| Title | | 1 |
| Editorial | | 3 |
| Content | | 4 |
| Humour | Paul the Postdoc | 6 |
| News | First female ESF head / Nordic EMBO partnership / Mathematics of molar formation | 6 |
| Opinion | Observations of The Owl (8): Paper Diarrhoea | 14 |
| Analysis | Interview with Gottfried Schatz | 16 |
| Humour | Incredible Science (8): Likeable Germs | 21 |
| Analysis | Microbial systematics | 22 |
| Analysis | Career strategies for young European scientists (VIII)/National programmes open to anyone: The German perspective | 26 |
| Humour | One fine day in the lab (5): Publish or perish | 31 |
| Journal Club | Dublin/Ireland Cyclodextrines as prion disease inhibitors | 32 |
| Journal Club | Krakòw/Poland Epistatic effects of gene deletions | 34 |
| Journal Club | Turin/Italy Theoretical modelling of neuronal memory formation | 36 |
| Publication Statistics | Pathology in Europe | 38 |
| Publication Statistics | Don’t be misled by citation figures! (8): Names are nothing but words | 41 |
| Biobiz | Interview: Virus researcher Stephan Guenther (Hamburg, Germany) on highly hazardous organisms | 42 |
| Biobiz | Close-up: Production of drugs in Poland/Bioton (Warsaw) a pharmaceutical company/Outline of Polish biotech companies | 44 |
| Biobiz | Biotechnology in Poland: Good logistics raise hope | 47 |
| Biobiz | News | 48 |
| Products | Product Survey: DNA/RNA isolation: Spoilt for choice | 50 |
| Products | New products | 59 |
| Methods | Bench philosophy (9): Presenting posters | 60 |
| Methods | Tips and tricks of the trade: Fast lane to microarray probes | 62 |
| Books | Life in the Cerrado. By Gerhard Gottsberger and Ilse Silberbauer-Gottsberger | 63 |
| Humour | Cartoon: Superdoc (2) | 70 |
