Microbiology Society

What Microbiology Society does

The Microbiology Society is a UK-registered membership charity (charity no. 264017 in England & Wales; SC039250 in Scotland) and company limited by guarantee, operating since 1947 as a not-for-profit publisher and professional body for microbiologists. Its core offering is a portfolio of six peer-reviewed journals — Microbiology, Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology, Microbial Genomics, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, and Access Microbiology — published via the microbiologyresearch.org platform, complemented by the Microbiology Today magazine, the Microbe Talk podcast, and the Microbe Post blog. Beyond publishing, it operates a tiered individual membership programme (Full, Full Concessionary, Postgraduate, Undergraduate/Master's, and Affiliate/HINARI-free), an Annual Conference and Focused Meetings calendar, an Early Career Forum, and grant and prize programmes awarding roughly 500 grants per year.

The Society serves a globally distributed community of 8,000+ members across 100+ countries, working in universities, hospitals, research institutes, schools, and industry, with additional reach to an unspecified institutional and author base via journal publishing. Revenue is generated through recurring membership subscriptions, journal/article processing charges and institutional subscriptions (with a 30% Open Access discount to members), and transaction-fee event registration, supplemented by donations and cross-society partnerships (Royal Society of Biology, FEMS, Wellcome Trust, HINARI/Research4Life, Cara). Open access publishing, free HINARI-eligible membership, and inclusive community networks (Pride in Microbiology, Education & Outreach) sit alongside scientific programming, positioning the Society as a hybrid charitable membership body and academic publisher.

Name

Microbiology Society

Legal name

Microbiology Society

Website

https://microbiologysociety.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1965

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Microbiology Society is a UK-registered membership charity and not-for-profit publisher serving 8,000+ microbiologists across 100+ countries through a portfolio of six peer-reviewed journals, tiered memberships, conferences, grants, and prizes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Publishing and Membership Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Life Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Agriculture) Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAC)

Keywords

• Scientific publishing services
• Professional society membership
• Peer-reviewed journals
• Scientific grants and prizes
• Academic conferences

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership subscriptions: Annual membership fees from individual scientists across multiple tiers including Full, Concessionary, Postgraduate, Undergraduate/Master's, and Affiliate memberships. Fees range from free (HINARI eligible) to £130 per year.
2. Journal publishing: As a not-for-profit publisher since 1947, revenue from article processing charges, institutional subscriptions, and Open Access publishing supports community programs. Members receive 30% discount on Open Access publication fees.
3. Conference and event registration: Revenue from Annual Conference and Focused Meetings registration fees, with discounted rates for members.
4. Member discounts and partnerships: Revenue generated through publishing supports member benefits including grants, events, and professional development. Partnerships with Royal Society of Biology provide additional member offerings.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Microbiology Society is a membership charity and not-for-profit publisher that operates a portfolio of six peer-reviewed microbiology and virology journals and the Microbiology Today magazine, complemented by a tiered individual membership programme (Full, Concessionary, Postgraduate, Undergraduate/Master's, and Affiliate). It also runs an Annual Conference, Focused Meetings, an Early Career Summer Conference, and Online Seminar Series, and administers Society grants, prize lectures, and professional development programmes for the global microbiology community.

Product overview

The Microbiology Society is a membership charity and not-for-profit publisher operating since 1947. Its core offering is a portfolio of six peer-reviewed journals (Microbiology, Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology, Microbial Genomics, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, Access Microbiology) plus the Microbiology Today magazine, collectively publishing eight titles. The society complements its publishing with membership services offering various grades with benefits including grants access, event discounts, and publishing discounts. Its event program includes the flagship Annual Conference, Focused Meetings, Early Career Summer Conference, and Online Seminar Series. The society also provides grants and prizes, professional development through the Early Career Forum, educational resources, and community networks including the Education & Outreach Network and Pride in Microbiology Network. Revenue from publishing supports community grants and events for over 8,000 members across 100+ countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Microbiology: Peer-reviewed journal covering all aspects of microbiology
• Journal of General Virology
• Journal of Medical Microbiology
• Microbial Genomics
• International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
• Access Microbiology
• Microbiology Today
• Microbe Post
• Microbe Talk

