We invite you to attend the Bacterial Cell Surfaces Conference, one of the oldest, largest and most successful of the Gordon Research Conferences. The unifying framework of the conference will be to achieve an understanding of basic mechanisms of processes at bacterial cell surfaces, as well as their relevance to human health and disease. While there are many specialty meetings covering related topics, this conference unites these themes in a single gathering. The principal objectives of the 2004 conference will be to discuss the most recent developments of molecular microbiology in a wider context to achieve an understanding of the current frontiers of the field and to exchange information about state-of-the-art technologies. The invited speakers invited span a wide area of approaches including protein crystallography, NMR, and microarrays as well as molecular, cellular and genetic approaches. In keeping with the times, a new session on bioterrorism has been introduced. The general format of the conference includes regular morning and evening sessions, with most afternoons reserved for poster sessions and informal gatherings. A few time slots will be reserved for inclusion of late-breaking results to allow addition of major new and/or anticipated scientific developments. There will be ample time for all participants to present their results in poster format. Some poster presenters will be selected for short talks to give junior colleagues and students an opportunity to address a full conference audience. Thus, the conference unites a diverse array of scientists, giving all participants the opportunity to discuss integrative and coherent aspects derived from distinct approaches.