Conference Programme
The Conference Programme is subject to changes.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Conference Day 1: Tuesday, 8 December
08:00 - 09:00 Registration
09:00 - 09:20 Conference Opening
09:20 - 09:30 Intro Moderator Adrien Vincent
Adrien Vincent, Moderator AlgaEurope 2026
09:30 - 10:00 Keynote Presentation
Seaweed farming: Jack of all trades and master of all
Pr. Carlos Duarte, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia
10:00 - 10:30 Session 1: Production
10:00 - 10:15: Production of macroalgae, integrated with sole aquaculture, managed with real-time monitoring and actuation: smart-IMTA
Rui Pereira, A4F, Algae for Future, Portugal
10:15 - 10:30: Beyond productivity : The road to autonomous and business-aware microalgae production
José Luis Guzmán, University of Almería, Spain
10:30 - 10:50 Session 2: Industry
10:30 - 10:35: Online microbiological monitoring for early warning and harvest optimization in Haematococcus pluvialis production
Pinar Franck, Holloid GmbH, Austria
10:35 - 10:40: Microalgae and cyanobacteria production platform for high-value molecules
Marlène Bonnanfant, Algolight, France
10:40 - 10:45: Algaspring: dual-action microalgae-based biostimulants for sustainable crop intensification
Mimmo Scollo, Originy srl Benefit Society, Italy
10:45 - 10:50: Towards domestication and genetic improvement in the French algal aquaculture sector
Pierrick Haffray, SYSAAF, France
10:50 - 11:30 Coffee Break
11:30 - 12:55 Session 3: Industry
11:30 - 11:35: Airlift photobioreactor with a new CO2 feeding
Hans Vaeth, Algoliner GmbH & Co. KG, Germany
11:35 - 11:40: Saltaris technologies: agentic system intelligence for algae cultivation
Josefine Staats, Kulau Gmbh, Germany
11:40 - 11:45: Is your culture dividing on schedule? Real-time single-cell monitoring for algae production
Lilian Brewer Lisboa, CytoBuoy BV, The Netherlands
11:45 - 11:50: How to turn ideas into market-ready technologies
Stefan Matthes, GICON-Großmann Ingenieur Consult GmbH, Germany
11:50- 12:50 Session 4: EU Update
11:50 - 12:00: From ambition to scale: how the EU is driving Europe’s algae sector forward
Eva Maria Carballeira-Fernandez, European Commission, Belgium
12:00 - 12:10: EU4Algae: connecting Europe’s algae community and shaping the sector’s future
Laura Maragna, EurA AG, Portugal
12:10 - 12:15: Investing in Europe’s algae euture: EMFAF support from knowledge to market
Julien Peris, CINEA – European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency, Belgium
12:15 - 12:20: From research to market: accelerating algae innovation in Europe
Natasa Mantziari, European Commission, Belgium
12:20 - 12:50 The presentations are followed by a panel discussion " Europe’s algae sector: what will it take to really take off?"
