The World Petunia Days is a scientific congress organized roughly every 18 months, aimed to promote collaboration among Petunia scientists worldwide and to provide the opportunity to present new results and research projects. Topics traditionally cover molecular mechanisms controlling flower development (organ development, inflorescence architecture, petal senescence, scent production, self-incompatibility, flower pigmentation, pollination syndromes), root development (adventitious root formation, mycorrhiza interactions) and Petunia functional genomics. New topics on Petunia research are always welcome.
Traditionally, the Petunia Days have an informal and friendly character, so that people can freely exchange ideas, materials, techniques, and unpublished data. The place, date and organizer of the next WPD are determined at the last day of each congress.
WPD23: 2027
World Petunia Days in Utrecht, The Netherlands; March 2027
Organized by the Gardiner Lab at Utrecht University
🌐 Conference Website Coming Soon→
WPD22: 2026
World Petunia Days in Rome, Italy; June 3–5, 2026
Organized by Laura De Gara and Eugenio Benvenuto at the Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma
WPD21: 2025
World Petunia Days in Copenhagen
Hosted by Javiera, Silas and Tomas at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark
WPD20: 2024
World Petunia Days in Erfurt, Germany; 3-6 July
Organized by Philip Franken at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, Germany
WPD19: 2022
World Petunia Days in Helsinki; June 1-3, 2022
Organized by Teemu Teeri at the University of Helsinki
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/world-petunia-days-2022
WPD18: 2021 (Corona online edition)
WPD17: 2019
17th World Petunia Days in Milan, Italy; 4–7 September 2019
Organized by Aureliano Bombarely and Silvia Manrique, Department of Biosciences, University of Milan
WPD16: 2018
16th World Petunia Days in Amsterdam; 15–18 March 2018
Organized by Robert Schuurink's group, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
WPD15: 2016
15th World Petunia Days; 9–11 September 2016
Organized by Katja Richert-Pöggeler's group at the Leucorea, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany
WPD14: 2015
14th World Petunia Days; 9–12 April 2015
Organized by Didier Reinhardt's group at the University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
WPD13: 2013
13th World Petunia Days; 13–16 September 2013
Organized by Tom Gerats' group at the Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
WPD12: 2012
12th World Petunia Days; 18–21 March 2012
Organized by Uwe Druege's group at the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), Erfurt, Germany
WPD11: 2010
11th World Petunia Days; 26–28 September 2010
Organized by Michiel Vandenbussche's group at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS), Lyon, France
WPD10: 2009
10th World Petunia Days; 28 March – 1 April 2009
Organized by Marcos Egea-Cortinez's group at the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain
WPD9: 2007
9th World Petunia Days; 28–31 October 2007
Organized by Francesca Quattrocchio's group (meeting), Tom Gerats' group (website) and Michel Haring's group (location) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
WPD8: 2006
8th World Petunia Days in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, USA; 12–14 October 2006
Organized by Dave Clark's group, University of Florida
WPD7: 2005
7th World Petunia Days in Nottingham; 15–17 September 2005
Organized by Tim Robbins' group at Nottingham University, Nottingham, UK
WPD6: 2004
6th World Petunia Days in Bern, Switzerland
Organized by Cris Kuhlemeier's group at Bern University, Switzerland