The 1st International Online Conference on Membranes
Part of the International Online Conference on Membranes series
22–23 June 2027
22 February 2027
22 March 2027
17 June 2027
Membranes, Biological Membranes, Membrane Materials, Membrane Processes, Water Treatment, Gas Separation, Energy Storage and Utilization
- Go to the Sessions
- Event Details
Abstract Submission & Registration are now OPEN for the IOCMBS 2027!
Authors can now submit their abstracts and register for the conference.
Instructions for authors are available online.
Submit your abstract HERE.
Register for free HERE.
For any inquiries, please contact: iocmbs@mdpi.com.
Event Chair
School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Spas Kolev is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. He graduated from the University of Sofia in 1982 and earned his PhD in 1988 under Prof. Ernö Pungor in Budapest. After postdoctoral work in the Netherlands, he held academic positions in Sofia until 1996, then moved to La Trobe University. He joined the University of Melbourne in 2001, becoming professor in 2012. His research focuses on flow analysis, chemical sensors, polymer inclusion membranes, and environmental applications such as phytoremediation. He has published over 190 papers, co-edited a book, and delivered around 50 invited talks. Kolev has received multiple Australian Research Council grants and nearly $10 million in research funding. His awards include several international chemistry prizes recognizing his contributions. He serves as Editor-in-Chief or board member for several scientific journals and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.
Session Chairs
Prof. Dr. Efrem Curcio
Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, University of Calabria, Cosenza, Italy
Prof. Efrem Curcio received his PhD in Chemical Engineering and Materials in 2005 at the University of Calabria, Italy. (Co)author of >150 papers in peer-reviewed international journals. Recipient of the European Membrane Society Award 2004 for the best published paper in Membrane Science and Engineering. Participation or coordination of several international research projects (inter alia: MISTI/MIT; VII EU Framework Programme MEDINA, DEMCAMER, BIOART, REAPOWER; Horizon 2020 AMECRYS, REMIND, SEA4VALUE; Eranet-Med EXTRASEA; Horizon EU EXBRINER, MEASURED, MEMCAT, etc.). He has approximately 25 years of experience in the development of advanced membrane processes, with pioneering contributions in the field of Integrated Membrane Systems for seawater desalination and water treatment, (photothermal) membrane distillation crystallization for mineral recovery from brines, membrane bio-separation systems for the purification of proteins and mAbs, membrane systems for bioartificial organs and regenerative medicine. He is the CEO of the spin-off company Seligenda Membrane Technologies Srl.
Session 5. Membrane Technologies for Gas Separation & Cross-Disciplinary Fields
Prof. Dr. Clàudia Fontàs Rigau
The Department of Chemistry, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
Claudia Fontas obtained her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Girona (UdG) in 2001, and she carried out a postdoc at “Institut Europeén des Membranes” in Montpellier, France (2002). She was promoted to Associate professor in Chemistry at UdG in 2008. She performs teaching and research in the area of analytical and environmental chemistry. Her research is mainly focused on the development of new separation techniques for the monitoring and availability of toxic pollutants in the environment. She is renowned for her pioneering research on polymer inclusion membranes that has allow an in-depth understanding on the processes affecting the separation system and their application in the area of environmental analysis. Recent projects have focused on contaminants such as As, Hg, Cd, pesticides and antibiotics. Current research focuses on the following topics: - Novel stable PIMs for the preconcentration of metals and organic compounds. - Use of ionic liquids and derivatives as extractants in PIMs and impregnated materials - Design of PIM devices for speciation and availability studies of metals and oxyanions in the environment. - Sorbent materials to be used as extracting phase in sampling devices for remote areas. Claudia Fontas has published more than 100 refereed articles and 2 book chapters and has supervised 7 PhD thesis. She is currently co-supervising 3 PhD thesis in collaboration with the Universities of Bejaia and Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria), and 2 PhD in the UdG. She has participated in several competitive research projects including national R & D & I projects as a team member researcher, and five as a First Chief Investigator: periods 2014-2016 , 2016-2019, 2019-2022, and the current project "Efficient assessment of environmental pollution by advanced polymer inclusion membranes", for the period 2023-2026. She actively participates in research evaluation tasks: 2014- onwards: Evaluator for Agencia Nacional de Evaluación y Prospectiva (ANEP); 2016- onwards: Remote Evaluator for H2020 FET-OPEN NOVEL IDEAS FOR RADICALLY NEW TECHNOLOGIES Research and Inn
Session 2. Membrane Fabrication, Materials and Characterization
Registration
The registration for IOCMBS 2027 will be free of charge! The registration includes attendance to all conference sessions.
