Final Report
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 MECHANISMS IN BIOLOGY St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013 St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Contents Organizing Committee and PCO 2 Number of participants 7 Fellowships awarded to young scientists 8 Russian visa support 12 Number of speakers 13 Overview of scientific program 14 Abstracts received and Poster session overview 20 Registration fee 23 Financial report 24 YSF Forum 28 Social program 31 Exhibition / satellite symposia / exhibitors workshops 34 Congress venue 39 Visibility of the event in media - public relation 40
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www.febs-2013.org [email protected] (Congress Secretariat), [email protected] (Program Committee)
St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Organizing Committee and PCO, Administrative Bodies The 38th FEBS Congress, held from 6th to 11th July 2013 in St Petersburg, Russia, was organized by representatives of the Russian Biochemical Society. FEBS congresses usually attract the attention of the government bodies of the host countries. City mayors and ministers deliver addresses at opening ceremonies. The organizing committees are always concerned with this public imagerelated section. The 38th Congress was no exception. It was historically important to mention the role of the Skolkovo Foundation in the initiation of government solutions associated with the Congress. Viktor Vekselberg, on behalf of the Skolkovo Foundation, had addressed a request to support the initiative of the Russian Biochemical Society to hold the Congress in St. Petersburg to the Russian Federation government. St. Petersburg was chosen as the FEBS Congress venue for 2013. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian Prime Minister, had signed an Order of the RF Government specifying which spheres certain ministries and agencies were to be in charge of during preparations for the Congress. Dmitry Livanov, Minister of Education and Science of Russia, was appointed National Honorary Chairman. The main organizer and coordinator of all Congress related efforts were representatives of the Russian Biochemical Society headed by Professor Alexander Gabibov. The Chairman and Secretary of the International Advisory Committee of the Congress: Nobel Laureate Richard Roberts and Professor Michael Blackburn made an invaluable contribution to attract internationally renowned scientists, including 11 Nobel Laureates as lecturers and speakers. The role of Nobel Prize Winner Roger Kornberg was also significant. The Chairman and Secretary of the Program Committee: Professor Sergey Kochetkov and Marina Tretyak contributed greatly to make the program a reality. The role of the Congress secretary, Vera Knorre, was also 2 invaluable. The abstracts of the participants were prepared by Congress Coordinator Alexandra Rogalskaya. The companies “Legal Forum” headed by Olga Motenko and “Lumier Group” headed by Ekaterina Ivanova successfully performed delegate management and organizational events, while the Lenexpo exhibition center headed by Sergey Voronkov mounted the pavilions.
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
The primary sponsor of the Congress, the “Farmsintez” company, and its president Dmitry Genkin provided financial support and technical staff to prepare and host the Congress. One of the leading financial specialists at the company, Igor Volodin, was the financial director of the Congress. The Park Media company (and personally Alexander Gordeev and Konstantin Kiselev, who assumed the burden of registering participants and supporting on the Congress website) made an invaluable contribution from the earliest days until the final minutes of the Congress organization process. The Ministry of Education and Science and its staff contributed greatly at different stages of the preparation process. Then-Deputy Minister Igor Fedyukin and current Deputy Minister Alexander Povalko, who quickly joined the preparation process, rendered invaluable assistance. A lot was done by Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs Evgeny Ugrinovich, Deputy Director Alexander Sumbatyan, and ministry staff Vladimir Arbuzov and Albert Garmash. The chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Science-Intensive Technologies, Professor Valery Chereshnev, made a fundamental contribution to the solution of critical problems. Lyudmila Ogorodova (who was the deputy chairperson of the Committee at the time and is currently a deputy minister of the Ministry of Education and Science) also contributed to the solution of a number of problems associated with preparations for the Congress. At the Russian Academy of Sciences, the burden of responsibility for the Congress rested on Vice President of the RAS, Professor Anatoly Grigoryev, who signed dozens of letters to ministries and agencies and solved a number of fundamental problems for the Congress. The administration of the St. Petersburg Research Center of the RAS, the St. Petersburg Academic University, and Professor Zhores Alferov helped with successful resolution of numerous organizational problems for the Congress. 3 The Young Scientists Forum would not have been possible without the active contribution of the First Pro-rector for research of the St. Petersburg Academic University, corresponding member of the RAS Mikhail Dubina. Invaluable assistance was provided by the administration of the St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University (the chancellor, corresponding member of the RAS Andrey Rudskoy, prorectors Dmitry Raichuk and Alexander Rechinsky). Participants of the Young Scientists Forum were accommodated in the campus of the St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University under the assistance of Viktor Ignatenko. The Head of the Committee of Science and Higher Education at the St. Petersburg Administration, Andrey Maksimov, and his deputy, Irina Ganus, played a significant role at all the stages of preparations for the Congress. So did the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (and its chairman, Professor Vladislav Panchenko). The Foundation rendered an unprecedented support to the Congress, while Vladislav Panchenko participated in the opening ceremony and headed the session devoted to collaboration between the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (EMBL–RFBR). The member of the Skolkovo Foundation Council Mikhail Kovalchuk also rendered invaluable assistance at the initial stage.
