Frame the question
Opening talks set out the shared problem: what soil life does, what changes it, and where current evidence is thin.
Program
A program built for comparison, not agreement.
The program moves from framing questions to evidence, from methods to practice, and from practice to synthesis. Session formats are chosen to match the kind of thinking each theme needs.
Four movements
How the sessions fit together
Test the evidence
Research sessions present findings from field and laboratory work, with attention to site, depth, season, and method.
Work on practice
Workshops and panels connect the evidence to farming, conservation, restoration, and engineering decisions.
Synthesize and share
The closing dialogue names what has changed, what remains uncertain, and what participants can take back to their work.
Session formats
Choose a way into the program
Use the filters to see how each format supports a different part of the conversation.
Showing all sessions
Setting the frame
Invited speakers open the program by naming the questions that cut across soil ecology, land use, and engineering.
Evidence from field and lab
Research talks connect molecular findings to the conditions in which samples were taken and the decisions they might inform.
Sampling design clinic
A small group works through site selection, depth, replication, and the compromises that field work always requires.
From reads to meaning
Participants compare analysis choices and discuss where interpretation becomes fragile.
Land practice roundtable
Farmers, advisers, and researchers compare what each needs from soil evidence and where current data falls short.
Soil in construction
Engineering and ecology perspectives on structure, drainage, stability, and the biology that complicates both.
Research in progress
Early career researchers and teams present unfinished work, new methods, and questions that need a second opinion.
Methods on display
Posters that explain a sampling approach, a pipeline, or a field technique in practical detail.
The shape of a day
Listening, doing, and talking back
A typical day does not run as a wall of presentations. It alternates between framed talks, smaller working sessions, and time to compare notes with people outside your own field.
Breaks are part of the design. They give participants room to follow a question across sessions and to meet someone whose work touches their own from a different direction.
Read practical questions-
Opening session
Framing talks and the shared questions for the gathering.
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Parallel sessions
Research talks, workshops, and panels running alongside one another.
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Poster viewing
Time to question presenters and follow a method in detail.
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Closing dialogue
A synthesis session that names what changed and what still needs work.
Presenting your work
A proposal should make the question visible
Proposals are welcome for talks, posters, and workshops. A strong submission explains the question, the setting, the method, and why the result matters beyond one site.
Abstracts are read for clarity rather than jargon. If a method is new or contested, say so plainly and explain what it adds.
Read the proposal guidanceInclude in your proposal
- The question your work addresses
- The site, soil, and land use involved
- The method, including its limits
- What the result changes or clarifies
- The format you prefer
- Any access or equipment needs
Program updates
What appears here, and when
This page describes the program structure. Confirmed speaker names, session titles, and the final timetable are added here and on the speakers page as they are confirmed.
Speaker listings
Each confirmed listing shows the contributor, affiliation, session, and topic.
See the speakers pageSession changes
The program page carries the current structure when a format or theme changes.
Ask about a sessionRegistration
The registration page explains the steps and the information requested from participants.
Review the stepsMethod communities
Independent resources for methods and data
These organizations are not part of SOILS. They are listed because their public material is useful for method and data questions.
European Geosciences Union
A geoscience union with public sessions and resources on soil systems.
Visit EGUISME
The International Society for Microbial Ecology supports research exchange across microbial systems.
Visit ISMEEarth Microbiome Project
An open collaboration on global microbial samples, protocols, and data.
Visit the projectTake part
Shape the conversation.
Propose a talk, a poster, or a workshop. Registration explains what to prepare and how to reach the program team.