From the President The Society moves into its 17th year in good health following the stewardship of Peter Scott. His Presidential address was entitled "The incredible pace of change - Information technology in support of plant pathology". He left many of us on Council trailing in his wake and the past year could be characterised as just the "incredible pace". You will have read in Peter's end of year message on our Web site of the structures that have been consolidated and put in place during 1996. The Society's financial health makes it possible for Council to consider ways in which it can use its resource for the benefit of members. The strategy group was established to undertake this task and it has been decided that the group, under the chairmanship of the President, should continue. We need to review constantly the better use of our resources. We must thank Peter for initiating this vital move and to thank him most sincerely for what has been an exiting year, culminating in an excellent meeting in Canterbury. December 1997 This year we move to the University of York in another historic cathedral city, and home of the Archbishop of York. We are preparing a meeting covering all areas of plant pathology under the title "Plant pathology - Global aspects of an applied science" with the Association of Applied Biologists and the Extension Committee of the International Society for Plant Pathology. We intend the meeting to be informative, particularly suited to plant pathologists who want to know what is happening in other fields of their science and providing a meeting point for exchanging information on recent developments. We will cover all aspects of plant pathology - from identifying the problem to advising on appropriate control measures. The meeting is also intended to cover particular problems for those working in developing countries. We will also be taking the opportunity to visit the new Central Science Laboratory at Sand Hutton, 7 miles north east of York, to be given a conducted tour of this prestigious site with its state of the art quarantine plant growth chambers and glasshouses. It will provide the opportunity to meet with members of the Plant Health Group and discuss aspects of their work, including plant heath legislation, virology, diagnostics, pathogen risk assessment, disease surveys, disease epidemiology and control. One-day meeting of offered papers Many older plant pathologists will remember the successful one-day meetings of offered papers held in the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. Recently horticulture has not been fully covered in our meetings and so we are holding a one-day meeting of offered papers on the general subject of horticulture at Imperial College, South Kensington, in April. A flyer has been sent out and further details will be available on our Web-site and through the journal. ICPP98 With the 7th International Congress of Plant Pathology only just over 18 months away our efforts will be focused on making this a successful meeting and an excellent shop window for UK science. As the programme develops it will be placed on our Web-site, so those wishing to attend can plan their individual programme beforehand. Research funding A major concern, affecting not only plant pathologists, but UK science in general, is current funding - the lack of it and any apparent strategic planning for the future. The bidding process for funds is absorbing much research time and the unpredictability of the outcome means that there is uncertainty about continued funding making even important posts vulnerable. The move to increasing reliance on short-term contracts is also leading to inefficiencies and job insecurity. It is my experience that the majority of scientists complain about the system but we seem powerless to improve the situation. As we read in the editorial of the last issue of BSPP Newsletter, making internationally recognised scientists who are working at the leading edge of our science redundant does nothing to encourage those who remain. Surely we must be able to come up with a more efficient system of funding science so that there is continuity, that experience is recognised and not regarded as major overhead. For those working in the field of extension plant pathology it is particularly important to provide the necessary training ground for disease recognition and problem solving. This can only be achieved by the experienced, and therefore generally older members of the profession, teaching the young. Unfortunately, priorities are focused towards revenue generation. We are in a climate where it assumed that the necessary skills can be bought in rather than trained "in-house". By the time someone discovers that it was only the "in-house" staff who had the skills to pass on it will be too late as they are likely to have been "retired" as part of efficiency gains! If the Society can join with others in bringing these concerns to the attention of the appropriate authorities it will be doing a further service for its members. I will end by wishing you all an exciting and fruitful New Year. If you have concerns which you think the Society should be addressing, ideas for funding, or suggestions for the scientific programme please contact me or Graham Jellis. Nigel Hardwick
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