CE3C Annual Meeting brings together about 160 participants and nearly a hundred scientific presentations

About 160 researchers, students and staff took part in the 12th edition of the CE3C Annual Meeting – the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change, a research unit of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (CIÊNCIAS ULisboa), which took place on 15 and 16 July at the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC).

Under the theme ‘Science for a Changing Planet’, the event brought together the Centre’s scientific community to present the latest research findings from CE3C, promote interdisciplinary dialogue and strengthen collaboration between its four thematic areas.

The scientific programme comprised around a hundred presentations, including four plenary lectures by guest researchers and some 90 scientific contributions, comprising 16 short talks, 16 flash talks, 12 flash posters and 49 posters. In total, 29 research groups – around 70 per cent of CE3C’s groups – were represented, reflecting the scientific community’s strong involvement in this initiative.

In addition to the scientific sessions, the event featured round-table discussions, presentations of the winning projects from the CE3C Participatory Budget, visits to the MUHNAC collections and various networking opportunities, encouraging the exchange of knowledge and the development of new collaborations between researchers.

The closing ceremony also included the presentation of awards for the best presentations at the event. Sofia Mendes received the Ana Neto Award, whilst Patrícia Guedes was recognised for the best Short Talk, Joana Vilas Boas for the best Flash Talk and Vasco Valdez for the best Poster.

More than just a forum for presenting scientific findings, the Annual Meeting once again proved to be a special occasion for strengthening the CE3C’s sense of community and fostering new collaborations between researchers at different stages of their careers. The event also included, on 17 July, a team-building activity at the Museum of Illusions in Lisbon, providing an opportunity for socialising that helped to strengthen the bonds between participants.