62nd International Congress and Annual Meeting of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research

Dear Colleagues,

Once more, the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA) invited all scientists from academia and industry dealing with natural products, medicinal plants and phytotherapy research to its annual congress, the 62^nd International Congress and Annual Meeting (GA 2014). This important scientific meeting took place at Guimarães, University of Minho, Azurém Campus, at walking distance from the medieval city centre, classified as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The historical city of Guimarães, where the Portuguese nation was founded in the early 12th century, is located in the north of Portugal, in the dynamic and colourful Minho Region. The area is also famous for its landscape and vineyards, where the famous wine “Vinho Verde” is produced, which is unique in the world. The University of Minho is one of the biggest and most important universities in Portugal, with excellent facilities to host the Congress.

This congress was an excellent forum for the presentation and discussion of research in the fields of phytochemistry, analytics, pharmacology, and clinical applications. Moreover, this conference provided an appropriate environment for intense discussion of new technological approaches and for networking between academia and industry. It was also a pleasure to collaborate with the Association Francophone pour l'Enseignement et la Récherche en Pharmacognosie (AFERP), that further contributed to the scientific program.

The scientific programme attracted the interest of a variety of researchers worldwide, with more than 600 scientists from over 40 countries participating in this meeting. Many papers were submitted (a total number of 747 abstracts) and after a thorough review process, 690 were accepted for short-lecture or poster presentations.

The main topics of the congress were:

Clinical phytomedicine

Nanotechnology and drug delivery

Natural compounds as leads

Natural products from fungi and algae

Nutritional phytochemicals

Medicinal plants and bioeconomy

Metabolomics

Plant molecular farming

The highlights included twelve invited lectures, all delivered by distinguished speakers and covering the major scientific topics of the conference. In addition, a total of 45 short lectures were presented, selected from the accepted abstracts. Several workshops dedicated to topics of particular interest also provided in-depth insights into various aspects of medicinal plant and natural products research. It is noteworthy to mention the “Africa Research Network Workshop”, organized for the first time in this meeting, aiming to promote the interaction and research with and within African countries.

Two poster sessions, scheduled within central time frames during the congress, brought together scientists from different disciplines and stimulated the exchange of experiences and knowledge. In general, this conference provided a basis for intense networking between scientists of academia and industry from all over the world.

To complement the scientific program, there was a stimulating and diverse social program. This included excursions to the Peneda-Gerês National Park, Portuguese northern seashore, and a visit to the Douro Valley and its famous terraced vineyards.

This congress was made possible by the efficient and excellent work of many staff members and students from the Biology Department of the University of Minho, namely from the CITAB Research Center. We express our deepest gratitude to all of them.

We also thank the many members of the scientific committee for their meticulous help in evaluating more than 700 abstracts and – last but not least – the many dedicated researchers who submitted so much of their excellent work!

We hope you had a pleasant and fruitful meeting with science, culture and hospitality!

Alberto Dias and the GA 2014 team