Grußwort

Dear colleagues and friends,

It is my pleasure as conference chair to announce the next Annual Conference of the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) which will take place from 18–21 March 2012 in Tübingen, Germany.

Building on last year’s success with over 1,400 participants from all over the world and the field of microbiology, the 2012 conference will once again bring together students and professionals from academia, industry, and government organizations.

The Local Scientific Committees are proud to offer an informative and stimulating program which relates to the knowledge, skills, and expertise of the local experts in microbiology.

In collaboration with different VAAM groups we have developed a well-integrated combination of plenary sessions, symposia, workshops, and poster sessions that touch on topics highly relevant to the practices of microbiology.

On behalf of all those involved, I would like to encourage you and your colleagues to participate actively in the conference by submitting abstracts related to one of the various abstract topics. As in past years, abstracts will be published in a special edition of BIOspektrum from Spektrum Akademischer Verlag GmbH.

I sincerely hope that you will make plans to join us in the spring of 2012 in Tübingen for the Annual Meeting of the Association for General and Applied Microbiology.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wohlleben
Conference Chair