The Australasian Yeast Group is an informal grouping of Australasian researchers who work on yeast and microfungi. It grew from national conferences on ‘Yeast: Products and Discovery’ (YPD) held in 2000 and 2002 that focused on yeast as a model organism in fundamental research (e.g. molecular biology, physiology and biochemistry) and applications of yeast in industry (e.g. beer making, winemaking and heterologous expression).
The Yeast Products and Discovery meeting is open to anyone with an interest in yeast and microfungal research. It covers the latest discoveries on how yeast and microfungal products are used in industry, including alcohol, food, biofuel, cosmetic and textile production. It also encompasses the latest research on the impact of microfungi in agriculture and food security, how fungi cause disease in both medical and agricultural settings which impact human health and food security, how fungi become drug and pesticide resistant and which of their components are being targeted in new drug discovery. The meeting is unique in that it provides a cross-disciplinary environment to update on current developments, bringing together scientists and students from both industry and academia.
YPD has always had a strong focus on bringing students to our meetings and supporting their research. This year we are organising two specific student sessions on the first day of the meeting, with the opportunity to win great prizes, meet potential future employers or collaborators and make new friends.
Student “lightening talks” – all students who wish to participate will have the opportunity to give a short (3 min) talk in this session. The aim of the talks is to promote your project to the audience, with a focus on the relevance and impact of your study. Little or no data is to be presented in these talks; instead you will be inspiring the audience to see more about your work in the poster session. We encourage the use of both traditional and non-traditional presentation styles, eg videos, music, costumes, audience participation – up to you to make your science as appealing as possible!
Student poster session – this comes straight after the lightening talks, where you will be able to follow up your talk with a detailed presentation of your hard core science. No need for introductory material, which was covered in your talk. Here the focus is on your results and their interpretation. Posters can be up to 1 x 1 m in size.
*Note that you will have to participate in both the talk and the poster session to be eligible for a prize. Please indicate that you will participate in the student presentations when you submit your abstract.
The Yeast Special Interest Group of the ASBMB is seeking applications for an ECR award that will sponsor the winner to speak at the 2020 Combio Conference. Registration costs will be covered by the Yeast SIG. This will provide a great opportunity to present an “Invited Talk” of your work at a large national meeting and to network with your peers. To be eligible you must have completed your PhD within the last 10 years and be a registrant for the 2019 Yeast Products and Discovery (YPD) meeting. Selection will be based upon the abstract submitted for YPD2019, plus a two page CV and one page summary of career aspirations/research vision. To be considered for the ECR Speaker Award at Combio please combine your abstract, CV and summary into a single PDF document and submit to A/Prof Julianne Djordjevic. Please also indicate if you would like to be considered for a PROFFERRED PAPER in one of the YPD speaker sessions.
Abstract should be structured as follows:
Submit abstract to A/Professor Julianne Djordjevic
Abstracts due by 1 October
Participants will need to book their own travel and accommodation.