One city. Three weeks. Hundreds of experiences.
What if artificial intelligence became your new colleague? Technology took sports performance to unprecedented levels? Mobility became smarter and more sustainable? Or soon, instead of simply watching entertainment, you could become fully immersed in it?

During the FTI Festival in Mechelen, you won’t get a theoretical answer, you’ll experience it for yourself. For three weeks, the Nekkerhal transforms into an impressive city of tomorrow. Across 18,000 m², technology, science, entrepreneurship and imagination come together in immersive experiences, spectacular demos, interactive workshops, inspiring talks and encounters with the people who are already building tomorrow, today.

Practical details:

Date: 19 October - 7 November 2026

Location: Nekkerhal Mechelen

On 27 October, Defence Innovation in Flanders (DIF) Day by WEWIS will bring together industry, academic, and administration actors to discover the newest developments, opportunities, and future perspectives in defense innovation, driven by the Flemish Innovation and Industry Strategy for Security and Defence. The program blends interactive sessions with inspiring talks and networking opportunities, with a strong emphasis on discussion and collaboratively strengthening Flanders’ innovation community around defense and security topics.

Practical details:

Date: 27 October 2026 (09:15-  18:00)

Location: Nekkerhal Mechelen

A hands-on program for PhDs, postdocs, master’s students, entrepreneurs-in-residence and early spin-offs who are ready to explore the journey from research to entrepreneurship. The program includes a storytelling session by Jorn Vanysacker (100IN) and insights from entrepreneurs and experts who have experienced this journey themselves, including and Annick Verween (VIB), Carlo Boutton (Biotalys), Christel Menet (Confo Therapeutics) and Wim Van Criekinge (Ghent University). 

Practical details:

Date: 27 October 2026 (13.30 - 17.00)

Location: Ghent, Belgium

Different DNA, Same Ambition will bring two of Ghent’s strongest ecosystems together: technology and life sciences. With keynotes from Jeroen Van Hautte 🐺 and Riccardo Sabatini, and an opening by Roeland Delrue (Aikido Security) and Karen Massey (argenx), the evening will explore how collaboration between different disciplines can unlock new opportunities and accelerate innovation.

Practical details:

Date: 27 October 2026 (18:00 - 23:00)

Location: Ghent, Belgium

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 20th edition of the European Congress on Biotechnology (ECB2026), which will be held in the vibrant city of Antwerp. The over-arching theme for this edition of the Congress is “Shaping tomorrow: Biotechnology for Health, Food, Energy, Environment” — issues of global importance that demand collaboration across Industry, Academia, Research Institutes, and national governments.

Practical details:

Date: 28 June - 1 July 2026

Location: Antwerp, Belgium

This December, VIB will take part in BioFIT, one of Europe’s leading partnering events for early-stage innovation in the life sciences. BioFIT brings together academia, research institutes, biotech start-ups, investors, and pharma companies, all with one goal: to turn scientific breakthroughs into real-world impact.

Practical details:

? Date: December 2 - 3, 2025 

? Location: Strasbourg, France

Tomorrow’s crops: Latest trends in the interplay of technological innovations, market developments, business opportunities and societal demands

Practical details:

? Date: March 30  - April 1, 2025 

? Location: Cologne, Germany

Join the Belgian Society for Microbiology's Annual Symposium 2025 about demystifying AI for all microbiologists. 

Practical details:

? Date: Friday 21 February 2025

? Time: 8:30 AM - 05:00 PM (followed by a reception)

? Location: ULB, Erasme Campus, W complex, Brussels, Belgium

The Diversity in Science Conference is a half-day event organized by students and faculty from the KU Leuven Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. It will feature presentations, panel discussions, and personal experiences related to diversity in academia. Attendees can interact with speakers and engage in discussions during the event and a networking lunch.

Practical details:

? Date: Friday 7 February  2025

? Time: 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM (followed by lunch)

? Location: ON2 BMW1 Auditorium, Gasthuisberg Campus, Herestraat 49, Leuven

On 6 November, Alexis Komor will deliver a New Horizons Solvay lecture, "Engineering and Evolving Nucleic Acid Modifying Enzymes." She will discuss how base editors (BEs) modify DNA using a deactivated Cas9 linked to enzymes that convert C•G pairs to T•A or A•T pairs to G•C. Komor will also explain her lab’s efforts to understand the mechanisms behind these enzymes, including how they evolved the adenosine deaminase TadA into the more effective TadA7.10, providing insights for developing new DNA editing tools.

Practical details:

• Wednesday 6 November 2024 - University of Ghent
• Jozef Schell seminar room, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 71 - 9052 Ghent 
• Hosted by Prof. Thomas Jacobs, VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology

In this New Horizons Solvay lecture, Alexis Komor will talk about how genome editing has evolved since the development of base editing in 2016. Prior to this, editing relied on creating double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) using Cas9 and guide RNA, often resulting in a mix of precise edits and unwanted indels. Komor will discuss her lab’s work on developing new, more efficient base editors and improving the precision of existing DSB-based methods.

Practical Details:

• Tuesday 5 November 2024 at 4.00 pm.
• Université libre de Bruxelles - Campus Plaine Boulevard de la Plaine - Access 2 - 1050 Brussels Quartier Jaune - Building N.O. - 5th floor - Solvay Room
• Hosted by Han Remaut – VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology

VIB Technologies is a close collaborator with Thermo Fisher Scientific, providing us with the most innovative technologies. We are thrilled to announce the 2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Innovation Afternoon at the VIB research building FSVM II in Ghent. You will have the chance to learn about our newest technologies and products, and in parallel interact directly with our scientific team during personal scientist-to-scientist sessions.

Science for Health is an annual event that brings together the brightest minds and key stakeholders in Belgian Life Sciences. Each year, the event delves into a different topic of significant strategic importance to the industry, fostering collaboration and driving innovation.

The Imec Technology Forum Flanders 2023 focused on how imec's chip expertise was a powerful driver for digital transformation in Flanders' economy and society, particularly in Energy, Health, Mobility, and Sustainable industries.

During the three-day international Agri-Food business network event, the focus was on the use of new technologies for breeding innovative crops. The CROPIB conference discussed new technologies in artificial intelligence, phenotyping, robotics, genotyping, and data science that would contribute to the development of new resilience-, protein-, health-beneficial, and sustainable crops.

Previously known as Life on Chip, the HealthTech Summit brought together national and international experts and VCs in medtech, biotech, digital health, and patient care to examine the current state and the future of collaborative innovation.

Women remain considerably under-represented among institution heads at a European level. BeWiSe and other female-empowering organizations aim to increase female representation in leadership. During this captivating evening, three inspirational women in STEM leadership will share their experiences and advice, followed by a networking reception.

At this yearly event, experts are connected around a central theme to promote out-of-the-box thinking and spark new research collaborations. This strengthens the local ecosystem and creates inspired solutions improving the life of patients.