The FEBS Junior Section is a vibrant network of motivated young life scientists and students from the FEBS Constituent Societies. The initiative was started by young members of some of the Constituent Societies about four years ago and was officially incorporated in the FEBS Careers of Young Scientists Committee (FEBS CYSC) under the supervision of Irene Díaz-Moreno in 2022. Since then, the Junior Section has become more structured, has expanded with the aim of integrating young members from all FEBS Constituent Societies, and has delivered multiple activities for young scientists with the support of FEBS CYSC.

Recently, the first official Junior Section in-person meeting took place in Pula, Croatia, in conjunction with the FEBS3+ Meeting. Junior representatives from all over Europe came together to tighten the bonds by meeting face-to-face and to discuss plans of the Junior Section for the next year. The members arrived in Pula on 24th September 2024 and explored the city in a guided tour during the afternoon, learning about the rich cultural heritage of Pula. The evening was spent with a dinner to better get to know the other team members while enjoying some typical Istrian cuisine. The following morning till early afternoon was filled with a stimulating in-person discussion among the junior members to revise and improve key aspects of the Junior Section. After an introduction about FEBS, its activities for young scientists as well as the mission of the Junior Section, each of the members introduced themselves and their respective national Societies as well as their work as junior members. Based on this, the team discussed strategies to propel the integration of young scientists across Europe, and enhance the promotion of FEBS, its journals and committees, as well as the Junior Section activities. The experience of this in-person meeting was of great value and rendered new insights into how to steer the initiative for the future.

After the internal discussion, most of the team members went on to participate in the ensuing FEBS3+ Meeting organized by the FEBS Constituent Societies from Croatia (HDBMB), Sweden (SFBBM) and Finland (Biobio). Thereby, the Junior Section members had the chance to extend their networking for another three days, making new connections at the conference and presenting their research in posters and talks. Moreover, the conference offered opportunities to further promote the Junior Section, as we were granted a slot in the opening ceremony and ran T-shirt raffles. The junior members of the Croatian HDBMB put together a great pub quiz as a socializing activity and the conference was rounded off with a trip to the beautiful city of Rovinj and an outstanding conference dinner in the Istrian countryside. We would like to extend our special thanks to the FEBS CYSC and FEBS3+ organizers for their support, both in planning and financially, to make this in-person meeting and conference attendance possible.

Alexander Röntgen, Coordinator, FEBS Junior Section

Marta Reyes-Corral, Manager, FEBS Careers of Young Scientists Committee

Irene Díaz-Moreno, Chair, FEBS Careers of Young Scientists Committee

This text was first published in FEBS News in November 2024.

All images by the FEBS Junior Section.