The New Phytologist Foundation supports symposia, conferences, meetings and other initiatives that further innovation and advancement in plant science research around the world. Often this will be in the form of part-support / sponsorship of a scientific meeting or awards such as poster and lecture prizes. Find out more about New Phytologist Foundation Innovation Grants.
Find out more about the events we've supported below. If you are interested in discussing support for your event, please contact the Events and Promotions Manager for further information.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored this year's annual Botanical University Challenge event, which is coordinated by Jonathan Mitchley, University of Reading. The final of this year’s competition was held at the University of Cambridge Botanic Gardens in August.
The New Phytologist Foundation is pleased to support the International Mycorrhiza Society by providing a contribution towards travel grants to facilitate the participation of early career researchers in the society’s biannual International Conference on Mycorrhiza (ICOM) meetings. The next ICOM takes place from 12th to 17th July 2026 in Cairns, Queensland, Australia
The New Phytologist Foundation provided funding and materials to support the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) Symposium, which took place at Sheffield University in the UK on 31st January 2025.
The EEB research cluster is part of the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences and works to answer fundamental questions in ecology, conservation, and evolutionary biology, addressing key global challenges facing biodiversity and humankind.
The New Phytologist Foundation provided a financial contribution to support the running of the Plant Traits and Drought Workshop, which took place in Montpelier, France from 2nd to 7th February 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation made a financial contribution towards running costs for BarleyGenomeNet 2025, organised by the International Barley Hub, a platform that aims to improve the resilience and sustainability of barley crop production and mitigate impacts of climate and environmental change.
The meeting took place in Dundee, UK on 4th and 5th February 2025.
Plants, People, Planet sponsored six prizes for early career researchers as part of the Merian Awards at the 8th European Conference of Tropical Ecology organised by the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö). The conference took place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands from 24th to 28th February 2025.
The Merian Awards were established in 2001 to commemorate the work of entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, the first female naturalist to travel to the tropics to study their diversity.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the 6th Xylem International Meeting (XIM6), which took place in Seville, Spain, from 18th to 20th March 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the Genetics Society Seed Plant Research Meeting, which took place in Durham, UK on 8th and 9th of April 2025. Download an archive copy of the programme.
Recognising the immense potential for a continental plant genomics ecosystem in Africa, the organising committee, which comprises of African scientists, convened a two-day meeting of about 100 delegates from academia, industry, government and civic society to showcase plant genomics research on the African continent, to build a network among stakeholders to support a unified agenda for plant genomics in Africa, and to launch the Africa Plant Genomics Society.
The New Phytologist Foundation is delighted to have supported the African Plant Genomics Symposium, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya, on 10th and 11th April 2025, by providing funding for five prizes for early career researchers.
The New Phytologist Foundation supported the Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil Symposium, which took place at the University of Sheffield, UK, on 23rd April 2025, by funding three poster prizes for early career researchers from the University of Sheffield:
1st prize: Issi Steeley
Enhanced weathering for carbon capture in Brazilian cacao2nd prize: Nathanael Tan
Unravelling the role of the cell wall in stomatal mechanics: why guard cells aren’t just tubes3rd prize: Nitkamon Iamprasertkun
Physiological trade-off in Arabidopsis thaliana under drought conditions
The New Phytologist Foundation funded three travel grants and two poster prizes for early career researchers at the 6th International Plant Proteomics Organisation Conference, which took place in Banff, Alberta, Canada between 15th and 18th May 2025. As of 7th October 2025, an archived copy of the conference website can be viewed using the Wayback Machine.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the 41st Interdisciplinary Plant Group Symposium, which aimed to foster the generation of new ideas and collaborations to contribute to more sustainable crop production and enhance ecosystem services. The Interdisciplinary Plant Group is recognised as one of the top fundamental plant biology research and training programmes in the USA.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the Gordon Research Conference: CO2 Assimilation in Plants from Genome to Biome, which took place in Newry, ME, USA from the 8th to the 13th June 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the 8th International IUFRO Workshop: Resistance Mechanisms and Breeding in Forest Trees, which took place in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada, between 2nd and 6th June 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation supported the 11th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens, which took place in Pocheon, South Korea between 9th and 13th June 2025, by funding two poster prizes for early career researchers:
1st prize: Seung-Su Euo, Korea National Arboretum
Citizen science-based study of pollinating insects in Gwangneung ForestRunners-up: Lucie Brzcova and Eva Vitova, Prague Botanical Garden
Valuable Botanic Garden Concept: 5 key principles
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored this ICAR 2025 satellite meeting, which took place in Ghent, Belgium on 14th and 15th June 2025. Vascular Development meetings have occurred every year since 2015 and bring together many groups working on plant development in Europe.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the Plant Metabolic Engineering Gordon Research Seminar: Integrative Strategies for Harnessing Plant Metabolism Towards a Sustainable Future, which took place in Barcelona, Spain, on 14th and 15th June 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the Plant Metabolic Engineering Gordon Research Conference: Innovations in Plant Metabolic Engineering for Health and Sustainability, which took place in Barcelona, Spain, between 15th and 20th June 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation funded two prizes for oral presentations and three poster prizes at the Ecology of Soil Microorganisms 6 conference, which took place in Helsinki, Finland, between 15th and 19th June 2025.
