ASSC16 is the 16th annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. It will take place in Brighton, UK, from July 02-06, 2012.The 4 day meeting (plus 1 day of tutorial sessions) brings together leading researchers in neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, psychiatry, neurology, and computer science in a forum dedicated to showcasing and advancing rigorous scientific approaches to understanding the nature, function, and underlying mechanisms of conscious experience. Attendees are drawn from researchers, clinicians, students at all levels, as well as the interested media and public. ASSC16 will be organized by the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex (www.sussex.ac.uk/sackler). Brighton, affectionately known as london by the sea is a popular international conference destination. It is only 49 minutes by train from central London and just 30 minutes from Gatwick International Airport (LGW; there are also easy transport links from Heathrow). Brighton is a small city (population ~500,000) with conference facilities, hotels, restaurants, pubs, transport links, and the beach all within easy walking distance. The city is well known for its vibrant scientific, artistic, and digital communities, its caf and pub society, and the beauty of the surrounding countryside (the South Downs National Park is just a couple of miles to the north). And in July, the weather is also usually very good as well! For more information on Brighton, see www.visitbrighton.org. To ensure that ASSC16 is special, we have arranged for it to be held in the superb Dome and Corn Exchange theatre complex, in the heart of Brighton 抯 artistic quarter (http://www.brightondome.org/) and is only minutes from the beach. These heritage buildings date from the early 19th century and were recently refurbished in a 2,000,000 project to provide an unparalled combination of elegance and efficiency. With the support of the city, we are confident that ASSC16 will not only be a premier scientific meeting, but a citywide celebration of consciousness science. We already have an exciting line-up of keynote speakers for 2012: Victor Lamme (University of Amsterdam), Tim Bayne (University of Oxford), Tania Singer (University of Zurich), Geraint Rees (University College London), and Josef Perner (University of Salzburg). We are also delighted to announce a special lecture from Christof Koch (Caltech). In a major change from previous ASSC meetings, ASSC16 will take place over four full days, plus one tutorial day, and will run from Monday to Friday instead of across a weekend. We have made these changes in order to ensure that excellent scientific content can be combined with enough time for discussion, poster viewing, and the like. We do not expect registration fees to be substantially affected. We should also point out that the ASSC16 dates do NOT clash with the London Olympics! We will shortly send a separate email with an initial call-for-proposals for conference symposia and tutorials. The deadline for submission of these proposals will be October 30, 2011. On behalf of the local organizing committee, we look forward to welcoming you to Brighton in 2012!

Anil Seth (programme chair) Zoltan Dienes (scientific committee chair)