Second Estonian Bat Research Conference

Second Estonian Bat Research Conference (Est-Bat-2)

Science-related presentations and a field excursion held in Estonia, in October 2026.

General

The present website is dedicated to the Second Estonian Bat Research Conference (Est-Bat-2), planned to held in Tartu, Estonia, in October 2026 (Fig. 1).

The organizers of it are two experienced bat scientists Matti Masing (PhD) and Lauri Lutsar (MSc).

All activities connected to this special event are planned to carry out with maximum efficiency, as much as possible.

Est-Bat-2 is historically the second event of this kind in Estonia. The previous one, the First Estonian Bat Research Conference (Esimene Eesti Nahkhiireuurimise Konverents, Est-Bat-1) was held in Tartu, Estonia, in December 2001, celebrating Year of the Bat in Europe. It was held in the building of Estonian Naturalists’ Society (Struve Street 2, Tartu), it lasted for one full day, and the language of the event was Estonian. It included oral presentations, a printed programme and abstracts.

This time, 25 years later, the Estonian bat conference will be held in the same building (Struve Street 2, Tartu), its duration two full days of presentations plus one day for a field excursion.

Pre-conference registration is mandatory, as well as pre-payment to cover the costs of this event: including room rent, preparation work, and publication of Abstract book.

Only oral presentations are planned, and the abstracts of those must be sent to the organizers before August 15th, 2026, so they could be analyzed and included in the Abstract book.

All questions regarding this conference should be sent via e-mail to the organizers: matti.masing (at) gmail. com.

Venue

Fig. 1. City centre of Tartu.

Fig. 2. Venue of Est-Bat-2 (Struve Street 2, Tartu).

Est-Bat-2 will have two days of presentations in the building of Estonian Naturalists’ Society (Struve Street 2, Tartu; Fig. 2).

Exact time of presentations will be shown in the Final Programme (see Programme). In both days, 10th and 11th of October 2026, the start of the programme is around 10.00 a.m.

In both days, there will be a break for two hours (13–15 p.m.), including lunch and free discussions. Places to eat are situated close by, in the city centre of Tartu (see below).

Important notes for participants

Conference duration: 10th to 12th of October 2026.

Languages: Estonian and English.

Dates for oral presentations: 10th and 11th of October 2026 (Struve Street 2, Tartu).

Field excursion to bat cellars: 12th of October 2026 (start from Tartu centre).

Abstract submission: From 1st of June until 30th of August 2026. Note. All presentations must contain original bat research in Estonia, including methods and the main results. For exceptions see below.

Registration and payment: From 1st of June until 15th of September 2026.

Notes. The room for presentations is relatively small, so the maximum number of participants fitting in is about 50. By reaching this number, the committee will stop further registration; this will be announced on this website.

Accomodation and food during the conference is possible in Tartu. Details for both are shown below.

Conference dinner. There will be no pre-organized conference dinner. But the participants can use restaurants in Tartu to gather for dinner.

Conference photo will be taken during a lunch break in Tartu. It will be sent later to particpants via e-mail, and possibly published on a website.

Filming during the conference by participants is advisable, especially during presentations.

Abstract book will be available for registered participants on their arrival. This includes programme, a brief introduction of the authors, and abstracts.

Exhibiton table is planned at the venue. Participants can show their publications and bat research equipment there.

It s advisable for the particpants to have their name labels, so they can be easily recognized during the conference.

Post-conference publications. After the conference, its materials (including conference photo) will be published on websites. Films made during the conference can be published by the authors on YouTube.

All questions about this conference should be sent using this e-mail address: matti.masing (at) gmail. com.

Presentations and abstracts

Oral presentations only. Time slots for presentations: 10–25 min, + 5 min for questions. Up to two presentations per each author, as as rule. However, exeptions might occur, depending on the available time during two presentation days. All presentations must contain original bat research in Estonia, including methods and the main results. However, if there remains spare time, then bat research outside Estonia can be presented, for which the Committe will send a note for those interested. But here it should be mentioned that the next European Bat Research Symposium will be held in Poland in 2027, which is also a good opportunity for presentations.

Abstracts (summaries of oral presentations, up to 2 pages each) are presented in a doc file. They can include tables and figures, if necessary. They are either in Estonian or in English. Normal text (12 cpi), including the heading, author’s name and e-mail address. Heading in two languages, please: Estonian and English.

Deadline for abstracts: 30th August 2026.

Submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the Organizing Committee. After that the authors will receive a note if their abstracts were included in Abstract book, and after that they can pay both for their participation and abstracts.

Registration and payment

All participants are invited to pre-register via e-mail sent to the Organizing Committe: matti.masing (at) gmail. com.

In their letter they should tell their name, postition and experience in bat research (briefly). Also information about their presentation (authors, heading in two languages, duration of the presentation: a choice between 10 and 25 min). After that they will receive a confirmation letter from the Committee, telling if they can be registered to this event. And after that they should make their payment for the event – in the amount of either 40 or 80 EUR, depending on if they make a presentation or not..

We advise the authors to send their registration letter together with abstracts of their presentation, this will save time. And after approval by the Committee, they can pay via bank transfer both for participation and the Abstract book.

Pre-registration (prior to the event) is necessary, as the room for presentations is limited to about 50 people.

