From April 8–10 2026, we hosted the 15^th Symposium of the Young Physiologists (JP2026), jointly organised by members of the Institute of Translational Physiology at the Charité — Universitäsmedizin Berlin and the Scholl Lab at the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) . What started months ago as an ambitious idea turned into three unforgettable days — and we are still amazed at what came together.

Who Attended

180 participants from 19 countries joined us in Berlin: from Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey.
The group spanned the full range of early-career researchers, from undergraduate students taking their first steps in physiology to postdocs preparing for independent careers. And, remarkably, nearly every single attendee actively presented their own research, either as a talk or as a poster. That is what makes this Symposium different from almost any other: it is built entirely around your science.

Keynotes From Across Europe

We were honoured to welcome four outstanding keynote speakers:

• Alexandr Melnikov (Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin) opened the symposium with a provocative junior keynote on the role of attention in teaching — and made a compelling case for the analogue whiteboard as an underrated pedagogical tool.
• Prof. Jakub Otáhal (Charles University, Prague) followed with a forward-looking lecture on preclinical medical education in the age of AI, arguing that we need to design competence for clinicians who will peak in their careers 25 years from now.
• Prof. Carsten Wagner (University of Zurich, Editor-in-Chief of Pflügers Archiv) gave a candid talk on the changing landscape of scientific publishing, also addressing the darker corners of the field: the damaging effects of predatory special issues, as well as paper mills, and what early-career researchers can do about it.
• Prof. Tobias Wang (Aarhus University, Editor-in-Chief of Acta Physiologica) closed the scientific programme with a tour through the remarkable physiology of snakes — animals that can increase their metabolic rate four- to six-fold after a single meal, with global rises in protein synthesis, dramatic cardiac adaptations, and a postprandial alkaline tide.

Your Science — Seven Sessions, One Common Thread

The scientific programme featured 28 oral presentations and more than 130 posters, organised into seven sessions that showcased the remarkable breadth of modern physiology: Kidney and Cardiovascular Physiology, Molecular and Cellular Neurophysiology, Methods and Models, Cognitive and Behavioral Neurophysiology, Cellular and Tissue Physiology, Molecular Function of Ion Channels and Transporters, and Physiology of Disease. Topics ranged from lysosomal ion channels and neuronal chloride homeostasis to renal microvascular remodelling in diabetes, from optogenetic tools for bidirectional control of neuronal activity to the effects of e-cigarettes on cardiorespiratory function. What stood out was not just the technical quality but how naturally many projects bridged scales: from single molecules to whole organisms, from basic mechanisms to clinical questions. Whether it was a study on cast removal to prevent kidney fibrosis, novel peptides that modulate sodium channel gating, or complement-driven vascular dysfunction in acute kidney injury, the translational ambition was unmistakable. For early-career researchers, this kind of integrative thinking — connecting fundamental discovery with the problems that matter to patients — may be the most important skill we can develop together.

Awards for Outstanding Presentations

Choosing the best contributions from such a strong field was no easy task — but you did it. All participants voted, and the results speak for themselves.

• Anna Malyshkina (University of Duisburg-Essen)
• Magdalena Cöln (University of Göttingen)
• Patricia Miller (University of Augsburg)

• Cristina Baio (University of Heidelberg)
• Fátima Gimeno-Ferrer (University of Augsburg)
• Júlia Castro-Marsal (University of Marburg)
• Maximilian Löffler (University of Heidelberg)
• Moritz Jakob Langer (University of Duisburg-Essen)
• Weronika Wilczak (University of Münster)

Thank You

A symposium of this scale depends on the support of many. We are deeply grateful to our financial supporters and sponsors: The German Physiological Society (DPG), B. Braun Stiftung, Company of Biologists, Campden Instruments, Nanion Technologies, Sophion and Rhythm Pharmaceuticals. Only their contributions made it possible to keep registration free, fund the Foreign Researcher Travel Grant programme, and run a scientific programme that truly belongs to its participants. A big thank you also goes to the session chairs, as well as the many individuals that helped to get the event going and keep everything running. And most of all: thank you — for travelling to Berlin, for sharing your science, for the questions, the conversations, and the energy you brought to our Symposium.

See You Soon

The Young Physiologists community is very much alive, and we hope to see many of you again soon: at the Annual Meeting of the DPG in Hamburg (17–19 September 2026), and at the 16^th Symposium of the Young Physiologists in Erlangen (25–26 February 2027). Please subscribe to the newsletter of the Young Physiologists (send an email to junge.physiologen@gmail.com) to get the latest news!

Until then — safe travels, good science, and thank you for making JP2026 what it was!