The European Sleep Research Society is an international non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote research on sleep and related areas, to improve the care for patients with sleep disorders and to facilitate the dissemination of information regarding sleep research and sleep medicine.

The Swiss Society for Sleep Research, Sleep Medicine and Chronobiology (SSSSC) brings together basic science and clinical sleep researchers, chronobiologists and sleep clinicians to promote and stimulate collaboration among them. The Society was founded in 1991 and has currently more than 300 active members. With about 36 members per million inhabitants, Switzerland has one of the highest densities of sleep scientists in Europe.

Nestling in the heart of Europe, in the three countries corner where Switzerland, Germany and France meet, Basel is a pocket-sized metropolis that combines proverbial Swiss quality with a multicultural population. This makes the city unmistakably open-minded and innovative. The city sparkles with all kinds of culture. Nearly 40 museums with their long-established collections and spectacular special exhibitions are the foundation of Basel‘s reputation as a city of art and museums.

Basel has a long-standing tradition in academia with the oldest University in Switzerland (established 1460) and is home to world leading pharmaceutical companies. In fact, the ESRS was founded 1974 in Basel by Prof Werner Koella and a banquet on a large river-boat helped very much to bring the “sleepers” from so many countries together. Thus, it is about time to bring sleep specialists and professionals back to the roots after 44 years.

Congress attendees will have the chance to benefit from scientific exchange during either the formal activities or the informal meetings with colleagues from different backgrounds. They will also have a chance to relax at the sunny banks of the Rhine, and the romantic streets of the excellently preserved Old Town.

We hope you will enjoy the meeting and we are looking forward to welcoming you to Basel in 2018!