Dear Participants,

On behalf of the Executive Committee and the Local Organising Committee, we are delighted to invite you to participate in the 16^th EFORT Congress in Prague in 2015.

Following the success of previous meetings, the scientific programme will focus on Symposia and Instructional Lectures given by distinguished speakers, as well as on Free Paper submissions from all over the world.

The main theme of the EFORT Congress in Prague will be Infection. The result of an orthopaedic surgery can be sometimes overshadowed by early or late infection occurring in approximately 3-4 % of TJA and even more often after fracture fixation. Awareness of the infection problem, knowledge on how to prevent it and the use of up to date diagnostics and treatment algorithms is paramount.

Highlights of the congress include musculoskeletal infections, current issues in tribology, infected TKR, complex injuries around the elbow, musculoskeletal tumours, knee injuries in children, DDH and other congenital deformities only to mentioned a few.

In collaboration with our Speciality Societies, we will be organising sessions which have been highly rated in the past, not to mention the one-day Comprehensive Review Course (CRC) aimed at younger colleagues and residents and without forgetting the Michael Freeman and Erwin Morscher Honorary Lectures. Industry symposia, workshops and industry exhibits will also be a major part of our Congress.

The scientific programme would, however, be incomplete without your participation, without Free Paper presentations and Wall Posters.

We encourage all of you to submit abstracts of your work, so that we can put together an exceptional scientific programme. With hard work, the Local Organising Committee and the EFORT Scientific Committee are certain that this EFORT Congress will be a most valuable educational event.

We look forward to meeting you in the remarkable city of Prague for the 16^th EFORT Congress in 2015.