This is an annual event where the member universities take turn hosting and this year it was SLU’s turn. The title of this year’s student conference was “Living the ELLSperience – Cultivating scientific innovation” and students from all over the world spent several days at Campus Ultuna listening to presentations, discussing, networking, attending workshops and socialising.
Awards
There was a record number of abstract submissions this year and with over 130 students made a presentation. Prizes were awarded in seven different themes/areas, for both poster and oral presentations, all creatively named by the ELSA students:
AnimELLS - For every living kind
WOOD you beLEAF it? – Trees, Birds, Timber and Fire
FOODture of flavor – Eat, drink, innovate
Global wELLSness – Environmental impacts on well-being
Nature’s Code – Understanding life from cELLS to species
CultivELLS – Growing knowledge together
Wat’erth ELLS – Life flows from the ground up
The ELLS students are organised in the Euroleague Student Association (ELSA). In addition to giving advice about the running of the alliance, ELSA has a key part in the organisation of the annual conference, including setting the programme and subthemes and moderating all sessions. The vice chair and the former vice chair of Sluss are the SLU’s representatives in ELSA.
Besides the awards for oral and poster presentations, ELSA gives out a Sustainability Award, which this year was awarded to SLU’s Hasara Kumaragama from the Food and Landscape programme for her fantastic thesis "Development of an advanced digital framework to ensure quality assurance, waste reduction and sustainability in the Swedish dairy industry."
"The ELLS conference was such a positive and energizing experience. I met inspiring people, shared ideas with students and experts from different countries and universities, and saw how powerful data-driven, collaborative approaches can be in transforming food systems. That is exactly the kind of impact I am working toward through my project, integrated with AI, IoT, and Big Data to strengthen sustainability, quality, and waste management in the dairy industry." – Hasara Kumaragama
Opportunities in 2026
In November 2026, L’Institut Agro in Montpellier will be hosting the ELLS Scientific Student Conference and the General Assembly and Forum. For students working on their degree project/thesis this year, there is an opportunity to submit an abstract and there is funding available to participate.
"It's been a fantastic experience, and we can highly recommend SLU students to participate in the conference next year to get the chance to network with other students and researchers in their field." - Einar Nordgren and Tilde Lindbäck, SLU's ELSA students.
Another great opportunity for next year is the ELLS summer schools. These are organised by the Subject Areas and consist of short courses during the summer. For more information, keep an eye on the study offers listed on the ELLS website.
General Assembly and Forum
Prior to the student conference, the ELLS board and over 20 working groups met for the General Assembly and Forum. It is the one time a year that all groups meet at the same time. Each group has one or two representatives from each member university, who collaborate on various projects and initiatives throughout the year.
"As every year, the conference is a valuable moment of connection and exchange. Meeting with colleagues from across Europe reminds us of the strategic importance of our institutions in education, innovation, and research." – Estelle Faure, L’Institut Agro Montpellier
One example is the subject area Organic Agriculture, who has worked on a new joint programme. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed during the General Assembly and Forum to get this started. This is a collaboration between University of Hohenheim, Wageningen University and Research, BOKU University, University of Tuscia and Warsaw University of Life Sciences.
Photos: Kim Lifvendahl och Jenny Svennås-Gillner, SLU