ERGA News #36 - March 2026
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
News
SMBE 2026 - Let's connect!
ERGA is proud to support SMBE 2026 as a sponsor. The ERGA Awards have already been granted, and we will soon share more about the winners. If you are joining the meeting, stop by the ERGA booth. We would love to meet you and connect in person!!
Join the new ERGA Pangenomes Working Group!
We are excited to launch the new ERGA Pangenomes Working Group, starting on May 25th during the DAC regular meeting. Open to beginners and experts alike, this group will focus on one of the most pressing challenges in the field of pangenomes, which is the need for standards. We also want to create a space to share ideas, discuss best practices, and learn from each other’s experiences. ERGA is a bottom-up community, and everyone’s perspective is welcome. Whether you are just getting started or already working in this area, we would love to build this together with you!
Your Input for EBP Phase II
As the Earth BioGenome Project moves toward Phase II, this is a key moment to understand the current capacity, priorities, and challenges across our global community.
They invite everyone involved in biodiversity genome sequencing to complete a short 5-minute survey. Your responses will help provide a snapshot of who is doing this work, where it is happening, and what is needed to scale genome production effectively. The results will help EBP identify technical barriers, coordination needs, and opportunities where shared standards, support, and collaboration could accelerate progress. Unless otherwise indicated, responses will be reviewed in aggregate and will help inform Phase II planning discussions across the EBP community.
🐐 GoaT Update
New data visualisation features in Genomes on a Tree ( GoaT), including a toggle to show value ranges and the use of the tilde (~) symbol to distinguish estimated ancestral values from direct measurements. These updates make it easier to interpret metadata across the eukaryotic tree of life.
Events
4-8 May - Heraklion, Crete
6-10 July - Leiden, The Netherlands
31 August - 3 September | Geneva, Switzerland
2nd Molluscan Genomics Workshop
30 August - 3 September | Frankfurt, Germany
21-25 September | Oslo, Norway / Hybrid
9-13 November | Barcelona, Spain
Featured conferences with sessions organized by ERGA members:
Are you attending events or organizing sessions/workshops not listed here? Let us know here, we can help you reach more attendees from the biodiversity genomics community!
From the #ERGABlog: watch and explore
How do you turn many individual experiences, workflows, and challenges into something the whole community can use?
Watch Katja Reichel discuss the writing behind a recent publication and how individual contributions can come together to create a resource with real value for the wider community.
How many species do we walk past every day without ever noticing them? We introduce Leviellus thorelli as one of the species selected for sequencing in the Community-Driven Reference Genomes under BGE.
What does it actually take to move from a biological specimen to a sequence-ready sample? Rita Monteiro presents BGE WP5 and the coordination between sample providers, specimens, and sequencing centres.
Useful links
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