International Organisation for Biological Control (IOBC)
Organisation Internationale de Lutte Biologique (OILB)

"Have a passion and follow it through with conviction!"

This interview introduces the IOBC-Global President elected for the period 2025-2028, Raghu Sathyamurthy. It outlines his career, lets the audience know what opportunities he sees for IOBC, where he would like to focus during his term and much more. Last but not least, Raghu talks about what defines him as a private person, what his favourite hobby is and what he would like to pass on to the next generation of biocontrol scientists and practitioners.

Watch the Video!

The congress attracted 320 delegates of 40 countries to an excellent venue, where the science was of a high standard and the debate robust. There were six excellent plenary papers covering the entire value chain of biological control that really set the scene for the congress, where 162 papers and 52 posters were presented.

Congress Report

How did you become a biological control practitioner?

There is no straightforward answers to this questions as there are many roads to obtain a position in biological control.

Check out the shared career paths to become a biological control practitioner!

Share your own career path, a few sentences (and an optional picture) will suffice: secretary-general@iobc-global.org

Worldwide Education in Biological Control

IOBC Global often receives questions about education and training possibilities for biological control. Please provide information about YOUR education and training opportunities. We will publish it on the Global website. Send the information to secretary-general@iobc-global.org as follows:

1. Name of course / training
2. Institute / organization providing this course
3. Course period and length of course in days
4. Costs of course
5. Entrance requirements

Financial Support for Biocontrol Training

IOBC-Global may financially support participation of young career biological control scientists (< 35 years) who are paying member of one of the Regional Sections of IOBC, so they can take part in a training course. Guidelines and conditions for funding: Information about proposals for IOBC support of a training course (pdf).

Non-native English speakers sometimes need help in preparing scientific articles for publication in English language journals.

Get Support

IOBC Global is establishing a pool of volunteers to help review and edit these articles, especially for young scientists. The editing is not focused on scientific content, but rather on language use and clarity. Please contact the Secretary General if you are willing to volunteer.

Fourth International Workshop of the IOBC-Global Working Group on Biological Control and Management of Parthenium Weed
2-5 March 2025
Patuakhali and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The event will review biological control and management of the weed regionally and globally, with an emphasis on accelerating research and development, as well as fostering international collaboration.

Second announcement (pdf)

16th Workshop of the IOBC-MRQA Working Group: Innovations in rearing high-quality invertebrates
27-31 October 2025
Tucson, AZ, USA.

Joint meeting of the IOBC-Global Working Group on Mass Rearing & Quality Assurance (MRQA) and the Association of Natural Biocontrol Producers (ANBP)
The workshop objective is to explore opportunities for advancing the rearing of high quality entomophagous and phytophagous insects and mites, entomopathogenic nematodes, and other invertebrates for plant and animal pest management, human and animal food, and a variety of other uses.

More information

XVII International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds,
8-13 March 2026
Rotorua, Aotearoa New Zealand.

The International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds (ISBCW) is the most important event for weed biocontrol scientists from all over the world.

Consider your participation!

Control Biológico en América Latina y el Caribe: Su rica historia y futuro brillante (Spanish version of Biological Control in Latin America and the Caribbean)

More Information

IOBC: History of the First 50 Years (1956-2006).
Edited by: Boller, E.F., J.C. van Lenteren and V. Delucchi, 287 pp.
The book is available as free PDF.

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