VIIN Young Investigator Symposium 2026
- Date: 25 November 2026
- Time: 8:15am - 7:00pm
- Venue: Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University Parkville Campus
- Location: 399 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC 3052 View Map
- iCal: Add to Calendar
The VIIN Young Investigator Symposium is back in 2026 for another stellar showcase of emerging talent!
The purpose of the Young Investigator Symposium is to provide students, RAs and postdocs a forum for networking, career development and scientific exchange. We hope it will provide you with an opportunity to keep in touch with colleagues, present your research, and develop your CVs.
The day features keynote speakers, oral presentations and rapid fire (science bite) talks, two poster sessions, morning and afternoon teas, lunch, tea and coffee, and networking and nibbles to conclude the day. All presenters will be offered a poster or talk and have the opportunity to win a prize, including the prestigious Hartland Oration Prize, for their work.
All welcome – undergraduate and post-graduate students, research assistants, early and mid-career post-doctoral scientists from academia and industry. Senior researchers, group leaders and lab heads are encouraged to attend and support their students or colleagues. We hope to see you all there!
Download the event flyer here.
Registrations are now open!
Abstract Submissions closed on Friday 21 August 2026. We expect to announce this year’s presenter allocations by Wednesday 14 October 2026.
Registrations are open from Friday 31 July – Wednesday 4 November 2026.
We look forward to sharing more program details with you soon. Watch this space!
Registration
Register here (via TryBooking): https://www.trybooking.com/DOKRS
Registration will close at 11:59PM AEDT on Wednesday 4 November 2026. Don’t miss out!
Ticket prices:
- VIIN Contributing Members – Student, $30
- VIIN Contributing Members – ECR* or Research Assistant, $50
- VIIN Contributing Members – Other career stages, $70
- External Attendee – Student, $70
- External Attendee – Other career stages, $90
*For the purposes of this event, an Early Career Researcher (ECR) is defined as an individual who is within 5 years of their PhD award date, while a Mid-Career Researcher (MCR) is defined as an individual who is between 5 and 10 years of their PhD award date. All career stage definitions are considered with allowance for career disruptions and relative to opportunity.
The VIIN relies on financial contributions from Victorian research institutes, universities and departments to operate and run events for members. In recognition of their support, staff and students from VIIN Contributing Organisations are entitled to a special Members price when attending our events. To see a full list of the current VIIN Contributing Organisations and determine your eligibility, please click here.
See TryBooking page for full ticket descriptions.
Sponsors
Sponsorship opportunities for this year’s Symposium are still available, however our exhibitor spaces are running out. If you would like the opportunity to promote your company to VIIN members, please contact the VIIN Project Officer at [email protected] to receive our 2026 Sponsorship Prospectus.
Thank you to our valued Sponsors for supporting this event and our Emerging Leaders!
Gold Sponsors
QIAGEN
Millennium Science
AGRF
Exhibitors
BMG Labtech
United Bioresearch
Thank you to this year's Sponsors:
Abstract Submissions
Submissions open Wednesday 1 July 2026 – Friday 21 August 2026**
Top tips for preparing your abstract >> Download here
Please note that group leaders, lab heads, and senior researchers (more than 10 years post-PhD) are not eligible to submit abstracts for the 2026 VIIN Young Investigator Symposium. All career stage definitions are considered with allowance for career disruptions and relative to opportunity. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].
** New closing dates for this year’s abstract submissions were announced on Monday 27 July 2026. All those who submitted their abstract prior to the announcement are eligible to update their submission at any time before the revised deadline of Friday 21 August 2026. Please contact [email protected] for further instructions.
Abstract submission instructions:
(1) Submit abstracts for oral presentations, Science Bites and poster presentations by 5pm AEST on Friday 21 August 2026. No late submissions will be accepted.
(2) Download your Abstract Submission template here. Complete the Abstract Submission template using exactly the format provided. Please do not change font size or style.
(3) Save the Abstract Submission template in PDF.
(4) Name the Abstract Submission in the following format: Family-Name_First-Name_Best-Fit-Category.PDF
e.g. Nguyen_Bill_Adaptive Immunology.pdf (See point 6 about Best Fit Category.)
(5) Submit your abstract and participant information using the Google Form linked here: https://forms.gle/DpwQCKdPvr9nWopi9
Please note that you need a Google account to access the abstract submission form. Please use a personal Google account to complete the form if your institutional email account does not allow access to Google products. Setting up a Gmail account is free and quick: https://www.google.com/account/about/
(6) When submitting your Abstract, you will be required to select two Abstract submission categories under which your Abstract will be peer-reviewed. You need to select a Best Fit category and a Second Best Fit category, which must be different.
