Widder, StefanieAllen, Rosalind JPfeiffer, ThomasCurtis, Thomas PWiuf, CarstenSloan, William TCordero, Otto XBrown, Sam PMomeni, BabakShou, WenyingKettle, HelenFlint, Harry JHaas, Andreas FLaroche, BéatriceKreft, Jan-UlrichRainey, Paul BFreilich, ShiriSchuster, StefanMilferstedt, Kimvan der Meer, Jan RGroszkopf, TobiasHuisman, JefFree, AndrewPicioreanu, CristianQuince, ChristopherKlapper, IsaacLabarthe, SimonSmets, Barth FWang, HarrisSoyer, Orkun SIsaac Newton Institute Fellows2016-11-242016-11-242016-11Widder, S, Allen, R J, Pfeiffer, T, Curtis, T P, Wiuf, C, Sloan, W T, Cordero, O X, Brown, S P, Momeni, B, Shou, W, Kettle, H, Flint, H J, Haas, A F, Laroche, B, Kreft, J-U, Rainey, P B, Freilich, S, Schuster, S, Milferstedt, K, van der Meer, J R, Groszkopf, T, Huisman, J, Free, A, Picioreanu, C, Quince, C, Klapper, I, Labarthe, S, Smets, B F, Wang, H, Soyer, O S & Isaac Newton Institute Fellows 2016, 'Challenges in microbial ecology : building predictive understanding of community function and dynamics', The ISME Journal, vol. 10, no. 11, pp. 2557-2568. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2016.451751-7362http://hdl.handle.net/2164/7742Acknowledgements We thank the Isaac Newton Institute of Mathematical Sciences for hosting the programme ‘Understanding microbial communities: structure, function dynamics’, which made this paper possible. This programme was partially funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the US Army Research Office under grant number W911NF-14-1-0445. We thank all participants of the programme for inspiring discussions, and Aglika Gungova and Stela Ilieva for assistance with the figures.122087385engSDG 14 - Life Below WaterR MedicineBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)RJournal article10.1038/ismej.2016.451011