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
National Honorary Committee Dmitry Livanov Chair Minister of Education and Science of Russia Igor Fedyukin Deputy Chair Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Russia Dmitry Oveshnikov Secretary Coordinator, Ministry of Education and Science of Russia
Members Alexander Gabibov Head of the Laboratory, Shemyakin & Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Professor, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Genkin Chair, Director Counsel of Joint-Stock Company “Farmsintez” Anatoly Griroriev Vice-President, Russian Academy of Sciences Vadim Ivanov Member, Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director, Shemyakin & Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russia Andrey Ivashchenko Chair, Director Counsel of the Noncommercial Partnership “Center of High Technologies HimRar, Russia” Oleg Kiselev Director, National Institute of Influenza, Russia Michail Kovalchuk Director, National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrey Komolov Skolkovo Foundation, Russia Sergey Kochetkov Head of the Laboratory, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences 4 Andrey Maximov Chair, Committee for Science and Education, Government of St. Petersburg Alexander Makarov Director, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russia Nikolay Nikolsky Director, Institute of Cytology, Russia Oleg Salagai Deputy Director, Department of Innovation Policy and Science, Ministry of Health, Russia Sergey Salikhov Head, Department for Development and priority Trends in Science and Technology, Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Vladimir Skulachev Director, Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Russia Alexander Pavlushko Senior Counselor, Consulate Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia Eugeny Ugrinovich Director, International Department, Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Oleg Khotun Governmental Representative Sergey Tsyb Director, Department of Chemical Technology and Bioengineering Technology, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Russia
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
International Advisory Committee Richard Roberts, Nobel Laureate Chair USA Michael Blackburn, Secretary General UK Members Zhores Alferov, Nobel Laureate Russia Sidney Altman, Nobel Laureate Canada, USA Ruth Arnon Israel Angelo Azzi IUBMB Past-President USA Jean Francois Bach France Alexey Bogdanov Russia Ernesto Carafoli Italy Valery Chereshnev Chair, Committee for Science and Education, Russian Parliament Russia Aaron Ciechanover, Nobel Laureate Israel Alexander Gabibov, President, Host Society Russia Georgy Georgiev Russia Jules Hoffmann, Nobel Laureate France Robert Huber, Nobel Laureate Germany Ferdinand Hucho Germany Jaak Jarv Estonia Dmitry Knorre Russia Sergey Komissarenko Ukraine Roger D. Kornberg, Nobel Laureate USA Jean-Marie Lehn, Nobel Laureate France 5 Iain Mattaj EMBL Director UK Anatoly Miroshnikov Russia Michael Ostrovsky Russia Vladislav Panchenko Chair, Russian Foundation for Basic Research Russia Sergio Papa FEBS Chair Italy Israel Pecht FEBS Secretary General Israel Gregory Petchko IUBMB President USA Miguel De la Rosa FEBS Deputy Chair Spain Michael Sela Israel Adam Szewczyk FEBS Counselor Poland Jack W. Szostak, Nobel Laureate USA Valentin Vlassov Russia John E. Walker, Nobel Laureate UK Kurt Wüthrich, Nobel Laureate Switzerland, USA Ada E. Yonath, Nobel Laureate Israel Michael Ugryumov Russia Tomas Zima Czech Republic
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Program Committee Sergey Kochetkov Chair Russia Vladimir Tishkov Deputy Chair Russia Marina Tretyak Secretary Russia Members Yves Agid France Olga Lavrik Russia Gül Güner Akdogan Turkey Boris Margulis Russia Qais Al-Awqati USA Patrick Masson France Alexander Arseniev Russia Natalia Mikhailova Russia Jan Balzarini Belgium Andrea Mozzarelli Italy Wendy Bickmore UK Leon Mullenders The Netherlands Clare Blackburn UK Gabriele Multhoff Germany Nicolai Bovin Russia Alan North UK Robert Casero USA Lyudmila Ogorodova Russia Cyrus Chothia UK Tatiana Ovchinnikova Russia Tatyana Demidkina Russia Monica Palcic Denmark Sergey Deyev Russia Alexander Petrenko Russia Olga Dontsova Russia Andreas Plűckthun Switzerland Alexey Egorov Russia Vladimir Popov Russia Dominique Eladari France Sergey Razin Russia Olga Fedorova Russia Joseph Shlessinger USA Alexeii Finkelstein Russia Konstantin Skryabin Russia Michail Gelfand Russia Ludvig M. Sollid Norway 6 Igor Goryanin Russia Valentin Stonik Russia Boris Gottikh Russia Vytas Svyadas Russia Vadim Govorun Russia Daniel Thomas France Alexander Grechkin Russia Alexey Tomilin Russia Eugene Grishin Russia Elias Toubi Israel Elizabeth Gromova Russia Victor Tsetlin Russia Elena Kaznacheyeva Russia Sergey Varfolomeev Russia Alexey Khomutov Russia Jacques-Henry Weil France Judith Klinman USA Eric Westhoff France Vera Knorre Russia Alfred Wittinghofer Germany Karl-Wilhelm Koch Germany Heather Wallace UK Oleg Krishtal Ukraine Moncef Zouali France Local Committee Maria Agalarova Secretary, Russian Biochemical Society Russia Ninel Barinova IT Coordinator Russia Olga Motenko Director, SPb Legal Forum Russia Eugenia Pustovalova IT Coordinator Russia Alla Rogalskaya General Coordinator Russia Olga Shishenina Lenexpo Coordinator Russia Antonina Shuvalova Exhibition Manager Russia Ilya Tsoluadze Head, Production and Subcontractors Relations Division Russia Igor Volodin Financial Department Russia Sergey Voronkov Lenexpo Director Russia
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Number of Participants Today, the participation of thousands of people at the same time (a sort of scientific “flash mobs”) requires an enormous organizing effort to create a special scientific atmosphere that would be interesting for several generations of researchers, from undergraduate and graduate students to the greatest scientists on the apex of their career. Despite the economic problems in Europe, the FEBS brand called together large audiences: Prague, 2009 (1,900 delegates), Gothenburg, 2010 (1,600 participants), Turin, 2011 (1,850 people), Seville 2012 (2,000 people). We just could not lower the bar. There were more than 2,400 people present at the Congress in St. Petersburg; as we can see this is a record for the recent years (Table 1).
