ITM13 Berlin 2026 – Preliminary Program (Flexible Structure)
Note: This schedule provides the general structure of the meeting. Final session composition will depend on the number and topics of submitted abstracts. Specific thematic blocks will be organized after abstract selection.
Confirmed keynote and invited speakers
• Keynote: Carsten Lüter (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin) – Historical collections as a resource for top-notch science
• Invited speaker: Shigeki Fujiwara (Kochi University, Japan) – 'Retinoic acid, tunicate development, and chordate evolution'
• Invited speaker: John Bishop (Marine Biological Association, UK) – 'A look back at work on reproduction and chimerism in Diplosoma listerianum (Didemnidae)'
• Invited speaker: Billie Swalla (University of Washington, USA) – 'Deuterostome Ancestors and Chordate Origins'
Proposed thematic areas (to be distributed across sessions)
• Ecology
• Imaging and modelling
• Asexual reproduction, regeneration, and aging
• From development to genomics
• Beginning of embryogenesis
• Evolution, systematics and taxonomy
• Late embryo and larvae
• Nervous system development and anatomy
• Developmental and cell biology
• Post‑embryonic development
• Gene regulation
Sunday – Arrival
Time - Program
15:00–18:00 - Registration, badge pickup & icebreaker
Monday
Time - Program
09:00–09:10 - Welcome & introduction
09:10–09:50 - Keynote – Carsten Lüter (title TBA)
09:50–10:30 - Invited / contributed talks
10:30–11:00 - Coffee break
11:00–12:30 - Talk session block
12:30–14:00 - Lunch
14:00–15:30 - Talk session block
15:30–16:00 - Coffee break
16:00–17:30 - Talk session block
Tuesday
Time - Program
09:00–09:40 Invited talk – Shigeki Fujiwara
09:40–10:30 - Invited / contributed talks
10:30–11:00 - Coffee break
11:00–12:30 - Talk session block
12:30–14:00 - Lunch
14:00–15:30 - Talk session block
15:30–16:00 - Coffee break
16:00–17:30 - Talk session block
18:00–20:00 - Poster session
Wednesday
Thursday
Time - Program
09:00–09:40 - Invited talk – John Bishop
09:40–10:30 - Invited / contributed talks
10:30–11:00 - Coffee break
11:00–12:30 - Talk session block
12:30–14:00 - Lunch
14:00–15:30 - Talk session block
15:30–16:00 - Coffee break
16:00–17:30 - Talk session block
19:00–22:00 - Informal conference dinner
Friday
Time - Program
09:00–09:40 - Invited talk – Billie Swalla
09:40–10:30 - Invited / contributed talks
10:30–11:00 - Coffee break
11:00–12:30 - Talk session block
12:30–14:00 - Lunch
14:00–15:30 - Round tables / workshops (parallel sessions)
15:30 - Closing remarks
This website is under construction, please check back for updates!
(Updates will be announced via the Tunicate-Mailing-List)
