Report on the 10th EMBL Conference on Transcription and Chromatin: August 25–28, 2012 EMBL Advanced Training Centre, Heidelberg, Germany

Over 400 scientists from 38 countries gathered in the marvelous city of Heidelberg, Germany to attend the 10th EMBL Conference on Transcription and Chromatin. Surrounded by dark-green forest and overlooking a historic city, the charming environment of the EMBL as well as an all-star lineup of presenters attracted scientists from all over the world to discuss the latest findings and the future directions in the field. Superbly organized by Henk Stunnenberg, Eileen Furlong, Ali Shilatifard and Marc Timmers, the main topics of the conference included DNA, RNA and histone modifications, pluripotency and cellular reprogramming, transcriptional regulation, as well as chromatin dynamics and the effect of chromatin on gene regulation. In a pleasant summer climate that facilitated a stimulating and collaborative atmosphere, over 50 outstanding talks and more than 200 posters were presented. I apologize in advance to those speakers whose excellent work I have been unable to include in this report due to space constraints.