The Society for Experimental Biology is a learned society which was established in 1923 at Birkbeck College in London to “promote the art and science of experimental biology in all its branches”. The Society has an international membership of approximately 2000 biological researchers, teachers and students. Unlike many biological societies, the Society caters for both botany and zoology. There are four Sections, Animal, Plant, Cell and 'Education and Public Affairs'. The main activities of the Society are the organisation and sponsorship of scientific meetings, the publication of relevant research, and the promotion of experimental biology through its education, public affairs and career development programmes. The Society organises one large meeting each year, plus a number of smaller meetings.. The main meeting is held in the UK or continental Europe (Glasgow, Scotland 2007, 2009; Marseille, France, 2008; Prague, Czech Republic, 2010). The main meeting has up to 1000 attendees, but only two plenary lectures (the Bidder and Woolhouse Lectures), with many parallel sessions.