Hello,

On behalf of myself and EBSA Council, thank you to all those who attended or supported our 2025 event last week in Maastricht. Building on the success of the previous few years, 2025 was our biggest event yet, with 341 registrants for the conference, 170 registrants at our preconference training courses, as well as 350 registrants for the co-located ‘side event’ organised by the Dutch Biosecurity Office. It was a very busy, but stimulating, week, and we have had great feedback from our members and friends. I was very happy with our venue, the greater space offering more comfort for attendees to network and relax, and it is our intention to use similar sized venues in future. All in all, a resounding success! This event would not have been possible without the input and hard work of many people – so to our Working Groups, speakers, moderators, organisers, instructors, presenters and sponsors – thank you!

The presentations, pictures and certificats of attendance for the conference in Maastricht will be made available by the end of this week.

As announced during the conference, next year’s event – which we hope and expect to be even bigger than this year’s – will take place from 2^nd – 5^th June (courses 2^nd and 3^rd June; conference launch 3^rd June and sessions 4^th and 5^th June) in the beautiful and historic city of Brugge / Bruges, Belgium at the modern Bruges Meeting & Convention Centre (BMCC), located just 15 minutes’ walk from the touristic hotspot of the Old Town Markt / Market Square, where the conference dinner will be hosted in the Provincial Palace. We hope to see you there and more information will be provided in the coming months.

Even though we have just finished our 2025 event and have much work to do for next year, we will shortly begin actively planning the 2027 event (dates TBC) and would be delighted to receive offers from members to host the week at an appropriate location in Europe. The following are outline requirements:

• Convenient travel connections for our members.
• A main conference hall seating minimum 450.
• Multiple rooms for preconference courses (these do not necessarily need to be on the same site as the conference itself, but it would help) and conference breakout sessions.
• Ideally, access to laboratories / relevant facilities (etc.) within the region for course/s.
• Sufficient exhibition, dining, and networking space and facilities for an event of this size.
• Volunteers to form a Local Organising Committee! These will be ably assisted by our Secretariat on many matters, so enthusiasm and an appropriate contact network are more valued than event organisation experience.

If you wish your location to be considered, please contact our Secretariat as soon as you have confirmed the above and provide the relevant details. We would be delighted to hear from you!

Regards,

Pat Casey
EBSA President 2025 - 2027