To every embryologist, clinician and scientist joining us, and welcome to Udaipur.

For most of its history the IVF laboratory has worked in the background. The clinic was the face of the cycle, and the lab was the quiet engine behind the door. That is changing. Embryology now shapes almost every decision that separates a failed cycle from a live birth, from the gamete we choose to the blastocyst we put back.

This is why we have built the embryology programme the way we have. Less recital, more reckoning. We will debate where evidence is thin, name the practices that survive scrutiny and the ones that do not, and look honestly at what automation, AI and accountability will ask of us in the next five years.

I would ask one thing of you. Come as a participant, not an audience. The best of these meetings happens in the questions, the disagreements and the corridor conversations, not only on the stage.

There are few better places to gather. Set among the Aravalli hills and built around its lakes, Udaipur has been called the city of lakes and, by some, the Venice of the East. The City Palace rises over Lake Pichola, the marble pavilions seem to float on the water, and the old city still carries the craft and courtesy of Mewar. It is a place that rewards an early morning walk and a slow evening by the water. I hope you find time for both between sessions.The laboratory has come of age. Let us meet it, in this beautiful city, as professionals who own that responsibility.

Warm regards,