the FREE Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “Biobanking” from Institut Pasteur Paris is now open! How has biobanking evolved in recent years? What are the different biobanks and for which purposes? By the end of the course, you […]
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Back to ECCO XLII . .
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Poster Back to ECCO XLII .
The position paper on Exchange of strains between Culture Collections discusses the impact, advantages, and pitfalls related to the exchange of strains among ECCO collections and proposes new terms for cooperation. It is now published here and in Zenodo in this link: https://zenodo.org/records/14558612.
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . Presentation Dear Colleagues, we are very pleased to announce that the XLII European Culture Collections’ Organisation (ECCO) meeting will be held in the amazing city of Bari (Apulia region, Southern Italy), from 18 to 20 September 2024. The ECCO meeting is organised by the Institute of Sciences of Food Production of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISPA), and sponsored by the CNR-ISPA Agri-food Microbial Culture Collection (ITEM), and the International Society on Mycotoxicology. The meeting will be focused on the study, management and valorisation of Microbe & Microbiome, as biological resources and bio-systems crucial tools for a better understanding of biological systems, to support quality of life and promote the transition towards a better planet. The conference promotes a holistic and integrated approach on the value of microbial resources and Microbial Biological Research Centers (mBRCs): i) to support basic and applied transdisciplinary sciences, ii) as resilience factors to deal with global changes and sustainable development, and iii) to promote human and animal health in the framework of a OneHealth perspective. ECCO supports cooperation and scientific exchanges concerning all the activities of mBRCs. Annual ECCO meetings represent an opportunity for the scientific community of the field, to discuss current trends and future development in the culture collections activities. We would like to invite you to be part of the XLII ECCO meeting that will take place at “Sala Aldo Moro” (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, near the central train station and the wonderful historic city centre. In colaboration with: Sponsors Platinum: Silver: Others:
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . Welcome to ECCO XLI – 2023The impact of microbial resources in healthcare, agriculture and ecology Presentation The BCCM Consortium is delighted to invite you to the 41st ECCO meeting in Brussels, Belgium, from 19th to 22nd of September 2023! ECCO XLI is organised back to back with the celebration of 40 years BCCM, so we happily invite all ECCO participants to also join us at our anniversary event on 19th of September. Together, we will attend a scientific symposium, as well as the official opening of the BCCM expo. For the first time, ECCO will be assigning grants to a selected number of young scientists to support them in attending the scientific meeting. This year’s venue is the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, a renowned research institute as well as a stunning public museum. This inspiring location will take you from the very macroscopic world of dinosaurs to the microscopic world of our beloved micro-organisms, and back. Welcome to Brussels! The organising committee
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . Presentation Dear ECCO members and interested colleagues, On behalf of the ECCO Board, the Leibniz Institute DSMZ cordially invites you to the ECCO XL Conference from 27 – 29 September, 2022 in Braunschweig, Germany, and to the excursions offered on 30 September, 2022. Join us to discuss New Horizons in Accessing Microbial Diversity – this year’s motto of ECCO XL. We will have the opportunity to assess The role of Culture Collections in Understanding and Mitigating Global Challenges as well as The Future of Digital Collections. The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing, which entered into force on 12 October, 2014, remains more relevant than ever. Hence, Challenges of Sharing and Exchanging Resources will be another prominent topic of our meeting. And finally, the two additional topics Emerging Collections and New Services are expected to uncover innovative future perspectives. We are very much looking forward to welcoming you in Braunschweig! Best regards, Jörg Overmann and the DSMZ Organizing Committee
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . Presentation On behalf of the ECCO Board and the Local Organising Committee, Public Health England (PHE) Culture Collections would like to invite you to attend the 39th Annual Meeting of the European Culture Collections’ Organisation. About the virtual meeting Through six focussed sessions this virtual meeting aims to celebrate and debate culture collections, their history, present-day relevance and applications, and future direction. Topics include: the role, validation and use of culture collections access and benefit sharing contributions to research and collaborative projects microbiomes and the challenges of microbiome biobank development the need for quality, safety, biosecurity and transportation standards advances in bioinformatics and data management Aims and objectives ECCO annual meetings are a valuable forum for discussion and innovation on the future development of member collection activities. This year the meeting is hosted by Public Health England’s Culture Collections. The aim of the meeting is to promote collaboration and exchange of ideas and information about all aspects of culture collection activity. . . Organizers, sponsors, collaborators We would like to thank the sponsors for their support of the following sessions and the poster and oral presentation prizes at ECCO XXXIX. Session 1: Validation and use of culture collections (Wednesday 22 September) NCMIB Ltd NCIMB Ltd curates UK’s National Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria and provides a range of microbiology, analytical and biological material storage services for industry