The Executive Program Group for Microscopy and Microanalysis 2004 set out with the challenge of drafting a compelling scientific program for the annual meetings of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) and the Microbeam Analysis Society (MAS) that would be equal to the excitement of organizational change being discussed by the societies. We feel that we have met the challenge, providing a diverse and balanced program that looks forward to new opportunities and presents the current state-of-the-art for microscopy and microanalysis. For the third consecutive year, the program is strengthened by the co-sponsorship of the International Metallographic Society (IMS), which is fast becoming an annual partner in the M&M meetings. M&M is the largest annual meeting of its kind in the world, and features an awesome commercial exhibit of microscopy and microanalysis equipment and accessories, with the latest commercial innovations featured and available for handson demonstration. We envision Savannah as a venue that will be remembered for historic steps forward in science and technology.

You will note that the Call for Papers has a new look, which highlights a variety of changes in process and format. Please note the following.

• All programming is now indexed according to a letter/number system.
  
  
  • The heart of the program comprises symposia in areas of biological sciences applications (B), physical sciences applications (P), and advances in instrumentation and technique (A), which feature both invited and contributed papers, and both platform and poster presentations.
    
    
  • Contributed sessions (C) are featured in a comprehensive topical listing. If there are a sufficient number of abstracts submitted to a given family of topical areas, then a suitable platform session may be organized; otherwise, these contributions will be featured in a poster presentation, or assigned to a symposium as a contributed poster or platform presentation. The topical listing (C) can act as a directory for symposia (B, P, A) and other related programming.
    
    
  • Additional featured programming is provided by the eXtra sessions (X), which include: the Pre-Meeting Congress; Sunday Short Courses; special events such as the Presidential Happenings, the IMS Sorby Award lecture, and the Art Exhibit; Tech Forum; Tutorials; and late programming venues, such as Ask the Experts and Late-Breaking Posters. These eXtra sessions feature invited presentations only and will not receive contributed papers.
  
  
  
• Descriptions of symposia and select other programming this year includes featured invited speakers in addition to the symposium organizers. The listed speakers are meant to be a subset of invited speakers that further define the scope and nature of the symposium.
  
  
• Given the success of last year's meeting format, the meeting will once again feature a morning platform session until noon, an afternoon platform session from 2:00 - 4:00 pm, and a poster session (with refreshments!) from 4:00 - 6:00 pm.
  
  
• Consistent with tradition, posters will be displayed for the duration of M&M2004 (i.e., all week). Please arrange to have your poster displayed by noon on Monday and removed on Thursday morning, and for your poster to be attended during the session indicated in your paper acceptance letter.
  
  
• The popular Ask-the-Experts sessions will provide a venue for late programming (like late-breaking posters) for the M&M meetings. Topics for Ask-the-Experts will be selected during the weeks following the web publication of the program. Potential M&M2004 participants browsing the program will be able to submit questions and target experts who are presenting at the meeting.
  
  
• Abstract submission this year will be solely electronic; no hardcopies need be sent. For your convenience, an MS-WORD template will be available for download from the meeting website.
  
  

Please remember that electronic submission of abstracts must be completed before 5:00 pm PST on Monday, February 16, 2004.

For updates on Microscopy and Microanalysis 2004, we encourage you to regularly visit the meeting website: http://mm2004.microscopy.org. We look forward to seeing you in Savannah!

The symposia for Microscopy and Microanalysis (M&M) 2004 have a strong emphasis on scientific applications, in contrast to a focus during the past few years on particular techniques. The Biological (B) and Physical (P) Sciences symposia feature a variety of important target scientific areas. The Advances in Instrumentation and Techniques (A) symposia tend to be aimed at crosscutting methods that bring representatives of different communities together, for example, biological and physical scientists, X-ray and electron scatterers, "real world" microscopists in different applications fields, or practitioners of complementary microscopy and microanalysis methods that address a common class of problems.

The program focus on scientific applications is balanced by a strong Pre-Meeting Congress, "Materials Research in an Aberration-Free Environment", which promises to present the cutting edge of instrumentation and techniques, with an eye toward the future. The current state-of-the-art of a number of microscopy techniques is also covered in Tutorials during the meeting. Other programming venues outlined in this Call for Papers include a variety of Sunday Short Courses, the Presidential Happenings, the IMS Sorby Award lecture, the Technologistsâ Forum, and "Ask the Experts". Publicly accessible programming include an art exhibit featuring the works of David Scharf and admission to the Exhibit Hall; these may be of interest to family members of meeting registrants.

Microscopy and Microanalysis publishes original research papers dealing with a broad range of topics in microscopy and microanalysis. These include articles describing new techniques or instrumentation and their applications, as well as papers in which established methods of microscopy or microanalysis are applied to important problems in the fields of biology or materials science. Microscopy and microanalysis are defined here in a broad sense, and include all current and developing approaches to the imaging and analysis of microstructure. The criteria for acceptance of manuscripts are the originality and significance of the research, the quality of the microscopy or microanalysis involved, and the interest for our readership.

Editor in Chief: Charles E. Lyman
Phone: 1-(610) 758-4249
e-mail: charles.lyman@lehigh.edu

MICROSCOPY TODAY is an MSA magazine that provides material of interest and value to working microscopists in all fields. The magazine is free to microscopists in the US and MSA members worldwide.

Editor in Chief: Ron Anderson
Phone: 1-(845) 463-4124
e-mail: microtoday@attglobal.net