Peter Kündig made an exceptional contribution to the success of the 1st European Chemistry Congress, held in Budapest in August 2006. As co-chair of the Congress Scientific Committee, Peter Kündig worked with representatives of the chemistry community across Europe to develop and deliver a high quality scientific programme which attracted nearly 2'500 participants. His vision for the Congress, the first event of its kind, and his dedication were key factors in ensuring the success of this major EuCheMS initiative. As the current Chair of the EuCheMS Division of Organometallic Chemistry, Peter Kündig is also a member of the EuCheMS Executive Committee. Peter Kündig is Director of the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Geneva where he heads a research group active in the area organic synthesis and catalysis with transition metals. He is an organiser of the annual ‘Bürgenstock’ conferences on stereochemistry and a member of the Editorial Boards of Helvetica Chimica Acta and of Chemical Communications. In addition, he is an Advisory Board member of a number of other high-profile chemistry journals. The European Chemistry Congress, held every two years, provides a showcase for chemical sciences in Europe and brings together chemical and molecular scientists from industry, academia and government institutions across Europe and from around the world. EuCheMS – the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences – is a non-profit making association. Its object is to promote cooperation in Europe between those non-profit-making scientific and technical societies and professional institutions in the field of chemical sciences whose membership consists largely of individual qualified chemists/chemical scientists and whose interests include the science and/or practice of chemistry/chemical sciences. It was founded in 1970 and currently has 50 member societies in 36 countries.