and academia. The name of our culture collection reflects its history rather than what it contains today – it includes thousands of ACDP category 1 and 2 organisms from all kinds of environments around the world including marine, soil, freshwater, foodstuffs and more. We work with companies of all sizes from the food, drink, dietary supplement, agriculture, pharmaceutical and oil and gas sectors – helping them to manage the organisms they use in their projects, products and processes, as well as helping them to identify and monitor microbes that are potentially problematic. www.ncimb.com Session 2: Nagoya Protocol and ABS (Wednesday 22 September) UK Biological Resource Centre Network (UKBRCN) The United Kingdom Biological Resource Centre Network (UKBRCN) was established to coordinate the activities of the UK national service collections of microbial organisms. The UK has a thriving medical and life sciences research and development community and biological resource centres play an important role in providing researchers with a wide range of authentic biological cultures for their research. The UKBRCN comprises of 14 partner collections; you can find out more information by searching the databases of the individual culture collections. www.ukbrcn.org Session 3: Microbiomes (Thursday 23 September) Microbiology Society The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects and their practical uses. It is one of the largest microbiology societies in Europe with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM)is published by the Microbiology Society and owned by the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP), a committee of the Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology Division of the International Union of Microbiological Societies. IJSEM is the leading forum for the publication of novel microbial taxa and the ICSP’s official journal of record for prokaryotic names. www.microbiologyresearch.org Session 4: Culture Collections projects and research (Thursday 23 September) Diversity Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818; https://www.mdpi.com/journal/diversity；Impact Factor 2.465) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal on the science of biodiversity from molecules, genes, populations, and species, to ecosystems. Manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision provided to authors approximately 14.1 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 3.6 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the first half of 2021). www.mdpi.com/journal/diversity Session 5: Standards (quality, safety, biosecurity and transportation) (Friday 24 September) PHE Culture Collections Public Health England is the custodian of four unique collections of expertly preserved, authenticated cell lines, bacteria, viruses and fungi of known provenance for use in medical science and laboratory healthcare. Scientists across the world use Culture Collections’ cell lines and microbial strains as controls for clinical diagnostics, environmental microbiology testing, quality control and validation studies, and in disease research and drug discovery. Bacterial and fungal strains are available in a freeze-dried (lyophilised) format. Viruses and cell lines are supplied as cryopreserved ampoules of living viruses/cells. Global distribution, including the shipment of restricted items, is underpinned by our subject matter experts in biosecurity and dangerous goods safety. www.culturecollections.org.uk Session 6: Bioinformatics and data management (Friday 24 September) NCMIB NCIMB Ltd curates UK’s National Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria and provides a range of microbiology, analytical and biological material storage services for industry and academia. The name of our culture collection reflects its history rather than what it contains today – it includes thousands of ACDP category 1 and 2 organisms from all kinds of environments around the world including marine, soil, freshwater, foodstuffs and more. We work with companies of all sizes from the food, drink, dietary supplement, agriculture, pharmaceutical and oil and gas sectors – helping them to manage the organisms they use in their projects, products and processes, as well as helping them to identify and monitor microbes that are potentially problematic. www.ncimb.com
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . . Presentation Dear Colleagues, The University of Turin together with the Mycotheca Universitatis, Taurinensis (MUT) and the Turin University Culture Collections (TUCC) are delighted to invite you to the 38th Annual Meeting of the European Culture Collections’ Organisation (ECCO) which will be held in Turin (Italy), from 12th to 14th June 2019 at the University of Turin. The focus of ECCO 2019 is on “Microorganisms as tools to win the current societal challenges and support European strategies in bioeconomy”. Microorganisms are expected to play a pivotal role in the progress of bio-economy, allowing the achievement of the long-term goal to develop a competitive, resource-efficient and low carbon economy by 2050, as established by the European Commission. The ECCO 2019 meeting is aimed at providing an insight into the innovation ecosystem promoted by Culture Collections and shows its influence in policymaking and sustainable bio-economy in the European Union, whose market is currently about € 2.4 billions and employs 22 million people. The transition in a changed EU policy context and towards a new environmental, social and economic reality, will rely on the advancement in technology of a range of processes, as well on the achievement of a breakthrough in terms of technical performances and cost effectiveness, and will depend on the availability of sustainable biomasses and advanced knowledge on the potentialities of microorganisms. In this landscape, the microbial Biological Resource Centers (mBRCs) are fundamental to guarantee to Bioscience and Bioindustry not only to access to a broad range of high quality bioresources and the latest technology but also to foster knowledge transfer, education and training. We look forward to seeing you in Turin. The Organizing Committee . . Organizers, sponsors, collaborators . . . . . .