Russia 864 Serbia 19 Turkey 151 China 17 Poland 115 Armenia 16 Italy 112 Sweden 16 USA 111 Canada 15 Germany 107 Finland 15 UK 95 Brazil 14 Czech Republic 84 Kazakhstan 13 France 83 Lithuania 13 Spain 73 Chile 12 Korea 53 Belarus 11 Ukraine 52 Latvia 10 7 Portugal 46 Norway 8 Japan 31 Estonia 7 Israel 29 Australia 6 Greece 27 Belgium 6 Netherlands 27 Slovenia 5 Romania 26 Thailand 6 Croatia 23 India 5 Hungary 23 Mexico 5 Taiwan 23 Bulgaria 4 Slovakia 22 South Africa 4 Switzerland 22 Kuwait 2 Austria 19 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 Total 2448 Table 1. National distribution of the 38th FEBS Congress participants.
As the host country, Russia was represented by over 850 attendees. Other well-represented countries included Turkey, Poland, Italy, USA, Germany, UK, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Korea, Ukraine, Portugal, Japan, Israel, Greece, the Netherlands, Romania, Croatia, China, Hungary, Slovakia, Switzerland, Austria, Serbia, Sweden, Canada, and Finland. In total, delegates from almost 50 countries attended. Some statistical data on categories of registered participants and gender distribution is shown in tables 2 and 3.
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Table 2. Categories of registered participants.
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Table 3. Congress participants gender distribution.
Fellowships Awarded to Young Scientists at the 38th FEBS Congress FEBS has done a lot to support young scientists and to encourage them to come to St Petersburg. First, the main Congress was preceded by the Young Scientists’ Forum (YSF). 117 travel grants were awarded to talented young researches to enable them to attend not only the YSF but the main Congress as well. Second, 265 young European scientists were awarded FEBS Bursaries this year that covered registration fee and hotel accommodation. Due to FEBS rules, domestic audience is not eligible for FEBS Bursaries. To support Russian young scientists, 198 grants were allocated by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. Together with 529 scientists under 35 years of age who paid registration fee by their own at young scientists’ rate (50% off the regular fee), the number of young researcher who attended the event was 1 109. We consider it a real success and hope that the 38th FEBS Congress was useful for young people. Some statistical data on categories of young scientists and their national distribution are shown in tables 4–8.
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
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Table 4. Young Scientists: Country Distribution at 38th FEBS Congress.
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
499
88 69 65 51 47 39 37 35
25 22 19 18 16 15 12 12 11 10 10 9
Italy
Spain
Other
Serbia
Russia
France
Turkey
Poland
Austria
Greece
Croatia
Belarus
Ukraine
England
Slovenia
Hungary
Portugal
Armenia
Romania
Germany CzechRepublic
Table 5. Young Scientists representation at the 38th FEBS Congress – country distribution (n=1109). 10
33 35 30 29 30 26 23 25 21 20 13 15 12 12 9 9 8 8 7 7 10 5 5 5 2 5 1 0 0
Table 6. FEBS Bursaries awarded at the 38th FEBS Congerss – country distribution (n=252).
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
20 19 18 16 15 14 12 11 10 8 8 8 6 6 5 5 5 5 6 4 3 3 3 3 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 0
Table 7. 13th YSF – country distribution (n=117)
300 282 11 250
200
150
100 69
50 35 33 32 14 12 12 10 8 6 6 5 4 3 2 2 1 1 1
0
Italy
Spain
Other
Serbia
Russia
France
Turkey
Poland
Austria
Greece
Croatia
Belarus
Ukraine
England
Hungary
Portugal
Clovenia
Romania
Germany CzechRebublic
Table 8. Young scientists who paid reduced registration fee by their own – country distribution (n=538).
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Visa Support for Congress participants and guests The most problematic issue was the one associated with getting visas for foreign participants. We were aware of the fact that the issue of borders for most Europeans and young people in particular has fell into oblivion. Actually, the FEBS management insisted on a visa-free regime for the participants. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education and Science came up with the most optimal alternative for issuing free-of-charge visas using telex confirmation (this method worked almost without glitches). Now we can state with assurance that everyone who wanted to visit the Congress managed to do so. We would like to make special mention of the excellent work of Senior Advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Pavlushko, consuls and advisors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denis Klyukin (Washington), Andrey Ignatov (Strasburg), Alexander Bessarabov (Paris), Konstantin Dorokhin (Madrid), Yury Klimenko (Barcelona), and Vladimir Beletsky (Bonn). The Ministry of Education and Science and its staff contributed greatly at different stages of the preparation process. Then-Deputy Minister Igor Fedyukin and current Deputy Minister Alexander Povalko, who quickly joined the preparation process, rendered invaluable assistance. A lot was done by Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs Evgeny Ugrinovich, Deputy Director Alexander Sumbatyan, and ministry staff Vladimir Arbuzov and Albert Garmash. In total, Congress organizers provided visa support for 1328 participants, including Congress Participants 582 Speakers 257 YSF winners 70 FEBS Bursary winners 149 Accompanying persons 248 Exhibitors 21 Press 1 12
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Number of Speakers We managed to gather a unique team of speakers. Eleven Nobel laureates, living legends of science in the XX and XXI centuries, participated in the Congress: Sydney Altman, Aaron Ciechanover, Jules Hoffmann, Robert Huber, Roger Kornberg, Jean-Marie Lehn, Richard Roberts, Jack Szostak, Susumu Tonegawa, Kurt Wűthrich, and Ada Yonath. There is another interesting testimony of the scientific and political foresight of the convener of the symposium “Membrane Transport and Secretion: From Nephrons to Neurons,” Professor Alexander Petrenko, who invited James Rothman as the key lecturer. James Rothman won the Nobel Prize in the fall of 2013, well after the Congress. The program of the Petersburg Congress included 18 plenary sessions and 40 symposia with more than 320 speakers. This was a definite semantic and financial risk. The number of speakers was about twice as high as the average number of those at the congresses of the past years. As described by Prof. Israel Pecht, “There were two FEBS congresses gathered in St. Petersburg”. We managed to ensure a high level of “internationalism” amongst lecturers. As shown in Table 3, the number of Russian lecturers was significant but not dominant. This fact was in no way associated with the level of Russian science. We could have gathered many more reports from Russia, but in this case one of the main objectives of the high-level Congress would not have been fulfilled, i.e. various national scientific schools would not have been represented. There were a lot of Americans at the Congress in St. Petersburg as Congress organizers opted for the “quality of science” rather than geopolitical issues. At the same time, we managed to attract very high-quality lecturers from the “Eastern bloc” (Table 9). We collected suggestions from the national committees of post-Soviet and East European countries and convinced the leaders of the symposia to include them in the program. From this point of view, the Petersburg Congress compares favorably with the Congresses of the previous years. 13 USA 62 Japan 5 Russia 45 Finland 3 Germany 45 Hungary 3 England 44 Poland 3 France 27 Sweden 3 Italy 14 Denmark 3 Switzerland 14 Canada 2 Israel 12 Czech Republic 2 Spain 8 Norway 2 Portugal 6 South Africa 2 Ukraine 6 Belgium 1 China 4 Greece 1 The Netherlands 4 Croatia 1
Table 9. Speakers’ national distribution.
