Submitted by Jutta Zipfel, chair of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), and LOC members Frank Brenker, Eva Feltrin, Volker Heinrich, Dominik Hezel, Horst Marschall, Marina Martínez, Sheri Singerling, Beverley Tkalcec.
The 88th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society took place from August 9th–14th, 2026, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The meeting was hosted by Goethe University and Senckenberg – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research with support from the Physikalischer Verein. The venue for the scientific program was at the Auditorium Complex of Goethe University on Campus Westend, conveniently located in the city centre. An advantage of the venue was the presence of air conditioning in all the lecture halls. Throughout the week, weather was very hot and sunny with outside temperatures exceeding 35°C!
464 participants from 40 nations registered for the meeting and about 428 checked in at the venue. Among those who registered were 300 senior scientists and amateurs, 12 members from low-income countries, 127 students, and 25 guests. The high number of students attending the meeting is noteworthy. The organizers secured an additional €20,000 to support travel expenses for 27 early career scientists and students with The Schwiete Travel Award. In total, 93 travel awards were granted with a combined amount of slightly over $110,000.
For the scientific program, 511 abstracts were submitted. From these, there were 305 oral presentations and 206 poster presentations, the latter of which took place over two poster sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. Three special sessions presented the latest results on shock processes (Shock Processes in Meteorites and Terrestrial Impact Structures), advancements in isotope geochemistry (Honoring the Legacy of Dimitri Papanastassiou: Advances in Isotope Geochemistry, Cosmochemistry, and Early Solar System Evolution), and significant findings from studies of Antarctic meteorites (Meteorite Collection and Recovery: A Celebration of 50 Years of ANSMET). In addition, a pre-conference workshop, entitled Data Management Bootcamp for Astromaterials Researchers, was held using Astromat data.
Organised networking opportunities for students and early-career scientists included a lunch and a mentor/mentee program. The student/early-career scientists lunch on Sunday provided the opportunity for networking between students/early-career scientists and with three senior scientists—Sara Russell, Tomoki Nakamura, and Ralph Harvey. The mentor/mentee program was highly popular and well received.
The well-attended icebreaker/reception on Sunday 9th at the Jügelhaus of the Senckenberg Natural History Museum provided a great start to the conference. On Monday evening, Ralph Harvey, the former Principal Investigator and field team leader for the U.S. Antarctic Search for Meteorites program from 1991 to 2023, gave the Barringer lecture, in which he celebrated the 50th anniversary of ANSMET with fascinating stories and insights.
Wednesday was devoted to the awards ceremony and business meeting in the morning and short excursions in the afternoon. The afternoon excursions included a trip to the Rheingau for a wine-tasting tour at Schloss Johannisberg, three trips to Darmstadt including two to ESOC (European Space Operations Centre) and one to the Mathildenhöhe, one trip to the Messel fossil site, two boats trips along the Main River, and two guided walking tours within Frankfurt.
A special highlight was the Wednesday evening banquet which took place at the Campus Ballroom on Campus Westend. An 89% partial solar eclipse was observed with great delight during the reception while beverages and various entrees were served. A string quartet framed the event with pop songs related to sky themes. Afterwards, a buffet dinner was served. The evening ended in the early morning hours with attendees dancing to a DJ’s selection of various music genres.
The meeting concluded with two post-conference excursions: One to the Ries impact crater in Nördlingen, Bavaria, and the other to the volcanic field in the Eifel area around the Laacher See.
The organizers want to thank all those who supported and helped us. These include the students who volunteered to help with the microphones during oral sessions; the students from Frankfurt who did a fantastic job making sure everything was in place and working; the leaders of the Wednesday afternoon trips and post-conference excursions; and all those who spent their time over the last four years supporting the LOC in planning and organising this meeting. Last but not least, we especially want to thank Ogarit Uhlmann and Susanne Lange from F&U confirm, who safely guided us around all financial and organisational difficulties.
The LOC also wants to thank all participants for coming to Frankfurt and making the 88th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society to a truly memorable event!