Faba Bean Excursion to ILS5 in Dubrovnik

Right after the Q-Retreat, everybody working on faba bean had to repack their things and make their way to Dubrovnik, Croatia, for the 5th International Legume Society Conference (ILS5). With 6 flash talks and 10 posters in total, Giessen came well prepared to show what we are working on. Pre-conference workshops on Lathyrus and high-throughput phenotyping kicked things off with great input.

It was truly refreshing to attend a conference where legumes were the main event and not just a side note as they so often are elsewhere. Of course, we also reunited with our colleagues from UQ and a big congratulations to Caitlin Dudley, who won 3rd place for best talk! But there were other winners too: Sean Mandaya and Callum Jamie took home the trophy in the ILS5 Football Cup, a fun way to meet new people and settle scientific rivalries on the pitch. The conference dinner with traditional Croatian music and fresh seafood was a highlight and afterwards many people stayed for the weekend to enjoy the sea and the beautiful old town of Dubrovnik.

We are already looking forward to the next ILS conference in Dundee, Scotland!