If you are registering several people under the same registration, please do not use the same email address for each person, but their individual university email addresses. Thank you for your understanding.
Please note that the submission and registration are two separate parts. Only scholars who registered can receive a link to access the conference live streaming. The deadline for registration is 17 June 2027.
Instructions for Authors
IOCMBS 2027 will accept abstracts only. The accepted abstracts will be available online on Sciforum.net during and after the conference.
Important Deadline
1. Deadline for abstract submission: 22 February 2027.
2. Abstract acceptance notification: 22 March 2027.
Please note:
An abstract acceptance email only confirms that your abstract has been accepted. Oral or poster presentation invitations are determined separately by the conference chairs, and you will receive an additional email with the presentation result.
If you do not have an account, please register at www.sciforum.net. After logging in, submit your abstract using the “Submit Abstract” button on the conference homepage. No template is required.
Abstract Requirements
1. Types of Submissions
- Accepted: Original research abstracts; systematic reviews or meta-analyses abstracts (must comply with PRISMA 2020).
- Not accepted: Narrative, scoping, comparative, perspective, opinion, or essay-style reviews
2. Content Requirements
- Length: 200–300 words
- Structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusions
- Language: Clear, publication-ready English
- Originality: Must be original and unpublished; previously published abstracts will not be considered
3. Authorship
All listed authors must have made substantial contributions to the work, participated in drafting or critically revising the abstract, and approved the final version. The submitting (presenting) author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the submission, including its content and authorship order.
Requests for changes to authorship (including the addition, removal, or reordering of authors) after submission must be submitted using a signed Authorship Change Form, with written consent from all affected authors. Such requests are subject to review and approval by the Conference Organizing Team.
All authors share collective responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and ethical compliance of the submitted work.
Authors may submit multiple abstracts, but only one abstract per author may be selected for an oral presentation.
1. Each abstract must designate one presenter. To change the presenter, please contact us after you receive the oral/poster presentation invitation.
2. Only live presentations are accepted.
3. Presenters who do not attend the live session will not be eligible for awards or presentation certificates.
Authors are encouraged to prepare a presentation in PowerPoint or similar software, to be displayed online along with the abstract. Please note that the presentation should be limited to a maximum of 12 slides (excluding the title slide and acknowledgements). Slides, if available, will be displayed directly on the website using the proprietary slide viewer at Sciforum.net. Slides can be prepared in exactly the same way as for any traditional conference where research results are presented. Slides should be converted to PDF format prior to submission so that they can be converted for online display.
- Use a clear and logical structure, typically Introduction-Methods-Results&Discussion structure (IMRaD) or a field-appropriate alternative;
- Emphasize the relevance of the work;
- Support key findings with clear figures or tables where appropriate;
- Conclude with a critical interpretation of the results and their impact.
Posters should be designed to allow independent understanding of the research and clearly present the essential elements of the study.
Each poster should include:
- Title, authors, affiliations, and contact details (clearly displayed at the top);
- Brief introduction outlining the research objective;
- Concise methodology summary;
- Main results, supported by clear, well-labeled figures or tables where appropriate;
- Short conclusion summarizing key findings and their relevance.
Technical specifications:
Dimensions (cm): 84.1 × 118.9 (A0 - portrait)
Resolution:300 dpi
Pixel size (portrait, 300 dpi):9933 × 14043 px
Minimum font size:≥24
Withdrawal Policy
Any request concerning abstract or proceedings paper withdrawal should be communicated to the Conference Organizing Team as early as possible, preferably prior to final acceptance and confirmation of the conference program. Please note that once abstracts are published in the Conference Report or once Proceedings papers are published in the Proceedings journal and assigned a DOI, they become part of the permanent scholarly record and cannot be fully removed.
