IBS 2026 Short course
From Flask to Heap: Designing and Executing Biomining Experiments
IBS 2026 Short Course | 27 September 2026 | Hôtel Dupanloup, Orléans, France
This one-day short course provides a rigorous, practical grounding in the principles that govern the design and execution of bioleaching experiments. Participants will develop the analytical and methodological skills needed to define appropriate experimental objectives, select suitable systems and culture conditions, and monitor and interpret results with confidence -- whether working at shake flask, stirred tank or column scale. Sessions will cover reactor configuration and operation, culture media selection and consortium development, physico-chemical and microbiological monitoring (including molecular and omics approaches), mass-transfer and mass-balance calculations, and process modelling and simulation. The course is delivered by internationally recognised experts in biomining research and process engineering.
Target audience: Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, technicians and industry practitioners seeking a structured introduction to -- or consolidation of -- current best practice in biomining experimental design.
Cost: €120 (includes lunch and refreshments)
Course tutors:
Anne-Gwénaëlle Guezennecis a process and bioprocess engineer at BRGM, where she has spent over twenty years developing innovative biological and biohydrometallurgical processes for the treatment of mine wastes, contaminated environments, and secondary resources. Her work spans laboratory to pilot scale and integrates both experimental and numerical modelling approaches. She leads and coordinates multidisciplinary collaborative research projects funded by Horizon Europe, ANR, ADEME, and industrial partners, and heads BRGM's scientific programme on innovative mineral processing.
Catherine Joulian is a research scientist in Geomicrobiology at BRGM with over three decades of experience in the microbial ecology of extreme and contaminated environments, biological treatment of acid mine drainage, and bioleaching for mineral recovery. Her work centres on the development of biomolecular approaches for characterising the diversity, behaviour, and functionality of microbial communities in industrial and environmental contexts. She has contributed to numerous international research projects including, most recently, NEMO, RAWMINA, CICERO, and XTRACT, and is co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 40).
Céline Loubièreis an assistant professor at ENSAIA (University of Lorraine) and researcher at the LRGP (CNRS UMR 7274). Since 2018 she has combined experimental and modelling approaches to understand biological responses to the local hydrodynamic environment in bioreactors, with applications in both cell culture and microbial fermentation including bioleaching. Her work employs Computational Fluid Dynamics, digital modelling, and AI tools to guide bioreactor design and optimisation, with contributions to the H2020 NEMO project and several ANR and PEPR programmes.
Christopher G. Bryan is a Senior Research Engineer in Geomicrobiology at BRGM's Mineral Resources Division. He holds a PhD in environmental and molecular microbiology from the University of Wales, Bangor and has held positions at the University of Cape Town, Curtin University, and the University of Exeter, where he was Senior Lecturer at Camborne School of Mines. His research spans the microbial ecology of sulfide mineral bioleaching, acid mine drainage, and the application of biohydrometallurgy to primary and secondary resources. He is a co-editor of the 2023 Springer volume Biomining Technologies, coordinates the Horizon Europe INSOKA project on bioleaching copper and cobalt from mine tailings and chairs the Local Organising Committee of IBS 2026.
Sabrina Hedrichis Professor of Microbiology and Biohydrometallurgy at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany, where she heads the Department of Biosciences and the Microbiology and Biohydrometallurgy research group. Her research focuses on extremophilic microorganisms and their application to the bioleaching of primary and secondary raw materials, in-situ leaching concepts, and the microbial treatment of mine-influenced waters. She completed her PhD at TU Bergakademie Freiberg and held postdoctoral positions at Bangor University and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) before returning to Freiberg. With over 70 publications and an h-index of 30, she is a leading figure in the international biohydrometallurgy community. She currently coordinates the XTRACT project, developing in-situ bioleaching concepts for metal extraction from low-grade ores and mining residues.