RdRp Summit 2025 Running Program (Provisional)
This program will be updated as more details become available. Please check the website for the latest version.
Day 1 – May 11, 2025
9:00 – 9:15 am
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Speaker: Ingrida Olendraite (VUGENE – Vilnius, Lithuania)
An introduction to the RdRp Summit and a welcome to all participants.
9:15 – 10:00 am
Introduction = The RdRp summit initiative : An overview of the last 2 years
Keynote lecture : An overview of the initiative based on the 2023 consensus statement perspectives.
Speakers: (To be announced)
10:00 – 10:30 am – MORNING TEA
10:30 – 12:00 am
Session 1 = RNA Virus Categorization (Classification, Taxonomy & Naming)
Keynote lecture : Perspectives on the ICTV Computational Taxonomy Challenge
Speaker: Cedric Lood (University of Oxford – Oxford, UK)
Talks from selected abstracts : Current challenges and new approaches for classifying RNA viruses on a virome-wide scale.
Speakers: selected on abstracts
12:00 – 02:00 pm – LUNCH BREAK
02:00 – 02:30 pm
Community Project – part 1 (Launch Session)
Flash talks : to introduce new collaborative project ideas within our community.
Speakers: Every participant who’s interested to lead an initiative.
02:30 – 04:00 pm
Session 2 = Best Practices, Standards, and Annotations
Keynote lecture : Minimum Information about an Uncultivated Virus Genome (MiUViG v2) and best practices in viral genome annotation.
Speaker: Luke Hillary (University of California, Davis – Davis, USA)
Talks from selected abstracts : Host-virus assignment, database development, computational tools for genome/proteome annotation (etc…).
Speakers: selected on abstracts
04:00 – 04:30 pm – AFTERNOON TEA
04:30 – 06:00 pm
Session 3 = Sequencing & Extraction methodologies for RNA virus discovery
Keynote lecture : Nanopore sequencing for viral detection and surveillance.
Speaker: Anja Pecman (National Institute of Biology – Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Talks from selected abstracts : Benchmarking studies on viral sequencing and extraction methods, pros and cons of current methodologies, perspectives…
Speakers: selected on abstracts
06:00 – 06:30 pm
Session 4 = Out of the Box session
Selected Talks : innovative topics that do not fit into other categories but are still highly relevant to our field. You have “carte blanche” !
Speakers: selected on abstracts
Day 2 – May 12, 2025
9:00 – 10:00 am
Session 5 = Data Mining and Metadata Analysis in RNA virus discovery
Keynote lecture : Logan: Planetary-scale assembly of DNA/RNA sequencing data.
Speaker: Rayan Chikhi (Pasteur Institute – Paris, France)
Selected Talks : examples of data mining studies, the do’s and don’t of metadata analyses, the current limits and new/emerging AI-based tools etc…
Speakers: selected on abstracts
10:00 – 10:30 am – MORNING TEA
10:30 – 12 am
Session 6 = Viral Dark Matter: Detecting Divergent Viruses
Keynote lecture #1 : Using artificial intelligence to document the hidden RNA virosphere.
Speaker: Xin Hou (Pasteur Institute – Paris, France)
Selected Talks : viral dark matter prospection initiatives, annotation/classification strategies for novel RNA viruses…
Speakers: selected on abstracts
Keynote lecture #2 : FoldSeek – Big Fantastic Viral database (BFVD)
Speaker: Rachel Seongeun Kim (Seoul National University – Seoul, Republic of Korea)
Selected Talks : Protein profile/structure based tools
Speakers: selected on abstracts
12:00 – 02:00 pm – LUNCH BREAK
02:00 – 04:00 pm
Community Project – part 2 (Group discussion)
Participants can gather into study groups to discuss/develop the collaborative initiatives introduced during day 1.
04:00 – 04:30 pm – AFTERNOON TEA
04:30 – 05:30 pm
Conclusion = The RdRp summit initiative : A projection for the next 2 years
Keynote lecture : EVBC Projects and Initiatives – Introduction to the database project
Speaker: Noriko Cassman (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena – Germany)
Flash talks : Community projects = main discussion outcomes/perspectives.
Speakers: Selected community project representatives.
Discussion : How to consolidate our community, to improve our inclusivity, to carry out community-based initiatives, to keep it active (etc…) ? Come with your ideas to make the RdRp summit a great and long-term story !
05:30 – 06:00 pm
Announcements & Closing remarks
* Announcements for upcoming initiatives, workshops, jobs (etc…)
* Formation of the RdRp summit 2027 Organizing / Scientific Committee
* Closing remarks