Who are we?

Nice to meet you! We are María and Raquel, young Spanish researchers who are very excited to be involved in the organisation of this conference and to actively contribute to the activities for early-career scientists!!

We are both PhD researchers and we met at the last European Diatom Meeting in Macedonia!

Our desire to contribute our little grain of silica (haha) and to bring the experience to our home country led us to find a way to organise the 2026 edition.

After all, isn’t it an amazing opportunity to meet each other, share, and spend a few days learning about all the possible aspects related to diatoms?

Thanks to our efforts in bringing together Spanish diatomologists to discuss the possibilities, Marina Aboal took the initiative and offered the University of Murcia as the venue. And honestly, there couldn't be a better place! Murcia has a long-standing tradition in diatom research, a vibrant academic environment, and (on top of that) a great climate and culture that will make this meeting not only scientifically enriching, but also an unforgettable experience!

Flash Talks are short, dynamic presentations (3–5 minutes) designed to share ideas, projects, preliminary results, or even open questions with the community. Creativity is welcome. Talks may also take the form of songs, poems, or playful scientific insights.

This session is a great opportunity for researchers at all career stages, especially students and early-career scientists, to showcase their work in a concise and engaging way. The goal is to spark curiosity, inspire discussion, and encourage connections across disciplines.

When?	9th July at 17:00 (CEST)
How?	Open to the entire scientific community in a hybrid format (both online and on-site)

Check out Flash Talk examples from Caroline McKenzie and Eldrin Arguelles, presented at the 26^th International Diatom Symposium (2020, Yamagata, Japan).

https://youtu.be/Bq6hpZRc93g?si=Sm8aUV4YfRb2fMyE

You can download Mono pdf

Join us!

Are you a young researcher interested in getting involved?

We are looking for motivated early-career scientists to help us organise the young researchers’ activities for the conference!

If you’d like to join the team, share ideas, or help shape the programme, feel free to contact us via Instagram @diatomspain2026 or by email at ecrdiatomistspain26@gmail.com 😊

Our plan is to hold occasional meetings where we can brainstorm together and promote the presence and participation of young researchers!

We understand that attending a scientific conference can be a significant investment, especially for students and early career researchers. To help make participation more accessible, we are pleased to offer a limited number of Grants to support registration, accommodation, or travel expenses.

Who Can Apply

These awards are open to: Bachelor, Master's, PhD students and postdocs.

Applicants must be presenting authors (poster or oral presentation) and registered participants of the conference.

What the Awards Cover and how to apply

• AIL (Association of Iberian Limnology): 6 students and 3 postdoc grants. Call for grants will be published on January in (https://www.limnetica.com/en/news o https://www.limnetica.com/es/noticias).

Requirements for candidates:

• Only young researcher members of the Young AIL group (J-AIL) and SIBECOL, AEET, SEEEE and SPECO that have their AIL/SIBECOL members fees updated when this call opens can submit an application. Young researchers are students and post-doctoral researchers that have defended their PhD thesis up to six years before the opening of this call.
• The candidate must be the first author and the presenter of a communication at the meeting.
• This grant cannot be accumulated with any other grant covering the registration fee to the same meeting. This grant will be attributed only if the candidate’s institution does not grant him/her with the registration fee, which needs to be testified in a written declaration to be signed by the candidate.

• SEF (Spanish Phycological Society): to be determined.

• ISDR (International Society for Diatom Research): to be determined.

Selection Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by the ECR committee based on:

• Scientific merit of the abstract
• Clarity of motivation statement
• Efforts toward inclusivity and diversity of disciplines and institutions

Important Dates

• Application deadline: from November 16^th 2025 to April 1^st 2026

• Notification of results: April 15^th 2026

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact the ECR coordination team at ecrdiatomistspain26@gmail.com)

We look forward to supporting your participation and helping you make the most of your conference experience! :D