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Overview of Scientific Program The dispute over the relationship between fundamental and applied science has been going on for decades. This disagreement has taken on an international dimension; however, with the advent of advanced technologies in biotechnology and biopharmaceutics, the dispute seems to have been resolved (at least in Western countries). It is now unambiguously clear that no discipline can be referred to as “low-grade science” (e.g., biotechnology). Today, each breakthrough in biomedical research is a stepping stone toward actual application. This situation has much in common with the one that prevailed in physics in the past (as well as in its current state), where most breakthroughs have resulted in hightech weaponry. And mainstream physicists have direct participation in the implementation of “applied” developments. The opening lecture was delivered by Jules Hoffman, a 2011 Nobel Laureate, who told the story of how work on the Drosophila receptor Toll, and subsequent discovery of pathway homologues in other organisms, has reshaped understanding of innate immunity. The Congress Plenary Lectures – delivered by Geneviève Almouzni, Sidney Altman, Aaron Ciechanover, Pavel Georgiev, Anna-Karin Gustavsson, Jules Hoffmann, Robert Huber, Roger Kornberg, Jean-Marie Lehn, Richard Lerner, Susumu Mitsutake, Richard Roberts, Gottfried Schatz, Joseph Schlessinger, Jack Szostak, Susumu Tonegawa, Kurt Wüthrich, and Ada Yonath – should really become part of the annals of science (Table 10). No doubt, plenary sessions were of much interest. Susumu Tonegawa, a Nobel Laureate for his discovery of the genetic principle behind the generation of antibody diversity, covered his new projects on the “functional bioimaging” of brain parts. His article was published in Science after the Congress. The ex-president of the Scripps Research Institute, Professor Richard Lerner, drew a complex picture of combinatory biology in his plenary lecture. Joseph Schlessinger talked on new approaches to the development of antiproliferative agents. Nobel Laureate Jack Szostak presented new concepts of the evolution and origin of life. 14 All lectures were recorded and they are now placed on the Congress website at http://www.febs- 2013.org/eng/catalog/13453.aspx. It would be helpful if this link could be provided at the FEBS official website. Those who could not join us in St Petersburg will then still be able to learn from these masterpieces of research. The Congress program included many brilliant symposia, and we highlight just some here (Table 11). Symposium “Organization of Eukaryotic Genomes” organized by Professor Wendy Bickmore (UK) and Professor Sergey Razin (Russia) was focused on epigenetics and various aspects in gene activity regulation. Keynote lectures by Peter Cook (UK) on the role of specialized transcription ‘factories’ and by Tom Mistelli (USA) on genome organization and disease development should be mentioned as the most interesting ones. Symposium “RNA World” gathered world leaders in this area including Ada Yonath, the Nobel Laureate (Israel) and Alexander Spirin (Russia). This symposium was organized by Professor Olga Dontsova (Russia) and Professor Eric Westhof (France). It is evident that after the three-dimensional structure of ribosome was discovered, there are still many crucial questions to be clarified as regards the dynamics of this large and complex molecular machine. Nowadays, applied research in this area is most promising. It is safe to say that a new era is approaching—the era of targeted drug design based on individual characteristics of bacterial ribosomal proteins. At the symposium headed by Professor Clare Blackburn (UK) and Professor Alexey Tomilin (Russia), problems of cell reprogramming and new cell technologies were discussed. Symposia on bioengineering (Chairs: Vladimir Popov, Vytas Svyadas, and Marcel Wubbolts), neoplastic transformation (Chairs: Georgy Georgiev and Joseph Schlessinger), G protein signaling (Chairs: Andrew B. Goryachev and Alfred Wittinghofer), molecular basis of autoimmunity (Chairs: Jean Francoise Bach and Ludvig Sollid), biochemistry of neurodegeneration (Chair: Mishael Ugrumov), biochemistry of vision (Chairs: Karl-Wilhelm Koch and Michael Ostrovsky) were well attended and attracted great interest of international audience. www.febs-2013.org [email protected] (Congress Secretariat), [email protected] (Program Committee)
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
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Table 10. Plenary Lectures at the 38th FEBS Congress.
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Sidney Altman Aaron Ciechanover Jules Hoffmann
Robert Huber Roger Kornberg Jean-Marie Lehn
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Richard Roberts Jack Szostak Susumu Tonegawa
Kurt Wüthrich Ada Yonath Geneviève Almouzni
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Pavel Georgiev Anna-Karin Gustavsson Richard Lerner
Susumu Mitsutake Gottfried Schatz Joseph Schlessinger
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Table 11. Main and Satellite Symposia at the 38th FEBS Congress.