Pre-payment is necessary, as well. This will cover room rent, preparation work, and publication of the Abstact book. We advise to make all payments only after the registration has been proved by the Committee.

The payment for participation is either 40 EUR (participation only, no presentation) or 80 EUR (participation with confirmed presentation) per person. The advice is NOT to pay anything before the registration (and) abstract has been approved by the Committee via e-mail.

Participants should send their payments using the following bank account, with the explanation „bat conference”.

Bank transfer (to MTÜ Loodusekoda) -->

You can transfer money to the following bank account:

MTÜ Loodusekoda

Registration number: 80623577
Country: Estonia

SWEDBANK AS
LIIVALAIA 34, 15040, TALLINN
SWIFT kood/BIC: HABAEE2X
Registration number: 10060701

IBAN: EE422200221095384730

Explanation: bat conference

Programme, preliminary

Saturday, 10th of October 2026

First day of the conference, in the building of Est Nat Society (Struve Street 2, Tartu)

9.00–10.00: Arrvial of the participants, delivery of the programme and Abstract book.

10.00–13.00: Morning session of presentations.

13.00–15.00: Information about Monday’s excursion (plan A or B), conference photo, lunch break, free talk between the participants.

15.00–18.00: Evening session of presentations.

Sunday, 11th of October 2026

Second day of the conference, in the building of Est Nat Society (Struve Street 2, Tartu)

10.00–13.00: Morning session of presentations.

13.00–15.00: Decision about Monday’s excursion (plan A or B), lunch break, free talk between the participants.

15.00–18.00: Evening session of presentations.

18.00: Closing the presentations programme of the conference.

Monday, 12th of October 2026

Third day of the conference, excursion to bat cellars (plan A or B)

Start of the excursion ....

At the moment the detailed Programme is in the stage of preparation. It will be published here well before the event, and delivered to participants in Tartu at the beginning of the conference.

Accommodation and food

Accomodation and food during the conference is possible in Tartu.

Hotels can be found and booked easily e.g. via booking.com.

On Fig. 3 is a map view of them chosen in booking.com for 4 days (9-13 Oct) for two persons (as of May 29, 2026). The price for four nights there is often between 170 and 290 EUR.

A choice of accommodation places close to city centre (Fig. 3):

Bob W Tartu Old Town: 224 EUR
City centre one room apt: 198 EUR
Karlova Comfort Stay: 216 EUR
Kastani Factory: 223 EUR
Kastanimaja Apt: 233 EUR

Lootuse 2a: 262 EUR
Peetri Apts: 170 EUR
Peplerhome: 240 EUR
Rare Apts: 236 EUR
Rebase apt: 276 EUR

Rohe Hostel: 242 EUR
Tampere Maja: 202 EUR
Turu 15 Apt: 216 EUR EUR
Tartu Kodu Fortuuna 23A-2: 287 EUR
Tartu Kodu Riia 22-21: 233 EUR

Tartu Kodu Vallikraavi 14-5: 287 EUR
Tõnisson Apt: 236 EUR

Fig. 3. Map view of accommodation sites in Tartu, in booking.com for 4 days (9-13 Oct 2026)

for two persons (as of May 29, 2026).

Restaurants. Especially in the city centre is a variety of them where the kitchen is often open until 22.00 p.m. (Fig. 4)

Fig. 4. Eating places close to venue, Võru street 2.

Excursion

The topic: bat cellars in Estonia (following presentations). There are two options to make an excursion to bat cellars: 1) long way and 2) short way. Which of the two will be implemented on October 12th is not yet clear at this point.

Plan A. Long way (if we have enough room in cars). Visiting bat cellars in northern Estonia that have been studied 20 and 40 years ago. Some of them may have been lost, together we can find this out ...

Plan B. Short way (if we don’t have enough room in cars). Visiting bat cellars and small caves in Tartu, where a special study has been done 26 years ago.

Long way. Start at Tartu city centre at 10 a.m. using own cars (or hired cars). As our Committe has no large car park, so it depends on the participants if they have own cars or have rented local cars to make the „Long way”. Old cellars at five places will be visited where bats have been found either hibernating or during autumn transient time. The duration is all day long. Possibility to have a lunch break at an eating-house during the trip, if required. But days are short in autumn, so perhaps a better choice is that participants take food and drinks with them. About 250 km will be covered by own cars during this daytime trip. Guided by Matti Masing.

Short way. Start at Tartu city centre at 13 p.m., using own feet and local buses. There have been bat cellars, and even bat caves, in Tartu in the past. So we shall visit some of them during the excursion day. Guided by Lauri Lutsar.

The decision of which way is be implemented will be decided during the conference.

Probably, there will be not many bats present in cellars during the excursion day. Most of them arrive there to hibernate after frosts strike later in October or November.

Contact

Organizers of Est-Bat-2 are two experienced bat scientists: Matti Masing (PhD) and Lauri Lutsar (MSc).

E-mail address 1: matti.masing (at) gmail. com.
E-mail address 2: lauri (at) fauna21.ee

The official organizer is MTÜ Loodusekoda.

Assisting organizations are Estonian Naturalists’ Society and Sicista Development Centre, which both have long experience with nature research in Estonia and elsewhere in Europe.

Additional carrier of information is Bat Station.

https://loodusekoda.blogspot.com/

https://bat-station.blogspot.com/

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Second Estonian Bat Research Conference