ERGA meets in Barcelona - ESEB 2025

For one week in August 2025, Barcelona became the European capital of evolution: the city hosted this year’s ESEB 2025 Congress, the biennial conference of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology.

The event was a huge success, bringing together almost 2,000 attendees from around the globe to discuss topics spanning diverse aspects of evolutionary biology: from palaeontology to molecular evolution. The rapidly increasing quality and availability of reference genomes from species across the tree of life offers powerful new tools to evolutionary biologists. This was reflected in a programme full of talks and symposia related to biodiversity genomics.

ERGA at ESEB 2025

Given the growing importance of reference genomes in evolutionary studies, it made sense for ERGA to have a strong presence at ESEB 2025. The conference offered a valuable opportunity to raise visibility, showcase our efforts, and share available resources with the evolutionary biology community.

ERGA participated as an exhibitor with our own booth. The participation was made possible thanks to Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE), funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe and co-funded by the Swiss and UK governments.

Welcoming new members

Throughout the five conference days, the ERGA booth was a lively space for discussion. Attendees stopped by during breaks to learn about our initiative, ask questions, and pick up ERGA stickers and other goodies. Over 20 people signed up on the spot, and we warmly welcome them to the ERGA community!

The meeting was also a special opportunity for ERGA members who regularly meet and collaborate online but rarely meet face-to-face to connect in person, exchange ideas, and strengthen our community. During two lunch breaks, we gathered for group photos to capture the moment.

ERGA members from many different countries, committees and projects gathered in the ERGA booth.

Evolution takes to the streets

In addition to our presence at ESEB, we also had the chance to take ERGA and BGE to the streets of Barcelona, engaging directly with the public. Thanks to a collaboration between ESEB 2025 and the science communication association La Ciència Al Teu Món (LCATM), a series of outreach activities were organised during Les Festes de Gràcia, a traditional Barcelona street festival.

On the colourfully decorated Carrer Perill in the Gràcia neighbourhood, we interacted with festival visitors and invited them to play a science-themed board game. The activity, titled “DNA rules! Explore the building blocks and the future of biodiversity,” introduced participants to European plants, animals, and fungi being sequenced as part of the BGE project. Players learned about threats to these species’ survival and how genomic knowledge can support their conservation. Click here to read more about the activity.

Outreach activity during Les Festes de Gràcia. Photos by Arantxa Ajuria, Roberto Torres and Luísa Marins

Thank you!

We would like to thank everyone who visited the ERGA booth and joined the outreach activity. We look forward to many more opportunities to connect, both within our scientific community and beyond!