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Recent research in biocatalysis could lead to breakthrough in this traditional area. Symposium on general problems of biocatalysis was organized by Professor Alexander Gabibov (Russia) and Professor Michael Blackburn (UK). Modern quantum-mechanical estimation techniques will soon make it possible to predict the ‘route’ of biocatalytic reactions. In a more distant future, it will allow to estimate metabolic pathways in silico which is of great value for applied pharmacokinetic research. A multi-session symposium “Biochemistry for Medicine” (Chairs: Alexey Egorov, Oleg Kisselev, Serhiy Komisarenko, Tomas Zima) was mainly focused on recent advances in treatment of cancer, autoimmune and metabolic diseases. One of keynote lectures was delivered by Professor Michael Sela (Israel) whose pioneering research contributed a lot in fighting of autoimmune diseases. Very informative presentations were made on targeted elimination of pathologic B cells: new generation compounds were developed to treat some autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis etc. Among other ‘attractions’ of the 38th FEBS Congress, “Proteomics and Peptidomics” symposium (Chairs: Vadim Govorun and Vadim Ivanov) should be mentioned. This research area is developing very fast and the number of ‘white spots’ in the structure of human and microorganisms proteins is rapidly diminishing. Co-existence of macro- and microorganisms is extremely interesting both evolutionary and practically. The fight between ‘self’ and ‘non- self’ is very important to understand the key issues in antimicrobial therapy. The most important mission of FEBS congresses is education. In spite of revolutionary changes in telecommunication, modern science requires direct contacts between scientists. Virtual communication cannot substitute real discussion and live communication between a lector and auditorium. A chance for young scientists to attend such a great event, to listen to world scientific leaders and to communicate with them in an informal atmosphere is a great advantage of such congresses. Usually, a young fellow is guided by his/her chief and deals within a narrow filed of research. The congress provides a great possibility to widen the scope of interests and ask any question, for example, why the speaker has changed the field of research. E. g., Susumu Tonegawa was 19 awarded Nobel Prize in 1987 “for his discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity”. Now, his work is devoted to other problems, namely to brain and memory. In St Petersburg he spoke on ‘functional’ brain mapping. During the 38th FEBS Congress, along with the fundamental symposia (Table 11), much attention was focused on biomedical research, oncology, autoimmune diseases, and biopharmaceuticals. The entire “Science and Society” session (chaired by Jacques Henry Weil) was devoted to oncology issues. The Congress hosted a session by the “Skolkovo” Foundation that was organized by Deputy Director Alexander Chernov and Deputy Manager of the Biomed Cluster Gelena Lifshitz. The SkolTech University was represented by Prof. Konstantin Severinov. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation came up with an initiative to host a special session devoted to biopharmaceuticals. The meeting operated under the auspices of then-Director of the Department of the Chemical-Engineering Complex and Bioengineering Technology of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia and current Deputy Minister Sergei Tsyb and Director for International Economic Relations Alexei Gruzdev. It was an exciting session. The session was chaired by Academician Alexei Egorov on the Russian side and co-chaired by the director of pharmacology at Yale University, a foreign member of RAS, Prof. Joseph Schlessinger. The session speakers were Nobel Laureates Jean Marie Lehn, Jules Hoffmann, and Ada Yonath; the Russian side was represented by a mainstream researcher in the field of anticancer chemistry, Mikhail Lichinitser. The speakers discussed issues pertaining to the development of proteinase inhibitors, which are potential anti-cancer agents.
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Abstracts Received and Poster Session Overview Congress organizers received over 1,900 abstracts that were published as a Supplement to the FEBS Journal. It was easily to be downloaded via a link on the Congress website and every participant received it on a USB flash drive as a part of a Congress kit. Over 1,450 abstracts were accepted for poster presentation during the Congress. Due to space limitations, we had to schedule most posters for display from 8th through 10th July. Distribution of posters according to symposia submitted is shown in Table 12. Unfortunately, the posters were not numbered. This was mainly due to the fact that Congress organizers accepted abstracts from registered participants far behind the deadline. Even late-breaking abstracts were grouped according to their main topic and they were displayed in the poster session they thematically belonged to. That is why we had to abandon through numbering of posters. Another reason for the absence of poster numbering was the lack of space for poster session due to the abovementioned Marine Saloon simultaneously held with the FEBS Congress. One week before the Congress opened, we had only some space for poster session in the exhibition hall (pavilion 4). We were quite aware of the fact that this space was too limited to accommodate so many posters and continued very difficult negotiations with the Marine Saloon organizers to get some more space for the poster sessions. Shortly before the Congress, one more pavilion (pav 6) was placed at our disposal – but only commencing July 8th. So, we had to displace posters from July 7th to later dates to avoid overcrowding in pavilion 4. To avoid any confusion for poster presenters, we marked areas according to the Congress main topics. Many volunteers were in the poster hall in pavilion 6 to assist presenters to find the right place for their posters. We placed many stands in the poster hall and there was no problem to find free space to place posters. 20
38th FEBS Poster Session. www.febs-2013.org [email protected] (Congress Secretariat), [email protected] (Program Committee)
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Biochemistry for Medicine 294 Protein Structure and Folding 113 Biochemistry of Stress Response 108 RNA World 75 Proteomics and Peptidomics 70 Biochemistry of Neoplastic Transformations 67 Bioengineering: Fundamentals and Application 62 Biochemistry of Neurodegeneration 62 Organization of Eukaryotic Genomes 56 Systems Biology 54 Biochemistry of Plants 50 Biocatalysis: General Problems 50 DNA Damage and Repair 50 Bioinformatics 44 “Mitochondriology”: New Approaches … 39 Membrane Transport and Secretion: From… 32 Protein Dynamics 32 Nucleic Acid Targets and Therapeutics 32 Stem Cells: Fundamentals and Applications 30 21 Mechanisms of G Protein Signaling 30 Immunochemistry and Bioengineering 27 Alexander Braunstein Memorial Symposium:… 27 Ion channel signaling: from spatial structures to… 22 Biogenic Polyamines in Cell Metabolism 21 Glycobiology: Сarbohydrate–Protein Recognition 20 Molecular Basis of Autoimmunity 19 Biochemistry of invertebrates 17 Regulation of Biological Processes by Ubiquitin 17 Metabolism of Marine Organisms: Structure and… 14 Evolutionary Genomics 12 B Cells in Inflammation and Disease 7 Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 6 Enzymes Reacting with Organophosphorus Agents 5 Photoreception and Biochemistry of Vision 2 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Table 12. The number of posters submitted for different symposia.
