The Biofilms Conference Series was formed in 2004 based on the idea of Rainer Abraham, Thomas Neu and Hans-Curt Flemming. After pondering the idea of a specific biofilm conference and having acquired funding by the German Foundation on Environmental Protection, the first conference took place in Osnabrück in a meeting during 2004. It was organized by Wolfgang Streit's lab and Dirk Wendretoh formerly associated with the Helmholtz Centre in Braunschweig, Germany. The next meeting was held by Thomas Neu in Magdeburg in 2006, followed by one in Munich in 2008 (Biofilms 3) organized by Harald Horn. The conferences were received very positively and attracted over the years more and more participants. One of the key features was the opportunity for intense discussions. In the Biofilms 3 Conference in Munich, Thomas Neu indicated in his closing remarks that the Biofilms series  should not remain a German exercise, but should rather become European. Consequently, Biofilms 4 was held in Winchester, UK in 2010, Biofilms 5 in Paris in 2012 and Biofilms 6 in Vienna in 2014. The series has since then established itself in Europe for non-medical biofilm research and attracts every time participants from all over Europe.

Locations of the previous Biofilms conferences:

2004 - 1st European Conference on Biofilms - Prevention of Microbial Adhesion
Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, Osnabrück, Germany

2006 - Biofilms 2 Attachment and Detachment in Pure and Mixed Cultures
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

2008 - Biofilms 3 International Conference
Technical University, Munich, Germany

2010 - Biofilms 4 International Conference
Winchester, UK

2012 - Biofilms 5 International Conference
Paris, France

2014 - Biofilms 6 International Conference
Vienna, Austria

2016 - Biofilms 7 International Conference
Porto, Portugal