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . . Presentation Dear Colleagues, The European Culture Collections’ Organisation (ECCO) and the consortium of Russian collections of microorganisms invite you to the XXXVII ECCO meeting to be held in Moscow 13-15 September, 2018. The success of previous ECCO meetings demonstrates that personal contacts among the active professionals from culture collections are of great importance for exchanging best practices in this field and are not replaceable by the modern technical communication tools.Activities related to culture collections are multifaceted. Microorganisms are in the focus of attention. Culturing of previously non-culturable microorganisms and gaining insight into microbial associations change our perception of them from a “thing-in-itself” to a “thing-for-us”. Cultivable microorganisms and microbiomes should be studied and preserved with minimal losses to provide different customers with standard high-quality biomaterials. Culture collections, having the status of Core Facilities, are expected to follow the commonly accepted and approved practices in biosafety, biosecurity and legitimate transfer of genetic resources. The ways to achieve these goals will be discussed at the XXXVII ECCO 2018 meeting. The meeting will follow the spirit and style of the previous ECCO meetings. . . Organizers, sponsors, collaborators . .
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . . Presentation The European Culture Collections’ Organisation (ECCO) and the Czech Collection of Microorganisms (CCM) invite you to the XXXVI ECCO meeting held at the Masaryk University Campus in Brno from September 13 to September 15, 2017. The aim of the ECCO 2017 meeting is to develop a platform for contacts and discussions between experts from culture collections to support cooperation between professionals in this field. The meeting will follow the spirit and style of the previous ECCO meetings. The program will include presentations from guest speakers, oral talks and poster sessions. We hope to have the honour of welcoming you to the ECCO 2017 meeting in Brno. Best regards,Organising Committee . Organizers, sponsors, collaborators . The ECCO 2017 meeting is organised by the Czech Collection of Microorganisms on behalf of the European Culture Collections’ Organisation .
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . . Presentation We are proud to announce the next ECCO meeting that will be held in Aberdeen, Scotland between the 2nd and the 4th of November 2016.
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . . Presentation The Biological Resource Centre of Institut Pasteur (CRBIP) organizes the ECCO meeting 2015 which will be held at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France from May 27th to 29th. The meeting brings together the European community of professionals on Microbial Culture Collections, and will address the future challenges of Biological Resource Centres regarding the adaptation to the needs and requirements of academics and bio-industry. The theme of the ECCO XXXIV is: “European Culture Collections as tools in research and biotechnology”. The meeting will be focus on taxonomy/ evolution, biodiversity, omics, regulations and news about MIRRI (Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure: www.mirri.org) and other ESFRI infrastructures. Dr. Ilse Cleenwerck of the BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection will give a presentation at ECCO2015 entitled “New insights in the taxonomy of plant-pathogenic and -associated bacteria in the Enterobacteriaceae, based on MLSA data”Collection: BCCM coordination cellBCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection . . Organizers, sponsors, collaborators . .
Venue & Date Programs Presentations Social Poster . . Presentation On behalf of the ECCO Board and the Organizing Committee, the CECT cordially invites you to attend the 33rd Annual Meeting of the European Culture Collections’ Organisation, which will be held at the Conference Centre ADEIT–Fundación Universidad-Empresa situated in the historic down town of Valencia.With the motto ‘Molecular Taxonomy: from biodiversity to biotechnology’ and through six symposia, we hope to foster debate in aspects related to advances in microbial isolation and preservation, molecular methods for identification and community analysis, biotechnological applications of microorganisms, patent issues, access and benefit sharing, information exchange among data-bases, public services, … We are looking forward to seeing you in Valencia!Rosa AznarCECT Director . . Organizers, sponsors, collaborators . .
