BOKU hosted three major scientific events

The 8th Austrian Microbiome Initiative (AMICI) Symposium (September 22), the Austrian Bioinformatics (ATBI) Workshop 2025 (September 23), and the Core Facilities and Research Data Management (RDM) Workshop (September 24). Over the three days, around 250 researchers, clinicians, and industry representatives came together, reflecting the growing importance of microbiome science, bioinformatics, and research infrastructure.

At the AMICI Symposium, keynote lectures by Christian Rinke (University of Innsbruck), Ilke De Boeck (University of Antwerp), and Martin Hartmann (ETH Zürich) framed a wide-ranging program on microbial diversity, environmental monitoring, and clinical microbiome applications. The event reaffirmed AMICI’s role as Austria’s central platform for microbiome research and collaboration.

The ATBI Workshop 2025 featured keynote talks by Robin Schmid (mzio GmbH) and Brona Brejova (Comenius University Bratislava), addressing advances in metabolomics and applications of machine learning in bioinformatics. Complementing these themes, presentations and poster sessions by early-career scientists showcased a vibrant range of new computational tools, innovative multi-omics integration methods, and AI-driven genomics approaches - many of which are supported by the rapidly expanding Austrian Scientific Cluster (ASC) infrastructure.

The Core Facilities and RDM Workshop brought together speakers from Austria and abroad to discuss implementation strategies, digital tools, and future perspectives for research data management. A key theme was the development of harmonized national approaches, with participants emphasizing the importance of coordination and shared infrastructures and expertise across institutions.

Together, these three events fostered interdisciplinary exchange and strengthened BOKU’s position as a hub for collaborative, data-driven research in Austria.