The Austrian Proteomics and Metabolomics Research Symposium took place from 16-18th of September 2026 in Graz and brought together a vibrant community of researchers from across proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics. With 128 registered participants, seven keynote speakers, 28 selected student oral contributions and 27 poster presentations, APMRS 2026 once again highlighted the breadth and strength of omics research in Austria and beyond.
Following tradition APMA aims promotion of early-career scientists. The best student talk awards were presented to Klara Brozova for her presentation on multimodal spatial proteomics in breast cancer xenograft models, Leonhard Bereuter for his work on EMT/ZEB1-regulated redox metabolism in therapy-resistant cancer cells, and Christina Brenner for evaluating the complementarity of ESI and DBDI in untargeted metabolomics.
Left to right: Tamara Tomin (vice president of APMA), Leonhard Bereuter, Christina Brenner, Evelyn Rampler (APMA president), Andreas Köberle (APMRS 2026 organizer)
The best poster awards went to Thi Phuong Thanh Duong for a two-step-one-pot thiol-selective enrichment strategy for redox proteome profiling, Dovile Milonaityte for work on FAHFA transporters in blood, and Tingxuan Gao for research on the differential control of brown adipose tissue function by dietary and Scd-derived MUFAs.
Left to right: Tamara Tomin (vice president of APMA), Dovile Milonaityte, Evelyn Rampler (APMA president), Thi Phuong Thanh Duong, Andreas Köberle (APMRS 2026 organizer)
APMA also used the occasion to recognize outstanding contributions across the community. Young Investigator Prizes were awarded to Juan Manuel Sacnun in proteomics, Leonida Lamp in bioinformatics and Marlene Pühringer in lipidomics.
Left to right: Juan Manuel Sacnun, Leonida Lamp (online from Harvard), Marlene Pühringer.
The Empowerment Grant was awarded to Nara Marella for co-developing an interactive resource for exploring proteome-wide fragment–protein interactions. APMA also continued to support early-career mobility through travel grants for participation in scientific meetings and training events. And lastly, this year’s APMA Society Medal, the most prestigious APMA award, was given to Feng Xian for his efforts and remarkable advancements in metaproteomics, particularly for the publication “Ultra-sensitive metaproteomics redefines the dark metaproteome, uncovering host-microbiome interactions and drug targets in intestinal diseases” in Nature Communications.
Left to right: Nara Marella (Empowerment Grant) and Feng Xian (Society Medal) awardee.
We would like to thank everyone for their contribution and give a big shout out to Andreas Köberle and his team for organizing this year’s successful event in such a smooth and professional way!
Save the date for APMRS 2027 which will take place 15th to 17th of September in Tulln. See you all next year!