12:50 - 13:00 Sponsored Presentation: BrightWave
Timothy Shaw, BrightWave, USA
13:00 - 14:15 Lunch Break
14:15 - 15:45 Session 5: High-Value Products
14:15 - 14:30: High-efficiency production of stable C-phycocyanin from Galdieria sulphuraria
Yuanguang Li, East China University of Science and Technology, China
14:30 - 14:45: Lipidomic characterization and bioactive potential of the marine microalga Porphyridium aerugineum
Mariana Neves, CESAM - University of Aveiro, Portugal
14:45 - 15:00: Towards commercial-scale production of affordable natural astaxanthin through dark fermentation
Omer Grundman, Kuehnle AgroSystems (KAS), USA
15:00 - 15:15: From coastal monitoring to high-value bioactives: exploring the invasive macroalgae Rugulopteryx okamurae as a source of vitamin K1
Dina Simes, Centre of Marine Sciences-Algarve, Portugal
15:15 - 15:30: From green to orange: tailoring Coelastrella sp. for carotenoid enrichment and NaDES-based green extraction for cosmetic applications
Emmanuelle Tari, CEA x SOFIA Cosmétiques, France
15:30 - 15:45: Lipidomics reveals seasonal shifts in nutritional and bioactive lipids of IMTA-cultivated edible red seaweeds
Rosário Domingues, University of Aveiro, Portugal
15:45 - 16:10 Session 6: Industry
15:45 - 15:50: From morphology to metrics: advancing algae cultivation with FlowCam imaging
Daniela Sturm, Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies, USA
15:50 - 15:55: Developing a microalgae-based oral vaccine platform for aquaculture: feed processing, immunological evaluation, and disease protection
Lik Theng Ho, Arctic Algae, Norway
15:55 - 16:00: Wild Azorean macroalgae: seaExpert to the world
Fernando Rodrigues, seaExpert, Portugal
16:00 - 16:05: Beyond cell counting: from 3D imaging to searchable algae data
László Nemes, Holodetect Instruments, Hungary
16:05 - 16:10: From tropical spirulina cultivation to carbon utilization Albitec's integrated microalgae platform in Indonesia
Falasifah Falasifah, ALBITEC, Indonesia
16:10 - 16:15: To be confirmed
Timo Gehring, htw saar - university of applied sciences, Germany
16:15 - 16:25 Sponsored Presentation: SCHOTT
Fritz Wintersteller, SCHOTT, Germany
16:25 - 17:10 Poster Session / Coffee Break
17:10 - 17:20 Sponsored Presentation: AquaBioTech Group
17:20 - 17:30 Presentation of ALGAFLIX
Christie de Vrij, EABA, The Netherlands
17:30 - 17:45: The regulatory landscape for alternative proteins and precision fermentation novel foods in the EU and UK: Challenges and opportunities
Prof. Dr. Hans Verhagen, Food Safety & Nutrition Consultancy, The Netherlands
17:45 - 18:15 Session 7: Wastewater
17:45 - 18:00: Stream-specific microalgal routes for brewery water management: Scenedesmus sp. on wort-rich rinse water and end-of-pipe brewery effluent
Belén Villarreal Toribio, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, Spain
18:00 - 18:15: From laboratory extracts to pilot-scale ponds: carbonic-anhydrase-containing microalgal preparations for digestate-fed cultures
Maja Berden Zrimec, Algen, algal technology centre, llc, Slovenia
18:15 - 18:20 The EABA LCA-Task Force
Léa Braud, EABA, France
18:20 - 19:20 Session 8: China
More info will follow soon
Conference Day 2: Wednesday, 9 December
09:10 - 09:40 Keynote Presentation
Harnessing the potential of microalgae through advanced genetic engineering
Dr. Fayza Daboussi, INRAE-TIBH (Toulouse Industrial Biotechnology for Health), France
09:40 - 10:55 Session 9: Omics and selection
09:40 - 09:55: Development of a CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing technique for the red alga Porphyridium purpureum
Bailing Ren, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany
09:55 - 10:10: Multi-omics of algal biomaterials
Igor Grigoriev, US DOE Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, USA
10:10 - 10:25: Engineering light reactions and carbon supply to drive photosynthetic bioproduction in cyanobacteria
Yagut Allahverdiyeva-Rinne, University of Turku, Finland
10:25 - 10:40: The power of dynamical Darwinian selection to enhance strain performance
Hubert Bonnefond, DareWin Evolution, France
10:40 - 10:55: Natural astaxanthin in aquaculture: applications, challenges, and emerging biotechnological solutions
Sammy Boussiba, Algatone, Israel
10:55 - 11:35 Coffee Break
11:35 - 12:35 Session 10: Biostimulants
