Show Preview: A showcase for European life sciences

With its location in the centre of Europe and a life-sciences cluster that includes a large pharmaceutical industry and world-renowned public and private research institutions, Basel is an ideal place for an international scientific meeting, note the organizers of the annual Basel Life Science congress, which had previously been referred to as Basel Life Science Week. Basel Life also complements the well-established industry exhibition MipTec and a range of innovation forums on technology, application and business, thus making Basel Life “a showcase for Europe’s excellence in research, science and innovation,” according to the organizers.

The MipTec exhibition brings together more than 100 vendors to showcase cutting-edge technologies that advance research and development in the life sciences.

This is a “growing and prestigious exhibition” as Basel Life puts it, offering services and technologies in the field of basic and applied research and development. In 2016, some 3000 attendees took the opportunity at MipTec to network with vendors and see their newest products and services.

This year, the Product-Innovation Award will return to recognize outstanding achievements in the development of novel technologies, and the Innovation Village, a platform for startups in the life sciences, will be expanded compared to last year to enable more startups to participate.

“The exhibition offers companies the opportunity to increase their visibility, to build brand awareness, to market their latest products and to network with end-users,” says Basel Life. “We invite the pharmaceutical and technology industries in the life sciences to participate actively in this exhibition.”

Looking at the event more broadly, the organizers say that Basel Life 2017 will combine science, technology and exhibition “in a unique way to bridge not only between basic science and translational science, but also between science and business.”

Also, this 2017 congress will be the first year of EMBO at Basel Life, organized by the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and chaired by Susan Gasser, Maria Leptin and a group of leading scientists. This high-ranking international scientific meeting will be combined with MipTec.

Using cutting-edge methodology and data presented by leading scientists in the field, the Innovation Forums advance the applied and translational aspects of research topics. The Innovation Forums cover a wide range of topics, including aging, artificial intelligence, next-generation sequencing, and stem cells.

​The Innovation Forums at Basel Life 2017 will place a topic in the spotlight—academic and industry researchers discussing technological and product-related aspects. More importantly, though, they also aim to spur discussion of implementation and foster interdisciplinary exchange between congress attendees.

​The Innovation Forums may cover topics ranging from best practices to future directions of the life sciences and pitching business proposals and ideas. The focus is on applied science: implementing and translating science for the market.

​Plenary sessions at Basel Life 2017 will be: The RNA World; Genome Evolution and Instability; Chromatin and Inheritance; Genes to Disease and Therapies; Controlling Transcription; and Replicating, Repairing and Segregating the Genome.

The MipTec exhibition’s hours at Basel Life Science 2017 are:

Sept. 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Sept. 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Sept. 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

EMBO and a committee of leading scientists have organized this international scientific conference on current and emerging topics in the life sciences to be held as part of Basel Life. The conference will bring the best in fundamental research to a wide audience, ranging from leading experts in their fields to young researchers at the beginning of their careers, and to students. It aims to foster a fruitful exchange between researchers from academia, clinics, pharmaceutical and biotech industry, and it will promote excellence in the life sciences to a wide audience.

As an organization of over 1,700 leading researchers, EMBO stands for excellence in the life sciences. The major goals of the organization are: to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers; to stimulate the exchange of scientific information; and to help build a European research environment where scientists can achieve their best work.

EMBO helps young scientists advance their research, promote their international reputations and ensure their mobility. Courses, workshops, conferences and EMBO Press publications disseminate the latest research and offer training in techniques to maintain high standards in research practice. EMBO helps shape science policy by seeking input and feedback from the community and by closely following trends in science in Europe and beyond.

Sir Paul Nurse

The Francis Crick Institute, U.K.

Jennifer Doudna

University of California, Berkeley

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Svante Pääbo

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany

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Silvia Arber

Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Switzerland

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Caetano Reis e Sousa

The Francis Crick Institute, U.K.