Welcome to the 3rd MGE UK Workshop!
We are delighted to invite you to the third edition of the MGE UK Workshop, a meeting dedicated to researchers exploring the fascinating world of Mobile Genetic Elements (MGEs) across all kingdoms of life. From bacteria and archaea to eukaryotes and viruses, MGEs play critical roles in shaping genomes, driving evolution, and influencing ecosystems.
Building on the success of the series founders, David Grainger and Tung Le, the goal remains to create an open, collaborative space where scientists at all career stages are encouraged to share their latest discoveries, exchange ideas, and collaborate. With a programme with enough time for discussions, we aim to highlight the diversity, mechanisms, and impacts of MGEs in every domain of life.
Whether you work on phages, plasmids, transposons, retroelements, integrative elements, or novel systems yet to be defined, we look forward to welcoming everyone to Southampton for two days of science, community building, and inspiration!
This zero-cost conference is only possible with New England Biolabs (NEB) support, and we are happy to welcome Peter Weigele as our keynote speaker. Peter is a scientist at NEB who is passionate about uncovering the hidden complexity of MGE and translating fundamental research into innovative solutions.
Sponsored by
Program
Monday 16th - Tuesday 17th June 2025
Centenary Building (B100), University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ
Free registration
Deadline to register for a talk - Friday 16th May 2025
Deadline for general registration - Friday 30th May 2025
We are excited to announce that registration for the UK’s 3rd Mobile Genetic Elements workshop is now open!
This low-cost workshop is a great opportunity for early career researchers to present their work and for you to share any exciting new data from your lab.
We are looking for contributors to this year’s program. If you are interested in giving a talk, please let us know your presentation title by Friday 16th May (we do not require an abstract!) by registering below.
All scientists, whether you are based within or outside of the UK, are welcome to participate in this conference.
We look forward to seeing you all in Southampton in June.
Workshop program will be released soon!
Directions to the venue
The 3rd MGE workshop will be held in the Centenary Building (B100) situated on the University of Southampton’s Highfield Campus. The workshop will be taking place in Lecture Room 4011, located on the 4th floor of the building. The registration desk will be located in the Level 4 foyer.
As you enter the main entrance to the building you will find the stairs straight ahead of you. Elevators can be found just before the stairs on the right-hand side of the building.
Dinner location: Centenary Restaurant, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ
Social activity - Sunday 15th June
For delegates travelling to the workshop on Sunday 15th June, we have organised a drinks event at Dancing Man Brewery at 5pm.
We look forward to seeing many of you there, prior to the start of the workshop on Monday.
Social activity location: Dancing Man Brewery, Southampton SO14 2AR