Nearly 200 scientists from around the world gathered at EMBL Heidelberg in Germany from 1 to 4 September 2026 for the conference titled “A New View of Plankton in the Global Ocean: Celebrating 10 Years of Tara Oceans”.
Organised by EMBL and the Fondation Tara Océan (FTO), with support from BlueRemediomics, the event showcased how the vast collection of plankton samples and data generated by the Tara Oceans expedition continues to drive cutting-edge research. Scientists presented new advances in metagenomics, ocean modelling, biodiversity assessment, artificial intelligence, and the discovery of novel marine organisms and biological processes.
More than ten years after the first Tara Oceans studies were published, the expedition’s legacy remains remarkable. The programme has contributed to the characterisation of nearly 150 million genes, the discovery of more than 200,000 new viruses, and the assembly of approximately 20,000 genomes.
The conference highlighted the growing role of interdisciplinary collaboration and the importance of supporting the next generation of researchers as early-career scientists and postdoctoral researchers from Plankteco, BIOcean5D, and BlueRemediomics presented their latest findings. FTO also supported the participation of young researchers from Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, reinforcing its commitment to fostering global scientific exchange.
As part of the programme, André Abreu led a workshop on the implications of the BBNJ Agreement and the Nagoya Protocol, contributing to ongoing discussions around the governance and equitable use of Marine Genetic Resources (MGRs). The workshop was organised within the framework of BlueRemediomics, in collaboration with its co-coordinator, Dr. Chris Bowler.
The conference demonstrated that, ten years on, Tara Oceans expeditions remain a cornerstone of global ocean research, continuing to inspire discoveries at the intersection of biodiversity, climate science, genomics, and marine conservation.
