Dear colleagues,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to The 1st International Electronic Conference on Plant Protection (IECPP). This first edition is dedicated to Science and Solutions for a Climate Crisis. IECPP2026 is the first meeting of its kind devoted to leveraging science-based solutions for the protection of our crops and forests.

As the challenges posed by climate change continue to impact agriculture and natural ecosystems around the globe, the need for innovative, sustainable, and science-based solutions in plant protection has never been more urgent. This conference intends to bring together researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders from varied fields to share their latest findings, exchange ideas, and explore advanced approaches to safeguard plant health in an era of unprecedented environmental change.

The 1^st IECPP will broadly approach the following key themes:

1. Surveillance and Early Warning Systems for Emerging Pests and Pathogens
2. Innovations in Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
3. Soil Health and Its Role in Plant Disease Resistance
4. Biochemical and Biological Control
5. Digital Tools for Plant Protection
6. New Genomic Tools for Plant Defence
7. Agroecology and Sustainable Plant Protection Practices
8. Engineering Biotechnological Crop Resilience
9. Climate Change and Plant Protection

This virtual conference will take place on www.sciforum.net, an online platform developed and sponsored by MDPI to host and support electronic conferences. The virtual format offers a key advantage: it removes the need for travel and related expenses, enabling you to participate fully and conveniently from anywhere in the world.

By hosting the meeting online, the aim is to make participation as inclusive and accessible as possible. This virtual format fosters global collaboration, allowing researchers from all regions to contribute to and benefit from meaningful scientific exchange. You are encouraged to take an active role—whether by presenting your work, joining discussions, or networking with peers worldwide.

I am pleased to inform that participation in this conference is entirely free of charge for both authors and attendees. The accepted abstracts will be published for free in MDPI’s Biology and Life Sciences Forum. Proceedings papers of the accepted abstracts can be published in a dedicated issue of Biology and Life Sciences Forum, or full papers can be published in a Special Issue of Plants (ISSN: 2223-7747) with a 20% discount on the article processing charge. All submissions will go through the standard peer review process. However, paper submission is not a requirement for active conference participation. The best proceedings paper and best poster awards will receive an award of CHF 300 and 200, respectively, along with an offer to publish an extended paper for free, in the Special Issue of Plants.

Thank you for being part of this initiative. We look forward to a productive and engaging few days ahead and for a dynamic and inspiring conference!

With warm regards,

Jorge M. S. Faria

Sessions

Important Deadlines

Abstract Submission Deadline: 1 December 2025
Full-File Submission Deadline: 31 January 2026

General Instructions for Submission

Submissions should be made by the authors online, by registering with sciforum.net and using the "New Submission" function, once logged into the system.

The corresponding author must use an institutional email address. Please submit the abstract with the institutional email address.

1) Guidelines for Abstract Submission

Scholars interested in participating in this conference can submit their abstracts (about 200–250 words; the word count excludes references) online on this website until the abstract submission deadline of 1 December 2025. Abstracts will be evaluated based on their scientific quality and suitability for the conference sections. The abstracts submitted to this conference must be original and novel, without prior publication in any journals or will not be accepted. Notification of abstract acceptance will be communicated to respective authors by 30 December 2025.

2) Poster Submission
All participants are requested to upload and display their research in the form of a poster at the “Poster Gallery” page on the conference website. There will be no "Live" poster presentation.

To maintain consistency and for consideration of the “Best Poster Award”, please adhere to the poster format below:

a. Your submission should include the title, authors, contact details, and main research findings, as well as tables, figures, and graphs where necessary.
b. File format: PDF (.pdf).
c. Size in cm: 60 width x 80 height–portrait orientation.
d. Font size: ≥20.
e. Maximum size: 250 M

3) Guidelines for Submission of Full-File: Manuscript and Supplementary Materials

Once the abstract has been accepted, the authors can submit their manuscript (short proceedings paper, 3–6 pages) before the full-file submission deadline of 31 January 2026.

Use the Microsoft Word template or LaTeX template to prepare your manuscript.

To supplement their manuscripts, authors of accepted papers will have the option to submit a slide presentation (in PDF) and/or a short video presentation (max. 3–5 minutes) as supporting material for the paper. Please note that only the proceedings paper (3-6 pages) can be published in the MDPI Biology and Life Sciences Forum journal.

a) Presentation Slides
Authors can prepare a presentation in PowerPoint or similar software, to be displayed online along with the manuscript. Slides can be prepared the same way as for any traditional conference. They should be converted to PDF format before submission.

b) Video Presentations
Authors can submit video presentations to supplement the content of their paper. Videos should be no longer than 5 minutes and prepared with one of the following formats: .mp4 / .webm / .ogg (max size: 250Mb). They should be submitted, together with the full manuscript, by the full-file submission deadline.

Potential Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose all relationships or interests that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. This should be conveyed in a separate "Conflict of Interest" statement preceding the "Acknowledgments" and "References" sections at the end of the manuscript. If there is no conflict, please state "The authors declare no conflict of interest." Financial support for the study must be fully disclosed under the "Acknowledgments" section.

Copyright

MDPI, the publisher of the Sciforum.net platform, is an open-access publisher. We believe that authors should retain the copyright to their scholarly works. Hence, by submitting a communication paper to this conference, you retain the copyright of your paper, but you grant MDPI the non-exclusive right to publish this paper online on the Sciforum.net platform. This means you can easily submit your paper to any scientific journal at a later stage and transfer the copyright to its publisher (if required by that publisher).

Two Types of Publication Opportunities Available for Authors with Accepted Submissions:
1) Publish with a 20% discount in Special Issue of Plants journal (Selected Papers from the 1st International Electronic Conference on Plant Protection
2) All accepted manuscripts (3-6 pages) can be published, free of charge, in the Biology and Life Sciences Forum Journal.

Guidelines

1) Publication in Special Issue of Plants journal
Participants of this conference are invited to contribute a full manuscript to a dedicated Special Issue in the journal Plants (ISSN 2223-7747, IF 4.1). Papers presented at the conference will be granted a 20% discount in the Special Issue

Note that if you have IOAP/association discounts, conference discounts will be combined with IOAP/association discounts. Conference discounts cannot be combined with reviewer vouchers.

The submission to the journal is independent of the conference proceedings and will follow the usual process of the journal, including peer review, APC, etc.

For more information regarding publishing in the journal, please contact: plants@mdpi.com

2) FREE of Charge Publication of your Proceedings Manuscript in Biology and Life Sciences Forum
After the conference, all accepted manuscripts (3-6 pages) can be published in the MDPI Biology and Life Sciences Forum journal. Publication of the proceedings paper in the journal will be free of charge. Proceedings papers must be prepared in MS Word or any other word processor and should be converted to PDF format before submission. The proceedings paper should count at least 3 pages (incl. figures, tables and references) and should not exceed 6 pages. We strongly encourage all authors to read the rules outlined in the 'Instructions for Authors' of the Biology and Life Sciences Forum journal and ensure that your manuscript submission adheres to these guidelines.