The conference was organized by Select Biosciences and was co-located with the 2009 MedChem and ADMET Europe conferences. Screening Europe, which was attended by 350 delegates from academia and industry, focused on the current techniques being used for assays, including high-throughput screening (HTS) and high-content screening (HCS). The meeting also presented case studies of candidates for drug discovery, as well as protein kinases, G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and ion channels as drug targets. The scientific program was split into two concurrent themes with six sessions overall: screening methods (sessions: high-content screening and cell-based assays, advances in screening techniques and label-free screening) and drug targets (sessions: ion channels, kinases and GPCRs).