This issue of the EASST Review will, in various ways, be about time. Let’s start with the Review itself. It’s time for a new editor to take over. I have been editor now for about 7 years. I am gradually easing my way into retirement, both at my “day job” and (a bit sooner) as editor, hoping to spend more of my time on research, travel, and hobbies. Not that editing the Review takes all that much time. It takes me about 3 days every third month, and some of that time could be delegated to an assistant (more about the job of editor in a separate announcement in this issue). Still, it is time for someone new to step in, bringing new ideas, new energy, and perhaps giving the editor a new boost in his or her career. So check out the announcement further down in this issue, think about it, spread the word, and hopefully we will find a new and vibrant editor for an even better Review.

Continuing to think forward, it is also time to start writing your papers for the biennial EASST conference, coming up soon in Torun, Poland. A feature of this issue is the Call for Abstracts and, in the service pages, some special announcements from track convenors recruiting abstracts to specific sessions. As usual, even at this stage, the EASST conference shows a distinctive “flavour” as compared with the 4S conference. As I “taste” it, EASST conferences as a whole are slightly less abstracted from the socio-material worlds around them, slightly more closely interwoven with social issues, grassroots activism, public policy, and innovation processes. Being held on campuses and hosted by colleagues, they also have (for me, at least) a somewhat more personal, community feel. For me, these nuances of flavour mean that I attempt, if at all possible, to attend both conferences. And happily, this year they are timed so that a two-conference travel plan is possible :D. So I hope to see many of you this conference season – certainly in Torun in September, and perhaps also in Buenos Aires in August.

This issue we also look back in time with reviews of some of between-conference-year events, some of which EASST has supported – national and regional STS meetings in Croatia and the Nordic area and themed workshops – one on STS Perspectives on Energy and one on The Value of Open Science. All three meeting reviews discuss different ways in which STS plays, or can play, a role in our time.

And one final feature I wish to highlight: The final call for nominations to this year’s EASST awards. As you may know, EASST has chosen to honour some hitherto under-acknowledged types of effort that are nevertheless vital to our field as a community and in the world at large. If you know of a good STS-relevant edited book or special issue published 2012-14, please do nominate it for the Olga Amsterdamska award. For the Chris Freeman award we welcome nominations for a publication which is a significant collective contribution to the interaction of science and technology studies with the study of innovation. And the John Ziman award will honour an innovative venture to promote the public understanding of the social dimensions of science. See the “final call” item further down in this issue for information on how to nominate candidates for these awards. But hurry! There is only a short time left. Deadline is April 1 – no fooling!

Editorially yours,
Ann R. Sætnan