11:35 - 11:50: From five microalgae to one decision framework for biostimulant development
Tom Bernaerts, Thomas More, Belgium
11:50 - 12:05: Marine sulfated polysaccharides from Ulva remodel sphingolipid metabolism and enhance ceramide synthase activity
Elodie Lassallette, Olmix S.A., France
12:05 - 12:20: Growth and biostimulant response of Nostoc sp. F&M-C98 grown in diazotrophic conditions and salt stress
Liliana Rodolfi, University of Florence, Italy
12:20 - 12:35: Evaluation of Porphyridium cruentum and Limnospira maxima as biofertilizers for partial nitrogen substitution in Theobroma cacao
Camila Marín, Universidad CES, Colombia
12:35 - 12:45 Sponsored Presentation:
Haifa Group
12:45 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:30 Session 11: Biorefinery
14:00 - 14:15: From greenhouse drainwater to aquafeeds and biostimulants: an integrated microalgae-based circular approach
Inês Maia, CCMAR, Portugal
14:15 - 14:30: Turning Palmaria palmata into a natural food colorant: Integrated downstream processing and spray drying optimization of R-phycoerythrin
Oscar Elizondo Sada, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands
14:30 - 14:45: Design of an integrated microalgae CCU platform coupling CO2 ERA unit and bicarbonate-based biomass production
Luigi Marra, Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy
14:45 - 15:00: Generating value from end-of-line Gelidium corneum: from protein extraction to glucose release to produce microbial bioplastics or microbial protein
Maria Teresa Cesário, Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
15:00 - 15:15: Results of microwave-assisted drying prototypes for micro- and macroalgae
Erik Malta, Aquaculture Technology Centre, CTAQUA, Spain
15:15 - 15:30: Exploring the synergies between direct carbon-capture, nutrient recovery and next-generation purification technologies for cost-competitive and sustainable microalgal aviation fuel
Yuchen Li, University College Dublin, Ireland
15:30 - 16:00 Session 12: Feed
15:30 - 15:45: Phaeodactylum tricornutum as a functional feed ingredient for cats: effects on lipid digestibility and antioxidant response
Fábio Neves, Santa Catarina State University, Brazil
15:45 - 16:00: Primed by algae: functional value beyond protein in whiteleg shrimp feeds
Ana Teresa Gonçalves, GreenCoLab, Portugal
16:00 - 16:30 Poster Session / Coffee Break
16:30 - 16:45 Picture Contest
Anne Pajot, EABA
16:45 - 17:00: AI for unlocking microalgae: from genomic foundation models to autonomous processes
Olivier Bernard, INRIA, France
17:00 - 17:45 Session 13: Pharma-Biomedical
17:00 - 17:15: From algal biodiversity to human-relevant IBD leads: the Algae4IBD discovery-to-translation journey
Dorit Avni, MIGAL-Galilee Research Institute/ Tel Hai university, Israel
17:15 - 17:30: From diatom to antibody factory: functional trastuzumab production in Phaeodactylum tricornutum
Muriel Bardor, Alga Biologics, France
17:30 - 17:45: Tiny but mighty: extracellular vesicles from cyanobacteria as an alternative and green vaccination platform for fish
Jorge Matinha-Cardoso, CIIMAR / i3S / ICBAS, Portugal
17:45 - 18:05 Session 14: Photobioreactors
17:45 - 18:00: AlgaScreen, phenotyping platform for microalgal photosynthesis
Ondrej Prasil, Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
18:00 - 18:15: Potential of stacked thin-layer cascade photobioreactor for protein-rich Chlorella vulgaris cultivation: scale-up modeling, techno-economic and sustainability assessments
Zi Wei Ng, TUMCREATE, Singapore
18:15 - 18:30: Volumetric light supply rate: reliably translating laboratory-scale production data to industrial scale
Pieter Oostlander, Lgem Systems B.V., The Netherlands
18:30 - 18:45: The inoculum sets the bacterial community of industrial Chlorella sorokiniana cultures
Tamára Santos, Centro de Ciências do Mar do Algarve (CCMAR), Portugal
18:45 - 18:50 YAS Presentation
Pedro Coelho, Instituto Superior de Agronomia da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
18:50 - 18:55 Seagriculture
Anna Ivanko, DLG Markerts Benelux, The Netherands
20:00 - 23:00 Conference Dinner
FOR REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS ONLY
The dinner takes place in a traditional maid medieval milling room: 1743 Razzett L-Antik. More information.