Products and services

• Microbiology Peer-reviewed journal publishing research across the breadth of microbiology, serving the global microbiology research community.
• Journal of General Virology Peer-reviewed journal focused on fundamental studies of viruses including their molecular biology, immunology, and pathogenesis, serving virology researchers.
• Journal of Medical Microbiology Peer-reviewed journal publishing research on microbiology as it relates to human and animal disease, serving clinical and medical microbiology researchers.
• Microbial Genomics Peer-reviewed journal publishing research on microbial genomics and genome-informed microbiology, serving genomics and bioinformatics researchers.
• International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology Peer-reviewed journal publishing taxonomic descriptions of newly discovered bacteria, fungi, and protists, serving microbial taxonomists and systematists.
• Access Microbiology Open-access peer-reviewed journal providing research and educational resources for the microbiology community.
• Microbiology Today Monthly magazine published by the Microbiology Society featuring news, articles, and updates for the microbiology community.
• Microbiology Society Membership Program Tiered membership programme offering Full, Concessionary, Postgraduate, Undergraduate/Master's, and Affiliate grades with benefits including grants access, journal publishing discounts, event discounts, and governance participation.
• Annual Conference Flagship annual event bringing together microbiologists for knowledge exchange, collaboration, and networking, with discounted registration for members.
• Society Events and Focused Meetings Focused meetings and symposia on diverse microbiology topics, including international meetings and divisional conferences.
• Early Career Summer Conference Annual conference dedicated to early career microbiologists, providing professional development and networking opportunities.
• Online Seminar Series Virtual seminar series including the JMM Seminar Series, AMR in Focus Series, Safe Microbiome Perturbations Series, AMRIX Webinar Series, and AI in Microbiology Series.
• Society Events Grant Financial support for eligible members attending the Annual Conference or Society meetings, covering registration, travel, and accommodation costs (up to £650 for international attendees).
• Prize Lectures and Awards Portfolio of prizes and awards including the Prize Medal, Fleming Prize, Translational Prize, Early Career Microbiologist of the Year, Infection Science Award, Tony Trinci Award, Undergraduate Microbiology Prize, Outreach and Engagement Prize, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Prize.

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Royal Society of BiologycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership providing members with up to 50% off Royal Society of Biology training events and courses, and 50% discount on Royal Society of Biology membership. This provides additional professional development benefits to Microbiology Society members.
• Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFEMS grants are available to Microbiology Society members at all membership grades. Members can apply for FEMS Meeting Attendance Grants in addition to Society grants, supporting international collaboration and knowledge exchange across Europe.
• Wellcome TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Society has signed up as a supporter of Wellcome Trust's Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice, demonstrating commitment to reducing environmental impact and supporting climate action through the Environmental Impact Working Group.
• Council for At-Risk Academics (Cara)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to support academics who have been displaced, with the Society highlighting Cara's work to support at-risk academics and referring members to available support programs.
• HINARI (Research4Life)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThrough HINARI, researchers from Group A and B countries receive free Affiliate Membership to the Society, removing financial barriers to access for those in resource-limited settings.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Genetics Society (UK): UK learned society publishing Heredity and Genes & Development with a membership-driven conferences-and-grants model. Closely analogous organizational and revenue structure to the Microbiology Society within the UK life-sciences ecosystem.
• American Society for Microbiology: Largest US-based microbiology society, publishing mBio, Journal of Bacteriology, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, and others, plus running ASM Microbe. Closest global analogue to the Microbiology Society in scope, membership model, and journal portfolio breadth.
• Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS): Pan-European federation of microbiology societies that publishes five journals (FEMS Microbiology Reviews, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, etc.) and runs microbiology congresses. Highly comparable model: society-owned journals, conferences, and member grants — also an active partnership counterparty of the Microbiology Society.
• Biochemical Society: UK-based molecular bioscience learned society publishing Biochemical Journal, Clinical Science, and others, with a membership + conferences + grants structure that closely mirrors the Microbiology Society business model.
• British Mycological Society: UK learned society for mycology, publishing Fungal Biology, Fungal Ecology, and Fungal Biology Reviews, plus running conferences and grants. Closely comparable UK learned-society model and a current Tony Trinci Award co-partner of the Microbiology Society.
• European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID): Europe-wide clinical microbiology society publishing Clinical Microbiology and Infection and running ECCMID, the largest European clinical microbiology congress. Comparable governance structure, conference scale, and journal-led revenue model, with a more clinical/infectious-disease focus.
• International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME): Global society for microbial ecologists publishing ISME Journal and ISME Communications and running the biennial ISME Congress. Comparable society-led journal and conference model with a more specialized environmental microbiology focus.
• Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM): UK-based applied microbiology society publishing Microbiology Society- and Elsevier-affiliated journals and running annual meetings with a member-grants model. Directly comparable learned-society + publishing structure in the UK market.
• American Society for Virology (ASV): US-based virology society running annual meetings and supporting virology research community. Comparable non-profit learned society model that overlaps with the Microbiology Society's virology journal franchise (Journal of General Virology).

Broad incumbents

• Royal Society of Biology: UK umbrella body for the biological sciences, holding Individual Member category for individual scientists and providing training, accreditation, and policy advocacy. Less of a journal publisher and more of a broader bioscience membership body, but a strategic partner and adjacent competitor for UK life-scientist memberships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MicrobioSoc
• Facebookfacebook.com/MicrobiologySociety
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/microbiology-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Microbiology Society