To help you best answer this question before you come to submitting your abstract, this is the category list to select from:
- Adaptive immunology
- Clinical (including vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics)
- COVID-19, emerging infections or global health
- Host-pathogen interactions
- Innate immunology or inflammation
- Microbiota or host-microbiota interactions
- Pathogens (including bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi)
- Public health
- Systems or structural biology
- Tissue-specific or cancer immunology
- Other
Additional step for submitters who do not consent to having their abstracts published:
(7) If you DO NOT agree to have your abstract published in the electronic abstract booklet, please prepare and submit a second PDF.
Like the one prepared in steps (2) – (4), you should use the Abstract Submission template here. This must still contain your Abstract Title, Author List, Affiliations and * = presenting author, but then the words “PUBLISH CONSENT WITHHELD.” instead of any body text.
Name the alternative Abstract Submission in the following format: Family-Name_First-Name_Best-Fit-Category_WITHHELD.PDF e.g. Nguyen_Bill_Adaptive Immunology_WITHHELD.PDF. There will be a second upload option in the Google Form to use for this file.
Additional step for submitters who do science communication on social media:
(8) Graphical abstracts may also be submitted using the Google form (optional). If you elect to submit a graphical abstract, this may be used on VIIN social media accounts on BlueSky, LinkedIn or X (Twitter) to promote your talk.
Accordingly, do not include any data or confidential information in your file. You may like to consider using your title slide, a professional photograph of yourself, or the lab you belong to, or, where relevant, a lifecycle, cell diagram or signalling pathway that illustrates a key element of your work. If you provide this information, it is with the understanding that we may tag you and your organisation in a social media post including this graphic.
Instructions: Submit a JPEG or PNG file. Name the Graphical Abstract in the following format: Family-Name_First-Name_Graphical Abstract e.g. Brown_Jane_Graphical Abstract.JPG.
Following submission of your abstract, you will receive a copy of your form responses, and confirmation as follows:
Thank you for submitting your abstract for the 2026 VIIN Young Investigator Symposium.
We appreciate your interest. If there are issues with the formatting or content of your form and abstract, we’ll be in touch. Otherwise, please be assured that we have received your submission and that it will be peer-reviewed for presentation at the YIS.
An announcement will be made on the 2026 VIIN Young Investigator Symposium event page on the VIIN website on or after Wednesday 14 October 2026 at 12pm about the type of presentation you have been allocated.
Please check the site after this time and date to determine what sort of presentation to prepare. We will be unable to contact individual submitters to inform them of their presentation type and would ask you rely on the website for further information.
Further instructions about how to prepare your poster, Science Bite or oral presentation will be made available at the same time. ALL TALKS, whether oral presentations or Science Bites, will need to be sent through for compilation prior to the Symposium: we would ask that you take particular note of these deadlines.
If you have questions or concerns that aren’t answered here, please contact [email protected].
2026 Organising Committee:
Dr Ashleigh Rogers (Co-Chair), Department of Microbiology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University
Dr Caroline Soliman (Co-Chair), Biopharmaceutical Product Development (R&D), CSL Innovation & The University of Melbourne
Dr Sarah Ashley, Infection, Immunity and Global Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI)
Dr Marine Besnard, Centre for Inflammatory Diseases, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University
Dr Dimitra Chatzileontiadou, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS), La Trobe University
Dr Sandra Chishimba, Burnet Institute & School of Medicine, The University of Melbourne
Dr Michelle Chonwerawong, Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases, Hudson Institute of Medical Research
Dr Isabelle Foo, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne
Dr Paul Gill, Department of Immunology, Alfred Hospital, Monash University
Dr Stella Liong, Centre for Respiratory Science and Health, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University
Dr Christophe Macri, Bio21 Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne
Dr Kitty McCaffrey, Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases, Hudson Institute of Medical Research
Dr Myo Naung, Centre for Innovation in Infectious Disease and Immunology Research (CIIDIR), Deakin University
Dr Damian Oyong, Life Sciences Discipline (Disease Elimination), Burnet Institute
Dr Louis Perriman, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) & Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute (FECRI)
Dr Caroline Royle, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP), CSIRO
Dr Stephany Sánchez, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne
Dr Sampa Sarkar, School of Science, RMIT University
Dr Simona Seizova, Infection and Global Health, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Dr Helen Stölting, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University
Dr Isabella Stuart, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne
Dr Praveena Thirunavukkarasu, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University
Dr Mitchell Trickey, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), Monash University
Dr Ryan Toh, Infection, Immunity and Global Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI)
Dr Naveen Vankadari, Bio21 Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne
Dr Kayla Wilson, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne
Madeleine Wemyss, VIIN Project Officer
