Salt in the soup

I am very honoured to welcome friends and colleagues to the 36th Congress of the ESCRS in Vienna, Austria. This is the third time the ESCRS has hosted the Congress in Vienna. In 1999, when ESCRS first visited my home town, Dr Thomas Neuhann was president of the society. It is fitting therefore, that we should return to this beautiful city to deliver the inaugural ESCRS Heritage Lecture at our 36th Congress. That year, at the XVII Congress of the ESCRS we also honoured the great Harold Ridley with the ESCRS Grand Medal of Merit on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the intraocular lens. HOW TIME FLIES! The second visit to Vienna was in 2011, when we convened the XXIX Congress of the ESCRS. I had the honour that year, during the presidency of Dr José Güell, of becoming the chairman of the newly formed Young Ophthalmologists Committee. This month, when we meet for the third time in Vienna, I will have the privilege and honour of meeting many of those who served on that first Committee. One of the great achievements of the ESCRS over the past eight years has been the development of excellent education resources for our trainees including iLearn, the Peter Barry Fellowship, the EuroTimes Eye Contact Videos and the Observership programme. As I have said before, while I get great pleasure from my work as a surgeon and researcher, teaching is “the salt in the soup”, where I get the opportunity to work with enthusiastic young trainees and students. The YO Programme continues to go from strength to strength and we look forward to another excellent programme in Vienna. Finally, even though the congress centre will be the main focus of attention, I would like to encourage you to visit some of the sites of Vienna. Vienna’s coffee house tradition dates back more than 300 years, so relax and enjoy a good cup of coffee and some nice pastries in one of the numerous Viennese cafes!