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38th FEBS Poster Session.
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
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Registration Fee
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Financial Report
Table 14. Total Incomes and expenditures INCOMES
I GRANTS € 397 034,00 detailed in Table 15 II REGISTRATION FEES € 566 200,00 detailed in Table 16 III SPONSORS&EXHIBITORS € 394 435,05 detailed in Table 17
TOTAL INCOMES € 1 414 269,05
* - all the other National Institutions` investments (Skolkovo, Minpromtorg) preliminary shown in ROUGH BUDGET as "GRANTS" are indicated in pos.SPONSORS&EXHIBITORS as they actually took a part in Exhibition
EXPENDITURES (significant exp. Items are disclosed in Table 18) Venue (LENEXPO facilities incl. space 1 rent&technical equipment) € 699 812,00 51,88% Transportation 2 € 69 220,00 5,13% Travels and Accomodation of Invited 24 3 Speakers € 232 849,00 17,26% Social and Other Activities 4 € 166 085,00 12,31% Printwork and Expendables 5 € 23 796,23 1,76% Bursaries 6 € 115 764,00 8,58% Taxes, currency exchange losses, bank 7 charges € 41 500,00 3,08% TOTAL EXPENDITURES € 1 349 026,23 100,00%
TOTAL PROFIT € 8 642,82
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Table 15. Grants GRANTS 1 FEBS (YSF MAIN CONGRESS REGISTRATION FEE) € 23 400,00
2 FEBS (BURSARIES, FEBS MEMBERS COSTS) € 199 514,00
3 FEBS (LENEXPO RENT) € 75 000,00
4 NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (RFBR GRANT) € 75 000,00
CLAIM ASSIGNEMENT AGREEMENT WITH 5 € 24 120,00 FORMER PCO
€ 397 034,00
Table 16. Registration fee paid by dates and categories
Early Regular On- site Category Price price Price Registration Registration Registration Academic & Researcher 454 500,00 189 600,00 26 700,00 25 Industry Representative 26 700,00 9 800,00 1 900,00 Young Scientists 398 250,00 128 350,00 3 400,00 Accompanying Persons 224 100,00 84 150,00 4 200,00 1102 410 34
Early Total in Regular Total in On- site Total in Category Registration EURO Registration EURO Registration EURO Academic & Researcher 454 227 000,00 189 113 400,00 26 18 200,00 Industry Representative 26 18 200,00 9 7 200,00 1 900,00 Young Scientists 398 99 500,00 128 44 800,00 3 1 200,00 Accompanying Persons 224 22 400,00 84 12 600,00 4 800,00 TOTAL 1102 367 100,00 410 178 000,00 34 21 100,00
TOTAL 566 200,00
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Table 17. Exhibition ## EXHIBITOR GROSS AMOUNT 1 MOLECULAR BIOLOGY INSTITUTE 153 750,00 RUR 2 OPENED INNOVATIONS FUND 1 864 164,00 RUR 3 APPLIED BIOSYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL INC. 778 722,00 RUR 4 HVD Holding AG 240 450,00 RUR 5 CHIMMED TRADE HOUSE LTD. 236 082,00 RUR 6 DIAM LTD. 420 000,00 RUR 7 JSC BioChemMac 536 382,00 RUR 8 AMGEN LTD. 420 000,00 RUR 9 INGRADIENT LTD. 226 044,00 RUR 10 BIO-RAD LABORATORIES LTD. 452 340,00 RUR 11 NP BFKL NOTHERN 180 935,00 RUR 12 BIOTECHNO LTD. 425 880,00 RUR 13 PORTLAND PRESS LTD. 177 156,00 RUR 14 JACKSON IMMUNORESEARCH EUROPE LTD. 132 468,00 RUR 15 EMBL 183 750,00 RUR 16 EMBO 107 562,00 RUR 17 VEUK LTD. 420 000,00 RUR 18 TECHNOINFO LIMITED 597 534,00 RUR 19 ABCAM PLS 167 538,00 RUR 20 NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS GMBH 207 648,00 RUR 26 21 TOCRIS COOKSON LTD. 187 908,00 RUR 22 POSTGENTECH 850 500,00 RUR 23 LABINSTRUMENTS LTD. 21 630,00 RUR 24 CHEMEXPERT LTD. 517 314,00 RUR 25 SIGMA-ALDRICH RUS EUROPE LTD. 1 025 686,00 RUR 26 WILEY 478 632,00 RUR 27 ELSIVER 310 842,00 RUR 28 SKOLKOVO 2 221 494,32 RUR 29 INTERLABSERICE LTD. 140 616,00 RUR 30 SKOLKOVOTECH 359 898,82 RUR 31 JSC CHEMEX LTD. 206 486,00 RUR 32 ACS 94 626,00 RUR 33 COMPANY HELICON LTD. 181 062,00 RUR 34 ROSHE DIAGNOSTICS LTD. 136 782,00 RUR 35 BIOLINE LTD. 165 120,00 RUR 36 CHEMEXPERT LABORATORY LTD. 420 000,00 RUR 37 BIOSUN 50 400,00 RUR 38 PHARMAPARK 180 000,00 RUR 39 LABINSTRUMENTS LTD. 300 000,00 RUR Total (in RUR) 15 777 402,14 RUR Average exchange rate (EUR1=RUR40) €394 435,05
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Table 18. Expenditures in detail
1. CONGRESS VENUE COSTS €699 812,00 1 SPACE RENT €155 200,00 1.1. pavilion 3 €38 550,00 1.2. pavilion 4 €75 000,00 1.3. pavilion 6-7 €41 650,00 2 TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT €360 155,00 2.1. congress venue €175 680,00 2.2. exhibition venue €184 475,00 3 SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS (incl. security, fire protection, ambulance) €33 520,00 4 FACILITIES, UTILITIES €100 937,00 5 AGENCY (PCO) FEE €50 000,00
2. TRANSPORTATION €69 220,00 SHUTTLES FROM/TO AIRPORT; SHUTTLES TO/FROM LENEXPO; TRANSPORT FOR VIP PERSONS
3. TRAVEL&ACCOMODATION OF INVITED SPEAKERS (excl. bursaries, FEBS ExCom., named lecturers) €232 849,00 1 ACCOMODATION €260 249,00 2 ACCOMODATION (FEBS BURSARIES)* -€68 750,00 27 3 ACCOMODATION (FEBS ExCom)* -€21 390,00 4 ACCOMODATION (NAMED LECTURERS)* -€3 409,00 5 TRAVEL COSTS REIMBURSEMENT €66 149,00 * - the mentioned costs are deducted as they are calculated separately in the "BURSARIES" section
