The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council will be holding a conference on postgraduate research in electronics, photonics and related fields at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology on January 5-7 1999. Key speakers include Helen Sharman, the first Briton in space, and Peter Cochrane, head of research at BT. A call for papers and full details are at www. iop.org/IOP/Confs/PREP99