Insect chemical ecology (ICE) evolved as a discipline concerned with plant–insect interactions, and also with a strong focus on intraspecific pheromone-mediated communication. Progress in this field has rendered a more complete picture of how insects exploit chemical information in their surroundings in order to survive and navigate their world successfully. Simultaneously, this progress has prompted new research questions about the evolution of insect chemosensation and related ecological adaptations, molecular mechanisms that mediate commonly observed behaviors, and the consequences of chemically mediated interactions in different ecosystems. Themed meetings, workshops, and summer schools are ideal platforms for discussing scientific advancements as well as identifying gaps and challenges within the discipline. From the 11th to the 22nd of June 2018, the 11th annual PhD course in ICE was held at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Alnarp, Sweden. The course was made up of 35 student participants from 22 nationalities (Fig. 1a) as well as 32 lecturers. Lectures and laboratory demonstrations were supported by literature seminars, and four broad research areas were covered: (1) multitrophic interactions and plant defenses, (2) chemical communication focusing on odor sensing, processing, and behavior, (3) disease vectors, and (4) applied aspects of basic ICE research in agriculture. This particular article contains a summary and brief synthesis of these main emergent themes and discussions from the ICE 2018 course. In addition, we also provide suggestions on teaching the next generation of ICE scientists, especially during unprecedented global situations.

昆虫化学生态学 (ICE) 作为一门关注植物-昆虫相互作用的学科发展起来，同时也非常关注种内信息素介导的交流。该领域的进展使人们更加全面地了解昆虫如何利用周围环境中的化学信息来成功地生存和导航它们的世界。同时，这一进展引发了新的研究问题，涉及昆虫化学感受的进化和相关的生态适应、介导常见行为的分子机制以及化学介导的相互作用在不同生态系统中的后果。主题会议、研讨会和暑期学校是讨论科学进步以及确定学科内差距和挑战的理想平台。2018年6月11日至22日，第11届ICE年度博士课程在瑞典阿尔纳普瑞典农业科学大学（SLU）举办。该课程由来自 22 个国家的 35 名学生参与者（图 1a）以及 32 名讲师组成。讲座和实验室演示得到了文献研讨会的支持，涵盖了四个广泛的研究领域：（1）多营养相互作用和植物防御，（2）以气味感知、处理和行为为重点的化学通信，（3）疾病媒介，以及（ 4）农业基础ICE研究的应用方面。这篇特别的文章包含对 ICE 2018 课程中这些主要新兴主题和讨论的总结和简要综合。此外，我们还为培养下一代 ICE 科学家提供建议，