News

On 7-8 April 2025 the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute is organizing a symposium on DNA as Type

The Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute has now started planning the 2025 Spring Symposium, DNA as Type, which will take place on 7-8 April 2025 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Previous important and successful Westerdijk Spring Symposia had a great impact on the mycological community: One Fungus = One Name (2011), One Fungus = Which Name (2012) and One Fungus = Which Genes (2013), Genera and Genomes (2014), the Second International Workshop on Ascomycete Systematics (2015), Fungi and Global Challenges (2016), Leading Women in Fungal Biology (2017), Rise of the Fungi (2022), and Fungal Evolution (2023). 

Topics of the DNA as Type symposium will include:

• naming of environmental sequences (dark taxa);
• using DNA sequence data as holotype;
• naming species based on DNA characters only; and
• a species is more than its DNA sequence only.

Talks will focus on systematics, impact, and relevance. In addition, a limited number of poster presentations will also be considered. The aim of the symposium aims to formulate proposals that will be published as a community paper in IMA Fungus, and voted upon at IMC13 (18-19 Aug 2027, Incheon, South Korea), with direct impact on the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants.

The registration fee, two lunches, drinks and BBQ on the evening of 7 April are included in the fee. (Accommodation and other meals are excluded).

Information of about the programme and other details will follow soon. If you are interested in attending this event, 
let us know.

7-8 April 2025

€ 200

Location:
Westerdijk Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Still places available

This one-week course provides a concise overview of the biodiversity of organisms representing the Kingdom Fungi. We focus on systematics and general ecology of fungi, as well as related topics such as soil mycology and diagnostics of plant pathogens. Participants will learn methods for cultivation, and both morphological and molecular recognition methods, You will also gain practical hands-on experience in the morphological recognition of fungi. The course is intended for (micro)biology students, PhD students, technicians and scientists who would like to obtain a fundamental understanding of fungi. 

Lunches and the course book Laboratory Manual Series 1: Fungal Biodiversity by Crous et al. are included in the course fee. Accommodation and other meals are excluded.

10-14 Feb. 2025

€ 2300

Course leaders:
Prof. Dr. Pedro Crous and 
Dr. Gerard Verkley
Topical lectures will be presented by specialists from the Westerdijk Institute and invited speakers

Language of instruction:
The course is given in English.

Location:
Westerdijk Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Outline of topics