The 16th International Conference on Yeasts (16th ICY) took place in Cape Town from 29 September to 3 October. The ICY is held every four years and is organised under the auspices of the International Commission on Yeasts (ICY), a scientific association affiliated with the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS). The 102 currently active Commissioners on the ICY represent 44 countries.

This was the first time that this event was held on the African continent. The Local Organising Committee was representative of the SA Yeast research community with members from the University of the Free State, the Unjversity of the Western Cape and the Agricultural Research Council. The LOC was chaired by Prof Florian Bauer (South African Grape and Wine Research Institute) and included Profs Evodia Setati, Benoit Divol and Dr Heinrich Volschenk from SU.

Florian Bauer (left) and Kevin Verstrepen (right) at question time after the opening keynote lecture

The conference attracted more than 300 delegates including around 250 international researchers from all continents. Globally renowned keynote speakers included Prof Kevin Verstrepen from the KU Leuven (Belgium), Prof Pascale Daran-Lapujade (TU Delft, Netherlands), Prof Brenda Andrews (University of Toronto, Canada), Prof Chris Hittinger (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA) and Prof Jose Avalos (Princeton University, USA). Many young and upcoming researchers were also included as speakers in the program. In total, the conference featured more than 100 oral and more than 150 poster presentations. SU students and researchers were well represented with five oral lectures and 12 posters.

Doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows from SU presenting their recent research results at the 16th ICY. From left to right: Dr Natasha Luyt, Dr Evelyn Maluleke, Mr Daniel Zieff, Mr Lesiba Tyrone Chuene, Dr James Duncan

For the first time, the conference also featured a session on Science Communication, coordinated by Prof Marina Joubert from CREST at SU. The session also featured two artists from Great Britain who had been working with yeast researchers from the laboratory of Prof Diethard Mattanovich from BOKU University in Vienna to visually express their perception of the scientific process in general and yeast research in particular.

At the meeting of the commissioners who were present at the conference, Prof Bauer was elected as the new chair of the International Commission on Yeasts (ICY) for a period of four years until the next ICY meeting, which will take place in Madison, Wisconsin, USA in 2028.