Preface

The contributions to this volume are the result of presentations made at the 10th
Conference on Methods and Applications of Fluorescence (MAF-10) that took place
September 9–12, 2007, in Salzburg, Austria. The speakers at this conference were invited
to submit their work for publication in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, and
many authors enthusiastically agreed to do so. This volume, the result of this endeavor,
comprehensively presents the state of the art in fluorescence spectroscopy, in imaging,
and in design of fluorescent probes.
The topics of the contributed chapters range from high-throughput screening to
fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and standardization; from various kinds of lifetime
spectroscopies to fluorescent micro- and nanoparticles and upconverters; and from smart
fluorescent labels to many biophysical and bioanalytical applications.
In the 20 years of its existence, the MAF conference series has become the leading event
in fluorescence. It is also fair to say that the MAF conferences have earned an excellent
reputation for linking scientists working in highly diverse fields. The MAF conferences
have made possible many contacts and cooperative collaborations that have led to joint
proposals, research projects, and publications, and it is hoped that this conference series
will continue to generate cross-disciplinary collaborations.
Previous MAF conferences have been held in Lisbon, Amsterdam, Paris, Cambridge,
Berlin, Graz, and Prague. MAF-11 will take place in Budapest in September 2008.
Further information can be found at the meeting Web site: http://www.maf-sip.com.
My thanks go first to the authors for accepting the invitation to contribute to this
special volume and for their diligence and care in preparing the manuscripts. I also
thank the many reviewers for their constructive criticisms that have led, in each case,
to a substantial improvement in the quality of the articles. My sincere thanks go as well
to Ms. Heike Mader, who has been so helpful and patient in handling the manuscripts
and in her many communications with authors and reviewers. My final thanks go to Ms.
Linda Hotchkiss Mehta (acquisitions editor), to Steven E. Bohall (project manager), and
to Ralph W. Brown (project coordinator) of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Their cooperation is highly appreciated.

OTTO S. WOLFBEIS
University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1130: xi (2008). 

C 2008 New York Academy of Sciences.
doi: 10.1196/annals.1430.057 xi