Dates: 25-26 June 2025
Place: Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB), Freising, Germany
DESCRIPTION
It is with great pleasure to welcome you to the 4th FLAVOURSOME Workshop. The landscape of flavour science is undergoing a digital transformation. This two-day event will offer a deep dive into the computational tools redefining how we understand, predict, and design flavour molecules.
The programme is structured into three focus areas:
- Receptor Modelling: Utilising AI-driven protein folding and molecular docking to simulate how ligands bind to taste and odorant receptors.
- Chemoinformatics: Learning how to encode chemical structures into machine-learnable formats, and building machine learning models to correlate chemical features with specific sensory attributes.
- FoodInformatics: Navigating cross-disciplinary datasets to bridge the gap between chemical compounds and biological perception in food applications.
The integration of keynote lectures and short talks with practical, hands-on workshops creates a stimulating and dynamic setting for knowledge exchange, specifically designed to bridge the gap between computational methodologies and flavour science.
The programme is designed for researchers at all career stages, providing hands-on experience of AI-driven analysis and exploring how these digital tools can be used alongside existing flavour science frameworks, therefore promoting further collaborations within the Action network.
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
More information is coming soon.
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
June 25, 2026 | ||
|---|---|---|
08:30 – 09:00 | Registration & Welcome desk | |
09:00 – 09:30 | Welcome Session Corinna Dawid, Director of the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology (LSB) Antonella Di Pizio, Local Organizer, LSB | |
09:30 – 10:30 | Plenary Lecture Title: TBA Akos JOZWIAK, Head of Food & Nutrition Science and AI at Syreon | |
10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee Break | |
Session 1 (Receptor Modelling) | ||
11:00 – 11:30 | Short Talk Title: Flavour Receptors and Their Structures Florian Boessl & Burcu Özer, LSB | |
11:30 – 13:00 | Exercise Session Title: Al modeling of Odorant Receptors Alexander Otterbach, LSB | |
13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch | |
14:00 – 14:30 | Short Talk Title: Computer-driven Ligand Identification Targeting Flavour Receptors Clarissa Rienäcker & Alessandro Nicoli, LSB | |
14:30 – 16:00 | Exercise Session: Title: Binding mode predictions using cofolding methods Giorgio Felizzato, University of Turin | |
16:30 – 17:30ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ | Plenary Lecture Title: TBA Antonella Ciancetta, University of Ferrara | |
June 26, 2026 | ||
|---|---|---|
Session 2 (Foodinformatics) | ||
09:00 – 10:00 | Plenary Lecture Title: TBA Barbara Zdrazil, EMBL-EBI | |
10:00 – 10:30 | Coffee Break | |
10:30 – 11:00 | Short Talk Title: From data to prediction: BPS-1000 and BILN-GCN Alexander Otterbach & Francesco Ferri, LSB | |
11:00 – 12:30 | Exercise Session Title: Develop a predictive model of flavour activity Francesco Ferri, LSB | |
12:30 – 14:00 | Lunch | |
14:00 – 15:30 | Exercise Session Title: Predict flavour activity of food compounds Francesco Ferri, LSB | |
15:30 – 16:00 | Summary and concluding remarks | |
TARGET AUDIENCE AND REQUIREMENTS
This Workshop is exclusive for members of the FLAVOURsome COST Action CA22161.
There are 15 spots available for participants who have an interest in flavour prediction, flavour receptor structure prediction and ligand identification using machine learning and modelling methods.
The organizing committee will select applications to guarantee gender balance, career stage, and geographic distribution.
Bringing your personal laptop is highly recommended.
DATES
Open call for application submission – February 19, 2026
Application deadline – March 25, 2026
New Application acceptance notice deadline – April 10, 2026
APPLICATION DETAILS
A short motivation statement (max. 200 words) and a short CV (2-pages maximum in pdf) will be requested in the application form.
Please note that your application does not confirm that you have been selected for the workshop. You will be informed of the application selection.
REGISTRATION
No registration fee.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Participants involved in the FLAVOURsome COST Action will be reimbursed to cover travel expenses and a daily allowance to cover meals and accommodation.
A certificate of attendance will be sent after the end of the event.
VENUE
The WORKSHOP will take place in Freising, at TUM Campus Weihenstephan
Address:
Internationales Getränkewissenschaftliches Zentrum Weihenstephan (iGZW)
Gregor-Mendel-Str. 4, 85354 Freising.
More information about the venue will be provided further for the invited and selected participants.
LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Antonella Di Pizio (LSB-TUM)
Francesco Ferri (LSB-TUM)
Alexander Otterbach (LSB-TUM)
Clarissa Rienäcker (LSB-TUM)
SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
FLAVOURsome Core Group
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FUNDING
This event is part of the activities of the COST Action FLAVOURsome, CA22161, which is supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).