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Klaus Hausmann
President of the 6th ECOP
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Dear Colleagues,
In the year 2011 Protistologists from Europe and from all over the world will meet in Berlin on the occasion of the European Congress of Protistology (ECOP). It is the sixth such conference in a long line, beginning with the congress in Reading (England) in 1992, then in Clermont-Ferrand (France) in 1995, in Helsingør (Denmark) in 1999, in San Benedetto del Tronto (Italy) in 2003, and most recently in St. Petersburg (Russia) in 2007. In this historical place we succeeded – after many years of discussions – in establishing the Federation of European Protistological Societies (FEPS) as an umbrella organization for the national protistological societies in Europe.
The German Society of Protozoology (DGP) is proud to be the host of the 6th ECOP, which takes place in Berlin. We will gather together to report about the newest scientific achievements in the many and diverse fields of protistology. It is our hope that it will be an occasion of vivid and fruitful scientific discussions, finally leading into further cooperation across borders.
Besides the more conventional and expected fields and topics such as structural and molecular biology, systematics and evolution, symbiosis and parasitism, ecology and biodiversity, one important focus of the congress will be on the origin of the concept of protistology, its current status worldwide and its future crossing of – or better ignoring of – the artificial, traditional borders between botany and zoology. And where could be a better place for such an event than the centre of Europe? For here is where scientists like Dujardin, Schwann, Schleiden, Purkynĕ, Cohn, Mohl, Schultze, and Haeckel initiated the fruitful discussion of “what a cell has to be called”. And it was Germany where the first and oldest journal in the field appeared, where in the year 1902 Fritz Schaudinn founded the famous Archiv für Protistenkunde, a publication organ which still exists, under the name Protist. And it was Berlin where the European Journal of Protistology was established as the successor of the famous Protistologica in 1997. No doubt, the centre of Europe was the cradle of protistology.
Besides these scientifically exciting facets of the congress, we should keep in mind that Berlin is a place with a long history, being – except for one well-known interruption – the capital of Germany. You can find numerous buildings and institutions of historical dimensions and significance. At the same time, it is a modern, inspiring location with a wide variety of things to see and do.
Come to this city and experience it with all your senses!
Protistologically yours,
Klaus Hausmann
President of the 6th ECOP
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