AI policy
The responsible use of generative AI tools in the preparation of abstracts, posters, and presentations is permitted; however, any such use must be clearly disclosed, specifying the tool employed and its role. Authors retain full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of their work.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
Authors must disclose any financial, professional, or personal relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the integrity, interpretation, or presentation of their work. Failure to provide accurate disclosures may result in the removal of the abstract from the conference program and associated publications.
If there is no conflict, please state "The authors declare no conflicts of interest." This should be conveyed in a separate "Conflict of Interest" statement preceding the "Acknowledgments" and "References" sections at the end of the manuscript. Any financial support for the study must be fully disclosed in the "Acknowledgments" section.
Copyright
1. Copyright Ownership
In accordance with Swiss copyright law, you, as the author, are the original creator of your work and retain full copyright ownership of your submitted abstract.
2. License Grant
By submitting your abstract for publication on the Sciforum.net platform, you grant MDPI, the platform’s publisher, a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to:
Publish, reproduce, and distribute the abstract online.
Make the abstract publicly available in connection with the conference.
3. Author’s Retained Rights
This license is non-exclusive. As you retain full copyright, you are free to:
Reuse, republish, and build upon your work in any way.
Develop the abstract into a full paper for submission to other journals or publications.
Enter into subsequent agreements, including granting an exclusive license or transferring copyright to another publisher for a future version of the work.
4. Author’s Responsibility
You remain solely responsible for complying with the policies of any other journal or publisher to which you may submit a subsequent version of your work, particularly concerning prior publication rules. MDPI and Sciforum.net bear no responsibility for any conflicts arising from your future submissions.
Publication Opportunities
Participants in this conference are cordially invited to contribute a full manuscript to the conference's Special Issue (to be announced) published in Membranes (ISSN: 2077-0375, Impact Factor 3.6), with a 20% discount on the publication fee.
Conference discounts cannot be combined with reviewer vouchers. All submitted papers will undergo MDPI’s standard peer-review procedure. The abstracts should be cited and noted on the first page of the paper.
2. Proceeding Paper Publication
Authors of accepted abstracts are highly encouraged to submit an extended proceeding paper (ideally 4–8 pages in length) for the conference's dedicated proceedings volume in the Materials Proceedings (ISSN: 2673-4605); for free, please submit it after the conference.
Please click HERE to submit your proceeding paper to the Materials Proceedings, and be sure to disclose the conference information in your cover letter or mention the conference name in your submission.
IOCMBS 2027 Proceeding Paper Template.docx
Publication Notice: Proceedings papers will undergo peer-review procedure. Acceptance at the conference does not ensure final publication.
Event Awards

The Awards
Number of Awards Available: 6
To acknowledge the support of the conference's esteemed authors and recognize their outstanding scientific accomplishments, we are pleased to announce the establishment of the Best Oral Presentation Award and Best Poster Award.
The Awards
Number of Awards Available: 6
Eligibility: Open to all authors selected as oral speakers who have delivered their presentation. Failure to present, delegation of the presentation to another person, or use of AI-generated voice or similar substitutes will result in disqualification.
Criteria: Evaluation considers scientific rigor (clear, literature-supported research question or hypothesis, appropriate methodology, robust analysis and critical discussion of the results), IMRaD/field-appropriate structure, clarity of presented data (clear, well-labeled figures and tables), presentation skills and audience engagement, demonstrated scientific novelty and impact.
Prize: An award of CHF 200 and a certificate in recognition of your outstanding contribution.
Eligibility: Open to all authors who have presented their work through posters. Failure to present, delegation of the presentation to another person, or use of AI-generated voice or similar substitutes will result in disqualification.
Criteria: Evaluation considers scientific rigor (clear, literature-supported research question or hypothesis, appropriate methodology, robust analysis, and critical discussion of the results), IMRaD/field-appropriate structure enabling independent understanding, clarity of presented data (clear, well-labeled figures and tables), presentation skills (if orally presented), demonstrated scientific novelty and impact.
Prize: An award of CHF 200 and a certificate in recognition of your outstanding contribution.
Sponsors and Partners
For information regarding sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, please click here.
Organizers
Media Partners
Conference Secretariat
Mrs. Ana-Maria Prodan
Mr. Russell Wang
Mr. Ionut Spatar
Email: iocmbs@mdpi.com
For inquiries regarding submissions and sponsorship opportunities, please feel free to contact us.