Buses will bring participants to the conference dinner and afterwards back to the hotel.
Conference Day 3: Thursday, 10 December
09:10 - 09:40 Keynote Presentation
Building climate-resilient seaweed aquaculture: innovations for a warming ocean
Dr. Jang K. Kim, Incheon National University, South Korea
09:40 - 10:10 To be confirmed
10:10 - 10:55 Session 15: Wastewater
10:10 - 10:25: Quantifying N2O emission from an algae-bacteria system fed on digestate
Elena Ficara, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
10:25 - 10:40: Microalgal nutrient recovery through modelling and advanced water treatment
Francisco Gabriel Acien Fernandez, University of Almeria, Spain
10:40 - 10:55: Bacterial algal interaction process driven efficient removal of contaminants from Baijiu brewing wastewater
Yanmin Zhang, Henan Normal University, China
10:55 - 11:25 Coffee Break
11:25 - 12:55 Session 16: Biorefinery
11:25 - 11:40: CO2-to-acetate microbial electrosynthesis supports mixotrophic microalgal lipid production for sustainable aviation fuel precursors
Pablo Benavides Mateos, LEQUiA, Institute of the Environment, Universitat de Girona, Spain
11:40 - 11:55: Integrated microalgal cell factories for sustainable carotenoid production within the GOODBYO biorefinery concept
Barbara Menin, CNR- IBBA National Research Council/Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, Italy
11:55 - 12:10: Cascade biorefinery approach for the recovery of pigments, biostimulants and biogas from Arthrospira platensis
Ivet Ferrer, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech, Spain
12:10 - 12:25: Ultrasound-assisted valorization of wastewater-grown microalgae biomass for an integrated biorefinery for bioplastic production
Abdulrhman Ahmed, Murdoch University, Australia
12:25 - 12:40: From regenerative IMTA to blue biorefineries: cultivation and valorization of Gracilaria gracilis in the Adriatic Sea
Matteo Francavilla, STAR Facility Centre, Department of Agriculture, Food, Natural Resources and Engineering (DAFNE), University of Foggia, Italy
12:40 - 12:55: Sustainable valorization of Gelidium corneum through biosolvent extraction and bioactive membrane development
Alexandra Conde, CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials/ University of Aveiro, Portugal
12:55 - 14:10 Lunch Break
14:10 - 16:30 Session 17: Physiology
14:10 - 14:25: Unravelling indole-3-acetic acid biosynthesis and signalling pathways in a model diatom
Rodrigo Martins, iBET - Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Portugal
14:25 - 14:40: Follow the red dot – secretion of ketocarotenoid-rich cell bodies from Nannochloropsis
Johan Andersen-Ranberg, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
14:40 - 14:55: The emerging role of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) in microalgae: biosynthesis, metabolism, and physiological responses
Francisco Quintas-Nunes, iBET, Portugal
14:55 - 15:10: Fluctuating red-green light reshapes photosynthetic acclimation and chloroplast architecture to enhance Chlorella vulgaris biomass
Monika Kula-Maximenko, The Franciszek Górski Institute of Plant Physiology Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
15:10 - 15:25: BioDeSal Green H2: development of a biological desalination based on microalgae
Albert Beyer, Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany
15:25 - 15:40: Reprogramming algae metabolism for enhanced biofuels and bioproducts
Elizabeth Pyle, Skidmore College, USA
15:40 - 15:55: Assessing outdoor stress tolerance of a lipid-overproducing Phaeodactylum tricornutum strain toward adaptive laboratory evolution
Jérémy Calhabres, Nantes University, France
15:55 - 16:10: Enhanced production of lipids by the Pseudochloris wilhelmii optimised by numerical modelling
Maria Blažina, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia
16:10 - 16:30: to be confirmed
Anabela Raymundo, LEAF - Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Portugal
16:30 - 17:00 Coffee Break / Poster Session
17:00 - 18:15 Session 18: Food
17:00 - 17:15: Improving the sensory quality of food microalgae through sensomics-guided Basidiomycota fermentation
Can Xiang, University of Hohenheim, Germany
17:15 - 17:30: Chlorella vulgaris biomass reshapes cheese characteristics during ripening: insights from green-colored brined and Camembert-like cheeses
Hector Hernandez, University of Lisbon/ISA, Portugal
17:30 - 17:45: From cultivation conditions to food application: pH-dependent volatile chemistry and aroma perception of heterotrophic Chlorella biomasses
Sheyma Khemiri, Allmicroalgae Natural Products/ Higher Institute of Agronomy (ISA), Portugal, Portugal
17:45 - 18:00: Optimizing drying strategies to preserve nutritional and high-value compounds in edible macroalgae
Ana Moreira, University of Aveiro, Portugal
18:00 - 18:10 ABO
Kevin McGraw, Algae Biomass Organization, USA
18:10 - 18:55 To be confirmed
18:55 - 19:10: Algae journey at United Nation Organzation and in books
Vincent Doumeizel, United Nations Global Compact, France
19:10 - 19:20 Short Break
19:20 - 19:50 Award Evening
On Thursday, 10 December 2026, AlgaEurope will host its Award Evening.
