Deadline extented to 07 January 2025!

Dear friends and colleagues,

It is our great pleasure to invite you to the International Symposium on Perinatal and Early Life Immunity from 9th to 12th April 2025 in Freiburg, Germany.

We look forward to welcoming leading scientists from around the world to explore and challenge the most recent discoveries in early immune development – in particular, how the fetal immune system prepares for and adapts to the transition from intrauterine to postnatal life and the enduring effects on cellular immunity and associated organ functions.

Questions for discussion include:

• How does the preprogrammed development, supported by endogenous cues, steer innate immune cell differentiation, adaptation to tissue structures, and immunity to infection?
• How does the birth transition impact on tissue immune architecture, including its topology?
• How do postnatal cues such as the microbiota and metabolic changes guide innate immune cell differentiation and function at immunological niches?

We are especially interested in cultivating discussions on translational aspects of immune development to highlight how improved understanding of underlying mechanisms could lead to innovations in diagnosis, prediction and therapy.

Overall, we hope to make the symposium a memorable experience by combining talks from internationally renowned scientists and early career researchers in expert lectures, highlight talks and an interactive poster night. We particularly want to foster lively interdisciplinary discussion on original findings, which may lead to new hypotheses in this dynamic research area. Moreover, we aim to connect researchers on a personal level to promote new scientific networks.

The venue for the event is the "Historisches Kaufhaus", a Renaissance town palace in the heart of Freiburg's historic old city, which is itself the gateway to Germany's famous Black Forest region.

We very much hope that you will join us for what promises to be a scientifically and personally inspiring meeting. Further details, including how to submit an abstract and how to register, will be posted here soon. In the meantime, please save the date!

Yours,
Philipp Henneke
For the Organizing Committee

Abstract submission
Submit your abstract for a poster or oral presentation by clicking the button above. You will need to register for a ConfTool account if you have not already done so.
If you wish to apply for an EFIS Early Career Researcher Grant, please do so by choosing this option during the abstract submission process. You will be able to submit an abstract as part of the application process. 

The deadline for abstract submission has been extended to 07 January 2025. 

We will inform submitting authors in January 2025 about whether or not their abstract has been accepted.

Registration 
Please register for the Symposium by clicking the button above. You will need to register for a ConfTool account if you have not already done so.
The registration fee for external participants is 550€, which includes attendance at all scientific sessions; lunches and coffee breaks on each day of the Symposium; and attendance at the Poster Evening on Wednesday 9 April (including finger food and drinks).

Internal PILOT members should register as such. PILOT will cover the registration fee for Project Leaders and up to three members of each lab/research group. Project Leaders who would like to bring more than three members of their group should please get in touch with the PILOT Coordination Office first.

All symposium participants are warmly invited to join us for the Social Evening on Friday 11 April, at which we will present the prizes for best posters. The fee for this event is 35€ per person, which includes a buffet dinner, dessert and two drinks.

EFIS Early Career Researcher Grants

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The European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS) has generously provided funds for Early Career Researcher Grants to support junior researchers to attend the symposium. We will award up to 10 grants, each worth 550€ in the form of a registration fee waiver. 

To be eligible for an EFIS Grant:
⦁    you must be an early career researcher, defined as MSc students, MD/PhD students and postdocs with no more than 7 years’ postdoctoral experience (excluding career interruptions, for example, maternity or parental leave) 
⦁    you must submit an abstract for a poster or oral presentation by the regular abstract deadline (07 January 2025). 
Applicants from low and middle-income countries (LMICs) will be preferred (see https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/guidance/prepare-to-apply/low-and-middle-income-countries).

To apply:
⦁    complete the application form (Motivation letter, CV) which is available here 
⦁    submit your abstract in the usual way via ConfTool (click red Button above) by choosing the option EFIS Early Career Researcher Grant before the abstract submission deadline (07 January 2025) 
⦁    Upload your completed application form during the abstract submission process.
⦁    Important: Please do not pay the registration fee until after you have heard back about whether your Grant application was successful.

Selection process:
⦁    After the abstract submission deadline, the selection committee will choose up to 10 applicants based on the quality of their applications and abstracts. 
⦁    Applicants from low and middle-income countries (LMICs) will be preferred (see https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/guidance/prepare-to-apply/low-and-middle-income-countries).
⦁    Applicants will be informed of the outcome by 20 January 2025 at the latest. 
⦁    Successful applicants will then receive information about how to register without paying the conference fee.
⦁    The names of successful applicants will be posted on the EFIS website.

Please get in touch with us (pilot-symposium-2025@uniklinik-freiburg.de) if you have any questions.

Links for other travel funding opportunities
 
https://ecrcentral.org/travel-grants

https://www.espid.org/award-details.aspx?group=awards&id=6
https://dgfi.org/reisekostenbeihilfen/
https://www.dfg.de/en/research-funding/funding-opportunities/funding

Accomodation

To assist you with finding accommodation, we have compiled a list of hotels in close proximity to the venue: 
The Alex Hotel
Hotel Mercure am Münster
Central Hotel Freiburg
Hotel Minerva
City Hotel Freiburg
Hotel Rappen am Münsterplatz
Hotels am Stadtgarten – Stadthotel Freiburg
Aparthotel Adagio Access Freiburg
Intercity Hotel Freiburg
Novotel Freiburg Am Konzerthaus
Motel One Freiburg Friedrichring 1

PILOT members from outside Freiburg: we recommend that you make use of the hotel block reservation - please follow the instructions in the internal email (sent on 20 November). However, if you wish to book other accommdation, you are free to do so.
 

Location
Historisches Kaufhaus Freiburg
Münsterplatz 24 
79098 Freiburg