The 2023 International Symposium on New concepts in prokaryotic virus-host interactions held at the Harnack-Haus Berlin in October 2023 gathered the international community of scientists dedicated to exploring groundbreaking ideas and novel mechanisms in the field of phage biology. The Symposium was organized in the frame of the DFG funded priority programme SPP 2330 for which a call was just released to invite proposals for the second three-year funding period.

The Symposium started with a Career and Industry session for SPP young scientists with inspiring career talks from our board members Katharina Höfer and Julia Frunzke as well as from start-up funding winner Finn Ole Gehlert. Insights into a career in industry were provided by Stefan Miller from Lysando exploring the application of phage endolysins for the treatment of bacterial infections.

During three inspiring days in Berlin, SPP members and scientists from across the globe discussed their scientific progress in the field of virus-host interactions in prokaryotes in an interactive environment of outstanding scientific quality. Main features were presentations by the international guest speakers pioneering the scientific field of phage biology.

Another highlight was undoubtedly a joint keynote session with the DFG funded priority programme SPP 2002 (Small Proteins, an unexplored World) including keynote talks by Rotem Sorek (Weizmann Institute of Science) and Jörg Vogel (Helmhotz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research).

Poster prizes sponsored by Lysando AG and PolyQuant GmbH were awarded to Susanne Brenzinger, Lauren Queiss, Daan van den Berg, and Tom Luthe for their outstanding poster presentations.

We thank all speakers and poster presenters for their contributions and three wonderful days of outstanding science.

More information on SPP 2330: https://spp2330.de/

Call for SPP 2330 2^nd funding period: https://www.dfg.de/foerderung/info_wissenschaft/ausschreibungen/info_wissenschaft_23_90/index.html