Feedback by FENG LONG

By Feng Long

The 12th International Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP2023) was held from 20 th to 25 th of August 2023 in Lyon, France. There were around 2400 plant pathologists and plant health researchers from around the world who joined to discuss the latest research in plant pathology as well as current and future issues in plant health. During the conference, we had great keynote speakers in a spectacular auditorium with talks on different subjects, including “plant pathology in a one health world”, “Invasive and emerging plant disease”, “Current topics in molecular plant-microbe interactions” and many more. Each day was a scientific journey, with so many interesting presentations until the day finished with poster sessions. During the conference, I had the opportunity to present my work entitled, "Parental inheritance of the seed microbiome in European ash (Fraxinus excelsior)" in the poster area for the concurrent session entitled, The Potential of Seed Microbiomes. This poster session gave me a chance to meet and interact with other researchers who are also investigating the seed microbiome. I am very grateful that the EVOLTREE committee financially supported my visit to Lyon as it was the perfect opportunity to further my development as a scientist and gave me the opportunity to share the findings from my PhD with leading scientists from other plant disease research groups. In addition, throughout the conference there were networking sessions where I discussed the implications of my PhD research with other plant pathologists. The experience I gained from this conference was fantastic, and I was very happy to meet other PhD students and experienced researchers some of whom I have had met previously at other plant pathology research networks. Overall, the ICPP was a great conference experience in the beautiful city of Lyon, and I am looking forward to the next ICPP, which will be held in Australia in 2028.