35th Annual Conference of the Polish Society for Biomaterials (PSB2026) – jubilee edition

From 8 to 11 October 2026, the 35th Annual Conference of the Polish Society for Biomaterials (PSB2026) will take place at Hotel Perła Południa in Rytro – the jubilee edition of a conference that many members of the Polish Society for Biomaterials know and cherish as "Biomaterials in Medicine and Veterinary Medicine". This year we celebrate twice over: the 35th edition of a conference held almost without interruption since 1990, and the 30th anniversary of our Society.

We organise the conference as the Polish Society for Biomaterials, and the Organising Committee is once again chaired by Prof. Elżbieta Pamuła, President of the PSB. We have been bound to Rytro from the very beginning – it was here that the first edition was held in 1990, under the name "Carbon Biomaterials", and here, in 1995, that we founded our Society.

To mark the jubilee, the conference has undergone a complete rebrand – a new name, a new logo and a new visual identity. The new logo is no accident: it brings together the scientific character of the conference and the mountain landscape of Rytro. Three rising lines represent the Beskid peaks that surround our meeting place and, at the same time, the steady, shared growth of our field. The golden, rising sun stands for new knowledge and inspiration – and may also be read as a new chapter in the history of the conference. The natural palette of green, turquoise and blue, lifted by a warm orange accent, reflects the beauty of the mountain region and the intimate spirit of our gatherings.

Yet only the look has changed. We meet at the same beloved Perła Południa in Rytro, traditionally in the second week of October, in the same intimate, family-like atmosphere that brings us back year after year. What has set us apart for years is precisely this combination: science of the highest level and a unique sense of community.

For this jubilee year we have prepared an especially rich programme. We have invited ten plenary and keynote speakers from eight countries across four continents, among them the presidents of the world's two leading biomaterials organisations – Prof. Joachim Kohn (IUS-BSE) and Prof. Nicholas Dunne (ESB). Some of them are long-standing friends of the Polish biomaterials community who have taken part in earlier events organised by our Society:

• Prof. Joachim Kohn – Rutgers University, USA; President of IUS-BSE (Opening Lecture)
• Prof. Gary L. Bowlin – University of Memphis, USA
• Prof. Nicholas Dunne – Dublin City University, Ireland; President of the ESB
• Prof. Yasuhiko Iwasaki – Kansai University, Osaka, Japan
• Prof. João F. Mano – University of Aveiro, Portugal
• Prof. Zhengwei Mao – Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
• Prof. Bożena Michniak-Kohn – Rutgers University, USA
• Prof. Maria Grazia Raucci – IPCB-CNR, Italy
• Prof. Urszula Stachewicz – AGH University of Krakow, Poland
• Prof. Murilo D. de Mello Innocentini – UNAERP, Brazil (Keynote Lecture)

The programme is rounded out by oral and poster sessions, workshops, and a competition for early-career scientists combined with a rapid-fire session. But science is only half the story. Rytro is just as well known among us for the evenings we spend together: the regional dinner at the "Nad potokiem" cottage bar, the festive jubilee dinner, and the Saturday excursion – this year towards Krynica and Muszyna.

The conference has been awarded funding under the "Wektory Nauki" programme of the Minister of Science and Higher Education. It is held under the Honorary Patronage of the Rector of AGH University of Krakow, Prof. Jerzy Lis, with substantive support from the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, AGH University of Krakow.

We warmly invite you to Rytro – to meet again in a fresh new look, but among old friends.

Reduced registration fee until 30 June: www.biomat.agh.edu.pl

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Projekt finansowany ze środków budżetu państwa, przyznanych przez Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego w ramach Programu „Wektory Nauki” / 
Conference supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education under the programme „Wektory Nauki”
Numer umowy/Contract number: WNK/SN/0423/2025/01
Kwota finansowania/Funding amount: 147 180,00 PLN
Całkowita wartość projektu/Total project value: 457 180,00 PLN