Conference Centre, Granada, Spain, 4 to 9 July 2004
More than 500 delegates did attend this very successful meeting and a total of about 800 contributions were presented either as oral or poster presentations. Despite the large number of participants, only four sessions were held simultaneously. This arrangement turned out to be very useful, and in this way clashing of interesting talks was reduced to a minimum.
A bit unusual for the participants coming from more northerly countries, the meeting officially started in the evening of Sunday the 4th at 19:00h with the Welcoming Speeches and a first Plenary Session. The advantages of adopting the Andalucian daily rhythm became immediately obvious when we left the air-conditioned interior of the conference centre at 21:30h for the Cocktail Reception on the roof terrace of the Conference centre. With still nearly 30°C (85° Fahrenheit for the British and US colleagues) we enjoyed the breathtaking views over Granada to one side and the Sierra Nevada to the other, while chatting to colleagues and friends and degusting the first Spanish wines and gastronomic delights.