About the meeting
TiBE-STRiVE Conference
Conference on the evolutionary role of structural variation
Save the date: 8th - 10th of July 2026, Vila do Conde, Portugal
We are excited to announce our inaugural conference at CIBIO-BIOPOLIS in Vila do Conde (near Porto), Portugal (8th to 10th of July 2026), bringing together researchers to launch the Special Topic Network STRiVE.
This event named “Trends in Biodiversity and Evolution: the evolutionary role of structural genomic variation (TiBE-STRiVE)” will feature cutting-edge science, foster interdisciplinary discussions, and initiate collaborative projects spanning the breadth of structural variant research.
[Important edits from early May]
A few seats for attendance and poster are still available. Late-bird registration is welcome here
Thanks to the very generous funding by the American Genetics Association (AGA) recently awarded to TiBE-STRiVE, we will be able to support some travel and attendance grants
- Participants with dependent-care responsibilities: 10 Childcare subsidies are available, which can be used to pay for children’s travel and/or for some accompanying person who takes care of them (max. of 250 euros per participant).
- Participants from under-represented countries or facing additional costs linked to disability, accessibility, or social inequality: Support (amount not defined yet) will be available to pay costs related to accommodation and/or travel costs.
If you are interested, please contact us before June 18th (ruifaria@cibio.up.pt) to know the conditions and how to apply.
Important Dates
Meeting dates: 8th to 10th of July 2026 (with a welcome reception by late afternoon of the 7th of July)
Abstract submission deadline (for talks):
• closed
Registration deadline (for posters)):
• 24th of June 2026
Notification of poster acceptance (for all participants):
• 24th of June 2026
Registration deadline (for all participants):
• 24th of June 2026
Invited Speakers
Mark Kirkpatrick, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Joana Meier, The Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge, UK
Jeffrey Groh, The University of California, Berkeley, USA
Venue
Quinta do Crasto, an old farm and agricultural museum recently converted into a Biodiversity research laboratory: CIBIO- Associação BIOPOLIS, University of Porto, Portugal.
Shuttle bus
There will be a daily bus to take the participants from Vila do Conde to the Venue in Quinta do Crasto. The Bus will start from the Hotel B&B and then stop in a Bus stop in the centre of Vila do Conde (near the market, we will later send coordinates. This stop is within 5 to 20 minutes walking distance from any hotel/hostel in Vila do Conde.
If you come daily from Porto, you will have to come by Metro and leave in Mindelo station where the bus will pick you to the venue. The opposite trajectory will be taken at the end of each conference day and leave you in the same points.
The municipality where the venue is located :
Main Organization
Rui Faria, Aurora Ruiz Herrera, Marina Rafajlovic, Marius Roesti, Petr Neguyen, Kay Lucek, Maren Wellenreuther, Jenn Coughlan, Zach Gompert, Claire Merot, Benjamin Dauphin
Local Organizing Committee
Rui Faria (CIBIO, U. Porto)
Pierre Barry (CIBIO, U. Porto)
Ralph Merrifield (CIBIO, U. Porto)
Susana Almeida (CCMAR, U. Algarve)
João Carvalho (CIBIO, U. Porto)
Leonor Bezerra (CIBIO, U. Lisbon)
André Vidal Cápon (U. Vigo)
Contacts
Administrative inquiries: marta.pereira@biopolis.pt
Scientific inquiries: ruifaria@cibio.up.pt
Conference location:
Looking forward to seeing you in Portugal!
Funding and Support
This event has received support from:
• The European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) via funding of the Special Topic Network on Structural Variation- STRiVE https://tibe.biopolis.pt/
• American Genetic Association (AGA)
• FLAD- Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento, GL20260194
• The Portugal-Berkeley Program funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD).
• University of Porto
• Portuguese Funds through FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia in the scope of the project UID/50027 – Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva
• European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 857251
• Regional NORTE 2030 Program via the project NORTE2030-FEDER-02130700 https://www.norte2030.pt/norte2030_barracofinanciamento/
• LA/P/0048/2020
