About the meeting

TiBE-STRiVE Conference

Conference on the evolutionary role of structural variation

TIBE STRIVE LOGO

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 as soon as possible (ruifaria@cibio.up.pt) to know the conditions and how to apply.

Important Dates

Meeting dates: 8th to 10th of July 2026

Abstract submission deadline (for all participants):
• 15th of April 2026
Registration deadline (for all participants)):
• 30th of April 2026
Notification of abstract acceptance: 20th of April 2026
Notification of registration acceptance: 30th of April 2026

A limited number of places and talks are available. Registration and talks are granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Invited Speakers

Mark Kirkpatrick, The University of Texas at Austin, USA

Photo of Mark

Joana Meier, The Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge, UK

Photo of Joana

Venue

Quinta do Crasto, an old farm and agricultural museum recently converted into a Biodiversity research laboratory: CIBIO- Associação BIOPOLIS, University of Porto, Portugal.

View of Vila do Conde:

The municipality where the venue is located and of Porto:

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)

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 Regional NORTE 2030 Program via the project NORTE2030-FEDER-02130700: https://www.norte2030.pt/norte2030_barracofinanciamento/
UID/50027/2025: Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva
LA/P/0048/2020: https://www.fct.pt/media/media-e-identidade-de-marca/

Initiative supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Grant Agreement Number 857251.