Presentation prizes
Elsa Hilaire, INRAE
Meta-omics reveal microbial guild succession and functions during fungal necromass decomposition in forest soilElias Barmettler, University of Zurich / Agroscope
Copper and synthetic pesticides are major drivers of bacterial and fungal communities in vineyard soils
Poster prizes
Karolina Jörgensen, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
A carbon utilization and nitrogen acquisition trait spectrum for ectomycorrhizal fungiLuise Brandt, University of Hohenheim
Reciprocal transport of carbon and nitrogen between plants and microbes in the grassland hyphosphereJulian Ruggaber, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research
Rhizosphere metatranscriptomics of microbiome functions in carbon turnover assessed by a novel approach
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the annual meeting organised by the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee, which took place in Ghent, Belgium between 16th and 20th June 2025.
New Phytologist's Peer Review Manager Fiona Tooke attended and staffed an exhibition stand, in addition to running a publication advice clinic for early career researchers.
The New Phytologist Foundation funded catering at Rausher-fest 2025, a symposium celebrating the contribution of former New Phytologist Editor Mark Rausher to plant science, which took place on 19th June 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the annual meeting of the American Society of Naturalists, the Society of Systematic Biologists, and the Society for the Study of Evolution, which took place in Athens, GA, USA from 20th to 24th June 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored an oral presentation prize and a poster prize at the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation's annual meeting, held in Oaxaca, Mexico, between 29th June and 4th July 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the 12th INTECOL Wetlands Conference, which took place in Tartu, Estonia, between 29th June and 4th July 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the International Brachypodium Research Conference.
The New Phytologist Foundation funded two oral presentation prizes and three poster presentation prizes at the International Oomycete Genetics Network Meeting, a satellite meeting which took place in Cologne, Germany on 12th July 2025, before the main IS-MPMI conference.
Joint first oral presentation prize
Maria Kostarelli, UMR INRAE CNRS Université Côte d'Azur - Sophia Antipolis, France
Max Pluis, UMR INRAE CNRS Université Côte d'Azur - Sophia Antipolis, France
Poster prizes
1st prize: Callum Scott, University of Aberdeen, UK
2nd prize: Pelin Yuksel, The Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
3rd prize: Susanna Anbu, Utrecht University, the Netherlands
The New Phytologist Foundation made a financial contribution towards the running costs of the 11th International Powdery Mildew Workshop, an IS-MPMI Congress satellite workshop, which took place on 13th July 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored this annual meeting of the International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, which took place in Cologne, Germany between 13th and 17th July 2025.
New Phytologist's Senior Commissioning Editor Holly Slater attended and staffed an exhibition stand.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the International Plant Nutrition Colloquium 2025, which took place in Porto, Portugal from 22nd to 25th July 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation contributed financial support for the annual meeting of the Botanical Society of America, which took place in Palm Springs, CA, USA from 26th to 30th July 2025, by sponsoring the conference app.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the Ecological Society of America's Annual Meeting, which took place in Baltimore, MD, USA from 10th to 14th August 2025, and contributed funds to the Society's Physiological Ecology and Biogeosciences sections.
The New Phytologist Foundation Keynote, a special plenary lecture, was given by New Phytologist Editor Sasha Reed and introduced by New Phytologist Editor and New Phytologist Foundation Trustee Richard Norby.
Bennett Young, Plants, People, Planet Managing Editor, attended the conference and staffed the New Phytologist Foundation's exhibition stand.
The New Phytologist Foundation contributed to the 20th International Workshop in Plant Membrane Biology, which took place in Helsingør, Denmark from 24th to 27th August 2025, by sponsoring a talk by an early career researcher, Magdalena Maria Julkowska.
