Around 60 participants from IPB, IPK and MLU experienced four exciting days full of inspiring science and fruitful exchange at this year's Plant Science Student Conference (PSSC) in Halle. The IPB team of organizers had spared neither time nor effort to make the traditional conference by students for students a great event. In addition to the three keynote lectures by established scientists on topics such as phosphate metabolism, nutrient transport and interactions between plants and pathogens, there were of course plenty of interesting results to be presented by the doctoral students themselves. As always, the topics were broad and ranged from genetic analyses and biochemical studies to metabolomics investigations in Arabidopsis and crop plants, as well as in fungi. Numerous contributions were also discussed at the big poster session.
Furthermore, workshops served to promote key transferable skills that go beyond the scientific work. Here, the participants received instruction from an acting instructor, who gave them helpful advice on self-presentation on stage and on how to handle their own voice. In a second workshop, the participants learned about storytelling in science before diving into the world of light in the third applied lecture. Here, an expert from a greenhouse lamp manufacturer passed on his specialist knowledge about the photobiology of plants and spoke about the possibilities and challenges of greenhouse and phytochamber lighting.
There was plenty of time to explore and socialize on the Social Day - a day full of discoveries at the Hallorenfabrik in Halle or on the Hausmannstürme topped off with a barbecue at the Peißnitzhaus. On the last day, the winners were finally selected: Gihwan Kim from IPK Gatersleben received the prize for the best poster, while Alejandro Inostroza Muños from IPB was awarded the prize for the best talk. All in all, the hosts concluded that it was a cheerful and lively event, marked by a wonderful atmosphere and many new insights. In short: it was a great success. Now everyone is looking forward to the PSSC 2025 at the IPK in Gatersleben.
