The first European Conference on Marine Natural Products (ECMNP) has taken off in 1997 from Athens and organised by Professor Vassilious Roussis.  After realising that European young scientists were not able to attend the major international meetings, which was mostly graced by more senior scientists, the organisers of the ECMNP has focused its attentions in stimulating the younger generation of scientists in the areas of marine chemistry to promote active interaction and future collaboration around the world. In the European conference series, young scientists present their work and get the experience of the international scientific atmosphere by sharing the stage with plenary lectures delivered by outstanding senior experts in the field. It is worth mentioning that in this year’s conference, 50% of the participants are young PhD student researchers and 20% postdoc scientists working in marine natural products research.
The 9th ECMNP in Glasgow (31 August to 3 September 2015) follows its predecessors in La Toja (2013), Tjärnö (2011), Porto (2009), Ischia (2007), Paris (2005), Elmau (2002), Santiago de Compostela (1999), and Athens (1997). After 18 years and 8 events, it is most inspiring and uplifting to perceive that many of the young scientists in the initial events are now established and leading active groups in the European marine research community.  The European conference is organized every two years alternating with the Gordon Conferences on Marine Natural Products while the international MaNaPro Symposia is held every three years.
The 9th ECMNP welcomed 188 participants in Glasgow from around Europe as well as from America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. Under the theme: “The sea as sustainable source of new medicine and renewable energy”, our target audience includes scientists both from the academia and the industry working not only in the field of marine natural product chemistry but also pharmacology, microbiology, biotechnology, and ecology. The conference will highlight the evolution of marine natural products chemistry to a multi-disciplinary field of research. The 9th ECMNP in Glasgow will be partly supported by three EU-FP7 consortia: SeaBioTech, BlueGenics, and PharmaSea. The three industry-focused EU-FP7 consortia being under the same marine biotechnology umbrella aims to increase the involvement and participation of SME in this conference through oral and poster presentations.  We have plenary and invited speakers from both the Industry and Academia.  For the first time, there would be a session on Marine Policy delivered by experts to provide greater awareness on international laws of bioprospecting covered by UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the Nagoya Protocol.
For this year’s conference, a one-day free kick-off pre-conference workshop is offered to 60 young participants. The workshop is hosted by the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, organised by SeaBioTech and PharmaSea. The aim of the workshop is to integrate and disseminate the project objectives and methodologies of five marine biotechnology FP7 consortia (Micro B3, Macumba, BlueGenics, PharmaSea and Seabiotech) to younger scientists involved in marine research. This is in line with the objectives of the ECMNP in promoting Marine Natural Products Research to a younger generation of scientists.

Dr. RuAngelie Edrada-Ebel

Chair, 9th ECMNP