BioConnect 2026 is coming to Lisbon
BioConnect is more than a conference. It is where ideas take root, careers find direction, and collaborations begin — built for students mapping out a future, PhD candidates looking for a next move, and young professionals ready to widen their network.
In a field moving as fast as biotechnology, who you know matters as much as what you know. The programme puts you in front of the companies shaping the field, in career-focused sessions and hands-on workshops, alongside peers from across Europe. It is not a passive few days: come ready to engage, ask hard questions, and open doors you did not know existed.
Crossing borders for an event is not straightforward, particularly for students and early-career researchers, so we negotiated accommodation and flight discounts to bring the cost down. The aim is simple — talent, not circumstance, should decide who is in the room.
Future-proofing your career in pharma tech
On 19 March, at Paperless Lab Academy Europe 2026 in Sant Cugat, YEBN ran a workshop with Exalto Consulting. Cristina Vilarmau, Hèctor Lopez and Ray G. Butler each described their own route through the sector, and where they think it is heading.
The through-line was artificial intelligence — and pointedly not the fearful version of that conversation. AI is accelerating drug discovery, data analysis and decision-making, but the speakers were clear that it amplifies professionals rather than replacing them.
While AI can process information faster than ever, it cannot replace critical thinking, creativity, or the ability to make complex, ethical decisions.
The future, they argued, belongs not to those who compete with these tools but to those who learn to work alongside them: people who can interpret a result, question an assumption, and connect what the science says to what it means. Future-proofing a career is less about predicting what comes next than staying ready to move with it.
Speak, Connect & Grow: the skills nobody examines you on
At BioHub 2026, hosted by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sonia Adell (Head of Member Engagement and Partnerships) and Alex Moreno (Head of Communications) led a session on the least-discussed driver of a scientific career.
In a field as specialised as biotechnology, technical expertise is the entry ticket, not the whole game. The workshop concentrated on four things that tend to decide how far people actually get: communicating clearly, building relationships, adapting under pressure, and being visible enough that the right people know what you do.
The argument underneath it was that science does not happen in isolation. Whether you are presenting results, working in a team, or looking for your next position, your ability to explain and to connect is doing at least as much work as your methods section. Those skills are worth developing on purpose — as part of a professional identity, not as an afterthought.
Stop pipetting and start coding?
Through our partnership with European Biotechnology Magazine, newsletter subscribers receive full editions of the magazine.
The Spring edition carries an article on the arrival of AI in biotech, which pairs neatly with what came out of the Sant Cugat workshop. You can read it here: Stop pipetting & start coding? (PDF)