The New Phytologist Foundation supported the 16th International Conference on Tetrapyrrole Photoreceptors of Photosynthetic Organisms, which took place in Kaiserslautern, Germany from 24th to 27th August 2025, by contributing funds to support early career researchers.
The New Phytologist Foundation supported the Third International TRR 175 conference, which took place in Seeon-Seebruck, Germany from 25th to 29th August 2025, by sponsoring a poster prize, awarded to Claire Scheid.
Poster prize
Claire Scheid, RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau, Germany
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored PlastidPreview, which took place at the University of Essex in Colchester, UK, on 1st and 2nd September 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation supported Green Planet Day, which took place at the University of York, UK on 3rd September 2025, with funding for three poster prizes.
Poster prizes
1st prize: Kate Bowler, University of York, UK
Characterising the CO2 concentrating mechanism in brown macroalgae2nd prize: Zhouqian Jiang, University of York, UK
Unravelling the biosynthesis of securinine: pathway insights to menisdaurilide3rd prize: Jason Daff, University of York, UK
The forgotten fruits of Heslington Hall's walled garden
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the 13th Plant Peptide Receptor Meeting, which took place in Edinburgh, UK from 8th to 10th September 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the second Trilateral Early Career Researcher Symposium, which took place in Lausanne, Switzerland from 10th to 12th September 2025. Two poster prizes were funded.
Poster prizes
Lukas Hoermayer, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Nathan German, École normale supérieure de Lyon, France
The New Phytologist Foundation supported the International Molecular Mycorrhiza Meeting 2025, which took place in Munich, Germany between 16th and 18th September 2025, by funding three poster prizes, awarded to early career researchers.
Poster prizes
Saskia Birch, University of Cambridge, UK
Unravelling suppression of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in high phosphate conditionsLeo Bunel, INRAE, France
Coordination between endodermal barriers and arbuscular mycorrhizae for nutrient exchangeMidge Woodward, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Genetic transformation of AM fungi – is it possible?
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the 'SUMOylation: from discovery to translation' workshop, which took place in Montpelier, France from 22nd to 25th September 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation contributed funding towards the running of this workshop.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the 4th Molecular Biosystems Conference in Eukaryotic Gene Regulation and Functional Genomics, which took place in Puerto Varas, Chile from 29th September to 3rd October 2025.
The next iteration of the conference, marking its 10th anniversary, will take place in Puerto Varas, Chile, in 2027.
The New Phytologist Foundation supported the 2025 African Plant Breeders Association conference, which took place in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from 4th to 8th October, by funding poster prizes for early career researchers.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the 31st Argentine Ecology / First Trinational Ecology Meeting, which took place from 5th to the 10th October in Mendoza, Argentina.
The New Phytologist Foundation is sponsoring the Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum Autumn Science Lecture Series, taking place from 9th October to 4th December 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation supported the XVIII Latin American Symposium of Chronobiology, the most recent instalment of this biannual meeting series, which took place in Maceió, Brazil from 20th to 25th October 2025, by providing funds to enable the attendance of participants and help to overcome funding constraints in Latin America.
The New Phytologist Foundation supported Plant proteins: functions, regulation, production and utility, a Biochemical Society meeting, which took place in Leeds, UK from 21st to 23rd October, by funding poster prizes for early career researchers.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored Micología y Micotoxicología: Desde el cono sur al mundo (Mycology and Mycotoxicology: From the Southern Cone to the World), which took place in Bariloche, Argentina from 21st to 24th October 2025.
The meeting is a combination of the IV Argentine Mycology Meeting and the IX Latin American Mycotoxicology Congress.
The New Phytologist Foundation contributed funds to support the running of a workshop, 'From plant trait variation to integrated strategies', which took place in Jülich, Germany on 21st and 22nd October.
The New Phytologist Foundation sponsored the 2025 Black in Plant Science Conference, which took place on 24th October 2025 in Leeds, UK.
The New Phytologist Foundation is sponsoring Plant evolution: from origins to diversification on land, which takes place in Vienna, Austria from 25th to 27th November 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation is sponsoring the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists' Eastern Regional Meeting, which takes place on 29th November 2025.
The New Phytologist Foundation is sponsoring the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Biogeosciences Section's Early Career Mixer and associated activities at the AGU Annual Meeting, which takes place in New Orleans, LA, USA, between the 9th and the 13th December 2025.