4. SOCIAL&OTHER ACTIVITIES €166 085,00 1 BCH OCTYABRSKIY (WELCOME EVENT) €106 360,00 1.2. rent €10 750,00 1.3. ballet&technical part €12 140,00 1.4. fourchette&catering €68 870,00 1.5. facilities, utilities €14 600,00 2 STATE HERMITAGE EXCURSIONS €55 350,00 3 SKOLKOVO FOURCHETTE €4 375,00
5. BURSARIES&FEBS DIRECTION** €115 764,00 1 ACCOMODATION (FEBS BURSARIES) €68 750,00 2 ACCOMODATION (FEBS ExCom) €21 390,00 3 ACCOMODATION (NAMED LECTURERS) €3 409,00 4 CATERING €12 500,00 5 NAMED LECTURERS` TRAVEL €9 715,00 ** - EUR83750 - Named Lecturers, FEBS ExCom, FEBS Bursaries reg.fees EUR199514 - total Grant costs
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
13th YSF Alexey Belogurov Jr: Russia already held FEBS in 1984, but since YSF was established in 2001, it was for the first time for our country to welcome YSF here, in Russia. It was a great honor but even more it was a great challenge and responsibility to organize such meeting. First of all I should say that my people form Local Organizing Team were really fantastic and exactly they made YSF possible. Starting from the selection procedure it was hard to select Fellows because level of the scientific reports submitted by the applicants was very high. Therefore we were definitely lucky with the interesting scientific program. For all of us it was important that we succeeded to organize opening ceremony and further scientific sessions in the architecturally outstanding Building of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the Neva River – hart and soul of the Russian Science. Mostly it became possible by virtue of Zhores Alferov and Michael Dubina personally. Every second YSF sensed support of the main 38th FEBS Congress and his Chair Alexander Gabibov. A lot of assistance was achieved from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, that evidently helped to significantly enhance meeting in general. Finally, I do feel that one of the major things for me personally was limitless energy and assistance of Claudina Rodrigues-Pousada, who helps and govern me all the way to the realization of successful YSF 2013. I know that now I am experienced enough to organize any possible scientific meeting. Probably the most important for us was to receive a lot of positive feedbacks from the Forum’s participants, and this was the richest award we could even imagine.
Azad Mamedov: As for me, it was a huge honor to be a co-chairman and organize Young Scientist Forum 2013 in St. Petersburg, to be a part of huge European Biochemical community. Honestly, the organizing 28 process was very difficult and time consuming, but it was a great and interesting experience in my life. Through YSF I fully felt the immensity of the whole FEBS. I cannot imagine, if it was so difficult for us to organize three days of the forum, what a huge work was carried out and how many people were involved in the organization of the Main Congress. Most important and pleasant feeling and memory for me personally were that more than 100 young scientists from almost all Europe met in one place in the beautiful city St. Petersburg at the classic building of Academy of Sciences, which is more than 200 years of construction, and discussed during the whole time different scientific issues. It seemed to me these past few days, we had a big scientific family. We all face funding problems as in European countries so in Russia, and it is great that thanks to FEBS there is a possibility to organize and attend such scientific forums. Again it was amazing and unforgettable event in my life.
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Social Program
The cultural heritage of Russia, St. Petersburg, and its surroundings were crucial in attracting delegates to the 38th FEBS Congress. We hope that the 38th FEBS Congress will stay in the memory of all participants not only as a great scientific event but as a unique social and cultural experience. ‘Swan Lake’ ballet at the Opening Ceremony, 31 the Congress Dinner in the Peter-and-Paul Fortress, tours in St Petersburg and to the nearby imperial palaces and parks of Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo in the high season of the White Nights, and a post-congress tour to Moscow presented the best of Russian culture. The night guided tour to The Hermitage allowed Congress participants to enjoy the beauty of world-famous art at a time when the museum was open for our guests only. We are deeply grateful to Prof. Mikhail Piotrovsky, the Hermitage director, who provided Congress participants with this unique chance.
“St. Petersburg was a magnificent surprise – I really enjoyed it and am planning on returning at some time in the future.” Nigel Richards (USA) “The trip to Pushkin was amazing. Everybody was stunned. First, the opening scene when you pass the gates was set in a cloudless sky with evening sunlight. Next, the evening sun flooded into all the rooms making them spectacular in their golden reflections. Third, our guide, Russlan, was top class. I hope our tip at the end was a generous reflection of our appreciation.” Michael Blackburn (UK)
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The guided Night Tour to Hermitage.
