The European Social Cognition Network is a joint initiative started by social cognition researchers in the Netherlands, in Belgium, and in Germany. In the meantime, colleagues from several other European countries have joined the initiative. The preliminary goal was to organize three conferences - 1999 in Nijmegen, 2000 in Heidelberg, and 2001 in Louvain-la-Neuve. By now it is clear that a fourth meeting will be held in 2002 in or near Paris. Approximately two years after the first meeting in Nijmegen in September 1999 and one year after the 2nd meeting in Heidelberg in September 2000, the third meeting of our initiative towards the foundation of a European network among social cognition researchers will thus be organized by the Louvain-la-Neuve team and held in Houffalize (Belgian Ardennes).

ESCN meetings are Medium-Size Conferences. There is an upper limit of little more than 60 participants. National coordinators are in charge of distributing the information relative to the conference within their respective country, and it is their responsibility to nominate the participants from their own country (according to agreed-upon quotas).

The goal of the conference is to give social cognition researchers the opportunity to meet and talk in a relatively informal way. There is plenty of room for presentations for small and specialized audiences and there is no a priori distinction made between contributions of senior and junior researchers.

Each participant has the opportunity to choose among three options:

* Plenary presentation
There is room for plenary (expect an audience of a little more than 60 people) presentations. Researchers who would like to present an overview of a research program that is already well developed might like to choose this option. It should be noted that the number of these slots is restricted. In the event that too many of us opt for a plenary presentation, we may have to transfer some of these submissions to the parallel sessions.

 * Presentation in a parallel session
There is plenty of room for these presentations. Researchers who would like to discuss relatively new programs and would like to get feedback are invited to choose this option. The time reserved for these presentations will be at least as generous as the time for plenary presentations. Given the small audience of about 20 colleagues in parallel sessions, there will be plenty of room for active and fruitful discussion.

 * Informal encounters
We do not want to exclude people who do not plan to give a presentation. Although we ask people not to choose this option too lightly, colleagues who do not present are also welcome. Hence, as a third option, we offer the possibility to attend, and of course to participate vividly in discussions, without giving a presentation.