Join EMBRC at Aquaculture Europe 2025
From 22–25 September 2025, more than 3,000 scientists, industry professionals, and policymakers will gather in Valencia, Spain, to explore the latest advances in sustainable aquaculture. EMBRC is excited to participate and share how our marine research infrastructure can support innovation and R&D in aquaculture.
Join us at the European Aquaculture Conference 2025 and discover how the European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC) can support your research and innovation in aquaculture and marine observation. Whether you’re looking for expertise, access to world-class facilities, or opportunities for collaboration, we’re here to connect.
📆 23-25 September
Meet the EMBRC HQ team at our booth to learn how our research infrastructure can help you tackle today’s challenges in aquaculture. Share your most urgent questions with us, explore solutions together, and find out how EMBRC services can advance your work.
📆 Wednesday 24 September,
🕙 10am to 10.30am
📍 EMBRC Booth n°177
Join us for coffee and enjoy a lively pitches session where four researchers from the EMBRC network will present their projects in aquaculture — from welfare and sustainability to larviculture — and explain how they used EMBRC’s unique services and expertise.
Session Format:
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Each speaker will deliver a 5-minute pitch.
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Pitches are followed by a Q&A session to dive deeper into the topics.
- Speaker: Ivan Viegas, Researcher at the University of Coimbra (EMBRC Portugal)
- Pitch: UC-Blue is Coimbra’s strategy for the marine bioeconomy, uniting eight research centers to turn scientific excellence into real-world solutions. The new UC Figueira da Foz Campus, with its prime coastal location and innovative culture, will host a transdisciplinary hub to accelerate marine and maritime technologies from lab to market.
- Speaker: Federico Conti, PhD – Researcher at the Università Politecnica delle Marche (EMBRC Italy)
- Pitch: Aquaculture is vital for feeding the future—but it must become more sustainable. The team at Università Politecnica delle Marche develops innovative fish feeds using insects, algae, fungi, and recycled biomass, alongside strategies to minimise pollution and food waste. Their work aims to lower aquaculture’s carbon footprint while enhancing efficiency and animal welfare.
- Speaker: Vincent Vermeylen – Researcher at the University of Ghent (EMBRC Belgium)
- Pitch: The Laboratory of Aquaculture and Artemia Reference Center (ARC) at Ghent University brings decades of expertise in larviculture, live feeds, and aquaculture health management. Vincent Vermeylen will highlight how research-driven innovation and close collaboration with industry are transforming commercial aquaculture practices.
- Speaker: Pantelis Katharios, PhD – Founder & CEO, Aquatic Biologicals, Researcher at HCMR (EMBRC Greece)
- Pitch: Dr. Katharios is a leading researcher and founder of Greece’s first marine biotechnology company focused exclusively on aquaculture health. With over 75 peer-reviewed publications, his work addresses emerging diseases in novel aquaculture species. At the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, he explores innovative disease control strategies—bringing more vaccines to market and developing alternatives to antibiotics, such as phage therapy.
Implementing and Supporting Innovation in Aquaculture Through Knowledge Sharing
📆 Wednesday 24 September,
🕑 2pm to 5.30pm
📍 Gran Pinedo, Hotel floor 2
Hear from four EMBRC partners at the Innovation Forum, where they will showcase the diversity of our R&D work ranging from oyster restoration in offshore wind farms to shrimp disease and immunology.
🕑 2:30 – 3:30 pm
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Roundtable Introduction
Mery Pina, PhD – Industrial Liaison and Innovation Officer, EMBRC HQ
Topic: Implementing and Supporting Innovation in Aquaculture Through Knowledge Sharing -
Thematic Area 1: Managing the Biological Life Cycle Sustainably
Mieke Eggermont – Research Associate, UGent, EMBRC Belgium
Presentation: Adapting native oyster restoration to the scale of offshore energy development
🕑 3:45 – 5:15 pm
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Thematic Area 3: Technology & Systems
Evelien De Swaef, PhD – Head of R&D, IMAQUA
Presentation: Advanced Health Research for Shrimp AquacultureTsigenopoulos Constantinos, PhD – Research Director, HCMR, EMBRC Greece
Presentation: Practical applications for parentage identification using microsatellite DNA for commercial farms in Mediterranean cultivated species
📆 Tuesday 23 September,
🕔 5pm to 7pm
👉 By inviation only
Are you part of the EMBRC network? Join us for a relaxed networking event at Booth 177. Enjoy a glass of wine, take part in our EMBRC trivia game, and connect with colleagues from across Europe.
Contact Mery Piña for more information (mery.pina@embrc.eu)