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Congress Dinner in the Peter-and-Paul Fortress.
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
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Exhibition Historically, the FEBS congresses have hosted an interesting exhibition of devices and equipment. Antonina Shuvalova, commerce director at “Sigma Aldrich Rus,” was heavily involved in the organization. The company, one of the general congress sponsors, provided printed materials for Congress participants. The Congress in Saint Petersburg was attended by over 40 companies (for full list see below). AB SCIEX took a very interesting initiative to bring a demonstration bus to Saint Petersburg to run a course on mass spectrometry for students. This bus enjoyed much success with the participants, including Nobel Laureates Kurt Wűthrich, Ada Yonath, and Robert Huber.
1. AB Sciex 23. InterLabSeervice 2. Abcam plc 24. Jackson ImmunoResearch Europe Ltd 3. ACS Publications 25. Khimexpert Laboratory 4. Amgen 26. LabInstruments 5. Applied Biosystems International 27. Life Technologies 6. Biochemical Society 28. New England Biolabs GmbH 7. BioChemMak 29. Nothern BioPharm Cluster at MIPT 8. BioLine 30. Open Innovations Foundation 9. BioRad Laboratories, Inc 31. Pharmapark 10. Biosan 32. Portland Press Limited 11. BioTechno 33. PostGenTech 12. Cayman Pharmas.r.o. 34. Roche Diagnostics Rus LLC 34 13. Chimex Limited 35. Sigma Aldrich Rus 14. DiaM 36. SKOLKOVO Foundation 15. Elsevier 37. SkolkovoTech 16. EMBL 38. SPLIEF Conference Center 17. EMBO 39. Taylor & Francis 18. Galachem Group 40. Technoinfo Limited 19. Helicon 41. The Chimmed Group 20. HVD Holding AG 42. Tocris Cookson Ltd 21. InGradient 43. Veyk 22. Institute for Molecular Biology 44. Wiley
Satellite Symposia Russia’s Cooperation with European Partners in Life Sciences Chairs: Iain Mattaj, EMBL Director General; Vladislav Panchenko, Chair of the RFBR Board NMR in Biology – Special Activity Chair: Isabella Felli Scientific Meeting for the Chromosomecentric Human Proteome Project (C-HPP) Chairs: Gilbert Omenn, Alexander Archakov, Young-Ki Paik, Sergey Moshkovskii, Christoph Borchers, Victor Bykov, Amos Bairoch, Andrey Lisitsa
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Exhibitors’ Presentations and Workshops SKOLKOVO Presentation What is Skolkovo about? MINPROM Panel Discussion: Breakthroughs in Life Sciences: The Basis for Pharmaceutical Industry Development Moderator: Alexey Egorov Life Technologies Workshop “Exploration of Disease Pathways from Gene to Function Life Technologies™” SkolTech Presentation “International Center for Research and Education «Stem Cells and Cell Technologies” Skolkovo Club on Cell Technologies Skolkovo Lectorium: Peter Fedichev Quantum Age LLC “Modern approaches to novel drugs development” Skolkovo Lectorium: Oncology Session “hat to Invest Money in to Conquer Cancer?”. Skolkovo Projects Presentation
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St. Petersburg July 6-11, 2013
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Congress Venue We have received several complaints from Congress participants re noise in the symposia halls located in pavilion 4. In spite of enormous efforts, we could not solve the problem caused by the Marine Saloon held in Lenexpo at the same time. The story goes back in November 2012, when the Russian Government decided to shift the previously announced dates of the Russian Economic Forum (June 2012) to the later ones. So, the organizers of subsequent events had to shift their schedules as well. However, such a shift was quite impossible for the FEBS Congress. The itinerary was already made, invitation letters were sent out and over 300 speakers had already adjusted their schedule so that they could come to St Petersburg on July 6th through July 12th, but not a week later as it was suggested to us by the Marine Saloon organizers and by the Lenexpo management. Lenexpo is the only Congress facility in St Petersburg that could host such big events like FEBS Congresses with over 3000 attendees. So, we were facing a hard dilemma: (1) either to postpone the congress and unavoidably to miss many speakers who could not change their busy schedules or (2) to accept the transfer of the Congress to pavilions 3 and 4 instead of fully equipped pavilions 6, 7, and 8 with good sound insulation. These halls were occupied by the Marine Saloon till July 9th. We had made our choice in favor of the second option. The problem of the Opening Ceremony was solved rather easily. It was held in the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall located in the city centrum. To make it more convenient to Congress participants, we had organized shuttle bus service from the main Congress hotels to the Concert hall and back. On other days, there were no sound problems as regards plenary sessions. They were held in pavilion 3, well decorated and fully equipped for such events. As to symposia, they were mostly held in pavilion 4. This building is rather intended for exhibitions than for simultaneously held oral sessions. Poor sound insulation caused problems both for the speakers and the audience. 39 We tried to solve it by adjusting the sound level in microphones but often, we’d failed to. In spite of this fact, most sessions were actively and very well attended, they evoked great interest of the audience and even all sounds from outside (from other halls) did not affect the quality of talks and discussions.
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FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETIES CONGRESS 2013 Mechanisms in Biology
Visibility of the Event in Media – Public Relation The RIA Novosti News Agency was the official partner of the Congress. Congress-related news appeared regularly on the Novosti website and in the printed issues. Other media presented at the Congress included: ITAR-TASS INTERFAX Vesti Kommersant 100TV Acta Naturae Journals BaltInfo Informational Agency Farmvestnik Newspaper Fontanka.ru Online Newspaper Peterburgsky Dnevnik Online Newspaper Priroda Journal Regnum Informational Agency “Sankt-Peterburg “ State Radio and News Agency Trend Media Uchitelskaya Gazeta
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