This year the call for proposals resulted in 150 potential sessions being submitted to our Annual Conference Programme Committee. This year the Session Ideas forum proved to be a useful tool in building session proposals, with around 40 topics posted and many lively discussions. These 150 proposals now have to be whittled down to just 75 sessions in the Annual Conference programme.

Antonio Gomes da Costa, Luigi Amodio, Laurent Chicoineau, Catherine Franche, Aliki Giannakopoulou, Roger Rocca Serra, Michael John Gorman, Philipp Horst, Heather King, Piotr Kossobudzki, Marc Moutin, Maarten Okkersen, Camille Pisani and Maria Xanthoudaki are the current members of the Committee which meets several times a year. The longest of these meetings is the three-day meeting to make the programme selection. This meeting is Antonio’s last as chair, before he hands over to Camille Pisani.

The Committee aims to make a selection which is as inclusive as possible, and maintains a high standard of quality, a wide range of topics, nationalities and types of institution in the 75 sessions of the Conference each year. Evaluation reports from previous years’ Conferences are studied in detail to ensure every year’s Conference is finely tuned to the needs of its 900 participants.

The selection process is now underway and proposers will receive news of the selection shortly.

n 2011, the Ecsite Annual Conference comes to Warsaw and we will be hosted by a brand new institution. Copernicus Science Centre is situated in the very heart of Warsaw on the banks of the Vistula River and opened in autumn 2010.

The conference in 2011 will give the opportunity to those of you attending to follow three days of dynamic sessions, debates and workshops and a great range of social events as well as unique networking opportunities in our Business Bistro area. Before the main conference, two days of pre-conference meetings and workshops will give more in-depth insights into numerous aspects of our field.

Whether you work in a science centre or museum, a natural history museum, a university, an aquarium, a zoo, a research institute or a private company, the Ecsite Annual Conference is the highlight of your calendar for 2011.

The Copernicus Science Centre covers 20,000 m2 and will house six galleries with numerous exhibits, a Planetarium, a Robotic Theatre and a Discovery Park in the building and on the roof. This new institution explores the connections among science, humanities and art.

As for our host city for 2011, Warsaw has been the capital of Poland for over 400 years. Affectionately known as “Paris of the North” at the beginning of the 20th century, the city was severely damaged during WWII and then rebuilt by its citizens. Now Warsaw is increasingly dynamic and vibrant as an important economic, academic and cultural centre.

Don’t miss the opportunity to join us in Poland’s capital.

See you at the 22nd Ecsite Annual Conference in Warsaw!