On November 15, 2024, the 3rd China-Denmark Symposium on Electromicrobiology (CDEM 2024) and Electromicrobiological Technology Achievement Exhibition was successfully held in Guangzhou, jointly sponsored by the Institute of Microbiology (Guangdong Academy of Sciences), the Center for Electromicrobiology (Aarhus University), the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (Aarhus University) and Sino-Denmark International Center for Electromicrobiology, and co-organized by the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, the Guangdong Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Microbiology and Regional Ecological Safety, and the Guangdong Biotechnology Industrialization Promotion Association. More than 100 experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from China and Denmark participated in the conference. Xiaoyong Lin (Executive Vice President of the Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology), Huifang Yang (Director of the Exchange and Cooperation Office, the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province), Zhouyu Zhou (Vice President of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences), Honghui Zhu (Director of the Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences) and other leaders attended the meeting and delivered speeches. The leadership highly praised and affirmed the cooperation between China and Denmark in the field of electromicrobiology, and expressed their earnest hopes for building upon these accomplishments to fully leverage the advantage of the Sino-Danish International Research Center for Electromicrobiology to speed up the growth of young scientific talents. They emphasized the Sino-Danish cooperation should be continuously advanced to jointly promote the high-level technological innovation in electromicrobiology and contribute to global development with a green, low-carbon, and sustainable future. Besides, Xianping He (the Minister of International Exchange Department of Guangzhou Association for Science and Technology) and Moutong Chen (Deputy director of the Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences) also attended the conference.
The conference, themed “Strengthening International Cooperation in Electromicrobiology to Promote Global Green and Low-Carbon Development”, shared and deeply discussed the cutting-edge issues, latest scientific breakthroughs, and challenges of industrial applications in Electromicrobiology. The opening ceremony was chaired by Prof. Guo Jun, the director of the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology South China. Prof. Lars Peter Nielsen, the leading scientist in electromicrobiology from Aarhus University, delivered a keynote speech titled “Skeletons of cable bacteria as a material”. He comprehensively expounded the cutting-edge discoveries of the conductive structure of cable bacteria, deeply analyzed the molecular structural foundation of cable bacterial skeletons, and looked forward to its broad application prospects in biomimetic biology. Meiying Xu (Director of the Sino-Danish International Research Center for Electromicrobiology), Andreas Schramm and Mingdong Dong (professors from Aarhus University) respectively chaired the sessions at the conference, respectively. Experts from Aarhus University, Peking University, Lanzhou University, University of Science and Technology of China, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Tianjin University, Hohai University, and the Institute of Microbiology at the Guangdong Academy of Sciences delivered wonderful speeches on the recent developments and achievements in the field of electromicrobiology respectively. At the end of the forum, Prof. Lars Peter Nielsen highly praised the achievements shared by experts and scholars from China and Denmark at this conference, expressed sincere gratitude to the guiding and supporting organizations, academic committees, organizing committees, and participants, and looked forward to further in-depth cooperation between China and Denmark in the field of electromicrobiology.
Additionally, a teaching team consisting of over 10 experts in electromicrobiology from the Sino-Denmark International Center for Electromicrobiology provided relevant training on the fundamental theory and experimental skills of electromicrobiology for young scholars, systematically teaching and practicing cutting-edge technologies such as enrichment and culturing of electroactive microorganisms, electroactivity detection and calculation on November 16, 2024.
The successful convening of the conference has significantly explored and expanded the directions of cooperation between China and Denmark in the field of electromicrobiology, providing new opportunities and new energy to advance deeper understanding on biogeochemical cycles and life evolution, and accelerate future applications of electromicrobiology-related technologies in strategic emerging industries such as energy conservation, environmental protection, renewable energy, new materials, and biomanufacturing.