Conference Day 4: Friday, 11 December
09:10 - 09:40 Keynote Presentation
Microalgae in a new light
Exploring unexpected paths from light to healing
Pr. Laurent Picot, La Rochelle University – UMR CNRS 7266 LIENSs, France
09:40 - 10:25 Session 19: Photobioreactor
09:40 - 09:55: Attached and suspended algae cultures for wastewater treatment and fertilizer recovery
John Benemann, MicroBio Engineering Inc., USA
09:55 - 10:10: Microalgae cultivation in ultrafiltered water: 10 years of experience
Clémence Cordier, Aix Marseile University - M2P2, France
10:10 - 10:25: Towards a methalgae platform: bottom-up development of self-sustaining methalgae cultures
Kenzie De Smet, KU Leuven, Belgium
10:25 - 10:55 Coffee Break
10:55 - 11:55 Session 20: Photobioreactor
10:55 - 11:10: Co-cultivation modifies microalgae-yeast surface properties and flotation efficiency in biofuel production
Simona Sebastiano, Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI), France
11:10 - 11:25: The critical role of gas-liquid mass transfer in high volumetric productivity photobioreactors: identification of design rules and illustration on two intensified technologies (PRIAM and ICAR concepts)
Jeremy Pruvost, GEPEA - Nantes Université, France
11:25 - 11:40: Strategic optimization of mixotrophic fed-batch cultivation for enhanced biomass productivity and lipid accumulation
Constantinos Theodoropoulos, University of Manhester, United Kingdom
11:40 - 11:55: Advancing carbon transformation: methanotroph-microalgae metabolic cross-feeding
Sonia Mohamadnia, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU), Denmark
10:55 - 12:55 Session 21: Wastewater
11:55 - 12:10: A dynamic metabolic model of an algae bacteria community for wastewater treatment
Bruno Pessi, University of Potsdam, Germany
12:10 - 12:25: CO2 valorization through electroreduction into formate and Auxenochlorella protothecoides photoformatotrophy
Gatien Fleury, CEA, France
12:25 - 12:40: Microalgae-based recirculating aquaculture system, integrating nutrient recovery through co-production of microalgal biomass for warm- and cold-water aquaculture
Dina Zilberg, Bern Gurion University, Israel
12:40 - 12:55: Phycoremediation for wastewater treatment: from long-term municipal deployment to industrial effluent application in South Africa
Luyanda Ndlela, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa
12:55 - 13:25 Flash Presentation - Posters
13:25 - 13:30 Closing of the Conference
13:30 - 14:15 Lunch
14:30 - 18:00 Site visit to AquaBioTech Group
FULLY BOOKED - YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR THE WAITING LIST
Participants will have the opportunity to visit AquaBioTech Group’s headquarters in Malta, exploring its state-of-the-art aquaculture research, testing, and engineering facilities. The visit will showcase the company’s integrated approach to innovation in fish health, nutrition, and sustainable aquaculture systems.
More information on www.aquabt.com
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