MicroSeq2025, the sixth year of the MicroSeq online conference, was held on 3–4 September 2025. Organised by early career researchers (ECRs) for ECRs, MicroSeq continues to occupy a distinctive place in the Australian microbiology conference calendar. Its aims remain to:
i) bring together researchers from diverse areas of microbiology through the shared use of sequencing technologies, and
ii) provide visibility, professional development, and networking opportunities for ECRs.

This year’s meeting brought together a strong national and trans-Tasman cohort of attendees spanning universities, research institutes, government agencies, and industry-linked organisations. There were 95 attendees representing a broad mix of career stages, with particularly strong representation among PhD students and ECRs/postdoctoral researchers.

Research areas were similarly diverse, with particularly strong representation in public health and clinical microbiology, as well as veterinary, agricultural, environmental, and food microbiology. Across the program, attendees applied a wide range of sequencing approaches, with whole genome sequencing and metagenomics particularly prominent, and work spanning bacterial, viral, fungal, and protist systems.

The scientific program featured four plenary speakers and a line-up of 34 ECR talks across the two days, including medium and lightning presentations. The 2025 plenary speakers were Dr Peter Mee (Agriculture Victoria Research), Dr Jackie Mahar (CSIRO ACDP), Dr Rose Collis (AgResearch, New Zealand), and Dr Leah Roberts (The University of Queensland). Their talks highlighted the breadth of modern microbial sequencing applications, from surveillance and biosecurity to phylodynamics, environmental antimicrobial resistance, and plasmid genomics in healthcare settings.

As in previous years, MicroSeq2025 provided an important platform for first-time presenters and session chairs, while also fostering lively discussion across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The online format, together with the continued use of Zep discussion spaces following lightning sessions, helped create opportunities for informal networking and deeper scientific exchange beyond the formal talks.

We also introduced a new prize in 2025: the Innovation in Bioinformatics Award, alongside returning awards supported by the Australian Society for Microbiology, the Australasian Virology Society, and Microbial Genomics. These prizes, together with the best question awards across sessions, helped recognise both excellent presentations and the high level of audience engagement throughout the meeting.

Congratulations to our 2025 prize winners, including Camila Gazolla Volpiano and Penelope Galbraith (ASM Awards for Best Medium and Best Lightning Talks, respectively), Marwan Majzoub (AVS Award for Best Talk), Munazzah Maqbool and Ben Vezina (Microbial Genomics People’s Choice Award for Best Medium and Best Lightning Talks, respectively), and Johannes Debler (MicroSeq Award for Innovation in Bioinformatics).

We thank our sponsors, especially the Australian Society for Microbiology, for their continued support of MicroSeq, including support for free ECR registrations, speaker prizes, and event delivery. We also gratefully acknowledge the support of Microbial Genomics and the Australasian Virology Society for contributing additional speaker prizes. Their support helps keep MicroSeq accessible, inclusive, and rewarding for emerging researchers working across the microbiological sciences.

MicroSeq2025 Organising Committee

The MicroSeq2025 Organising Committee was made up of a dedicated team of ECRs from across Australia: Jana Batovska (Agriculture Victoria), Asad Prodhan (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development WA), Sabrina Sadiq (The University of Sydney), Mozammel Hoque (University of Technology Sydney), Wytamma Wirth (Doherty Institute), Rebecca Roach (Queensland Department of Primary Industries), and Rhys Parry (The University of Queensland).