This will be your unique chance of catching up with the most important articles of a particular field that have been published in the preceding year! Also, we now offer small ”hands-on courses” running in parallel to the main congress programme. These courses, which will have workshop style, are targeted at younger congress participants (but of course are open to everybody on a first-come first-serve basis), who wish to have an expert introducing them to important every day problems such as ultrasound, the urinary sediment, clinical epidemiology or how to give a talk or write a paper.

Finally, the ERA-EDTA together with the European Kidney Research Association (EKRA) is making a move to further booster basic science in the congress and as such will run a one-day course on June 4 aimed at basic scientists and researchers to discuss cutting-edge science in the field of renal (patho)physiology.

All these new features are rounded off by three exciting plenary lectures and we are very happy to have been able to recruit three outstanding researchers to share with us their views on hypertension, epidemiology and transplantation tolerance. We sincerely hope that you will appreciate this new congress style, make best use of it and take home as much new information as possible.

Please check the congress programme at www.eraedta2005.org.

We are all eagerly looking forwards to the Istanbul Congress in June 2005. I have the privilege and pleasure of handling the abstract submission and selection process (actually all the skilful work is done by Silvia Menoni from the ERA-EDTA Congress Office, Marathon Multimedia, and the self-less dedication of the many reviewers).

It is great to see a record number of abstract submissions for the Congress. With Jürgen Floege and the Scientific Committee's skill, we should have a superb time in Istanbul.

A record number of abstracts submitted, and likely to be presented, shows that ERAEDTA continues to grow in strength and depth and the quality of the congresses improves year-on-year.

Istanbul welcomes ERA-EDTA
June 4-7, 2005

27 years after the 15th Congress in 1978 Istanbul, the city on two continents and the historic capital of three empires, welcomes an ERA-EDTA Congress again. In the best ERA-EDTA tradition, an excellent scientific feast against the background of an exceptional history, a fascinating scenic beauty and a most lively modern metropolis of twelve million awaits the participants together with the traditional Turkish hospitality and the famous Turkish cuisine.
I invite you all to share with us in 4-7 June 2005 this unique event, which is bound to be memorable both scientifically and socially.

Kamil Serdengeçti
President of XLII ERA-EDTA Congress