Meetings for NBN Member
The Nordic Biosafety Network convenes annually for a 1–2-day meeting organised by a local committee in one of the Nordic countries. Topics related to laboratory biosafety and biosecurity are presented and discussed. Every meeting has its own unique features, depending on input from NBN Members and the local organisers.
Annual meeting
The annual meeting will take place 15–16 October 2026 at the University of Turku, Finland. The meeting is open for people working in the field of biorisk management and professionals involved in biosafety or biosecurity at their workplace.
Register here (link.webropolsurveys.com)
Registration opens at 9:15 on 15 October, followed by lunch at 11:00. The meeting will officially begin at 12:00. The programme concludes on 16 October with lunch at 12:45.
Meeting participation is free of charge. Participants are responsible for covering their own travel, accommodation, and meal expenses.
Topics this year
- Biothreats – from synthetic biology to AI
- Decontamination and inactivation – from agents to rooms
- New possibilities for biosafety training
Programme
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 09.15–11.00 | Registration at MEDISIINAD, 1st floor | |
| 11.00–12.00 | Lunch (No additional fee for the first 45 registered participants) | Restaurant Flavoria, MEDISIINA D |
| 12.00–12.15 | Seminar Room Lauren 2: Opening of the Meeting | NBN steering group and the local organizing committee |
| 12.15–13.00 | Key Note Speaker: Assessing Hybrid Threats to Biosecurity | Beáta Varga: The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats |
| 13.00–13.20 | Biocides in Practice – Finland as an Example | Pauli Kärkkäinen from The Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency |
| 13.20–13.45 | Decontamination and Inactivation: From Agents to Rooms – Methods, Applications, Validation and Facility Design Considerations | Chris Berridge from Ecolab |
| 13.45–14.15 | Coffee Break | |
| 14.15–14.45 | African swine fever (ASF) in Finland | Finnish Food Authority: African swine fever (ASF) in Finland |
| 15.30-16.00 | Practical Pathogen Inactivation: Alternative Techniques and Case Reports |
Kirsten Marie Bay Tjørnehøj: Heat inactivation of dried important veterinary pathogens (incl. FMDV, ASFV, CSFV, SVDV). Karen Gjendal: Inactivation of production vessels using NaOH in heated water. |
| 15.15–16.00 | Room Decontamination | Interactive Session: Combines real-time questions with data collected during registration (can be continued on Friday´s Workshops) |
| 16.00–16.20 | Virtual Reality – Future of Training | Saara Kuusinen from University of Turku |
| 16.30–17.30 | Tour in MEDISIINA D | VR Try-Out and Laboratories (of The Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland and Turku University) |
| 18.30– 21.00 | Dinner (Self-pay) | Bistro Elli at the Sokos Hotel Kupittaa |
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 09.00–09.10 | Seminar room Lauren 2: Introduction to Day 2 | The local organizing committee |
| 09.10–09.55 | Key Note Speaker 2: When Ethics Meets Synthetic Biology | Tuija-Maija Takala from Aalto University |
| 09.55–10.30 | Coffee Break | |
| 10.30–11.00 | AI from a Biosafety Perspective | Tuuli Haataja and Simo Syrjä from Finnish Defense Forces |
| 11.00–12.00 | Workshops |
Interactive session. Ideas for topics: VR training in future. Ensuring Biosafety in Multi-Organization Clinical, Teaching and Research Facility. Room Decontamination. Pathogen Inactivation |
| 12.00–12.30 | Summary of Workshops | |
| 12.30–12.40 | Concluding Remarks | |
| 12.45–13.45 | Lunch (Self-pay) |
Recent meetings
| Event | Date | Place | Main content of meeting |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBN17 | December 1–2, 2025 | Norvegian Veterinary Institute, Ås, Norway | Safety culture |
| NBN16 | December 11–12, 2024 | Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden | Biosecurity |
| NBN15 | March 15–16, 2023 | University of Copenhagen in Denmark | Risk management in high containment facilities |
| NBN14 | November 30, 2021 | THL, Helsinki, Finland | Standards and guidelines, Emerging biothreats, Laboratory biorisk management during the COVID-19 pandemic |