HoloGen symposium on microbial meta-community modeling

Published: Oct 21, 2026 by FME Lab

On October 21, 2026, Julien Tap participated as an invited speaker in the Microbial Meta-Community Modeling symposium, organized by Karoline Faust at the Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium, as part of the HoloGen doctoral network retreat.

His presentation, “Multiscale associations between diet and the gut microbiome in a nationwide French cohort,” explored links between dietary patterns and gut microbial communities, bringing a population-scale perspective to the symposium’s ecological modelling theme.

Julien Tap presenting at the HoloGen symposium at KU Leuven

The programme also featured Ksenia Guseva on soil microbiome metacommunities and Lulla Opatowski on modelling the spread of pathogens in hospitals. Practical sessions introduced generalized Lotka–Volterra models and spatial community modelling, connecting ecological concepts with tools for doctoral research.

Programme of the Microbial Meta-Community Modeling symposium, October 21, 2026

View the symposium programme.

HoloGen symposium on microbial meta-community modeling

Fermented foods at the Fête de la science Paris-Saclay 2026

On October 3–4, 2026, Stéphane Chaillou and Alice Lima took part in the Village des sciences at ENS Paris-Saclay for the Fête de la science, France’s annual science festival. This year’s theme, “Saveurs savantes”, invited visitors to explore the science behind food and flavour.

From “synthetic” to defined microbial communities for clearer terminology

Stéphane Chaillou participated in a joint reflection with a group of international researchers, coordinated by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), on the terminology used to describe certain microbial communities. The collective of experts proposes replacing the term “synthetic community” (or SynCom), sometimes perceived negatively, with “Defined Microbial Community”.