• The "rapid note" section is removed, considering that most submitted papers are now normally published in a short time: we note that the average time between submission to acceptance (revision time included) has recently significantly shortened, from 4 months 7 days in 2003 to 3 months 11 days in 2007.
• A new Section is launched: it will be called "Colloquia". This Section is similar to the one already existing in one of our other European Physical Journals: the EPJ B. It is intended to host manuscripts that describe the development of new areas of research, as well as promising new experimental or theoretical approaches in the fields that are within the spectrum of topics covered by EPJ D. The intention is that our Journal will provide the physics community with papers that are not extensive and detailed reviews similar to those currently published in the specialized review journals, but instead that could suitably introduce to a wider audience new research directions and novel experimental/theoretical techniques in their early stages of development.

The Board therefore invites submissions of this type, intended to capture the attention of both specialists and non-specialists eager to learn of new developments and new fields with a good potential for scientific advancements. We invite all authors to contribute, but we would like to especially encourage researchers in the early stages of their scientific career to present in a synthetic and comprehensive way their field of research in order to obtain higher international visibility or some type of advanced degree beyond their doctorate, wherever it exists (e.g. Germany or France).

There will be no explicit constraint concerning the length of manuscripts although 20 to 40 printed pages seems to be appropriate. The Editors of EPJ D may solicit manuscripts from prospective authors and contributing authors should identify their submission as being intended for the Colloquia section. All submitted manuscripts will undergo the same refereeing procedure as all other submitted contributions to EPJ D. If the paper is accepted, authors will receive a financial compensation. Colour figures in print will be free of charge, and the paper will be highlighted and enjoy free access for a fixed amount of time after publication.

• One of our Editors-in-Chief, Jean-Michel Raimond has reached the end of his mandate. During his active term as EIC, Jean-Michel has devoted a lot of effort to the development of the international visibility of EPJ D. We will miss his enthusiasm and dedication to the journal, albeit not entirely as Jean-Michel will remain a member of our Advisory Board.
• Professor Raimond has been replaced from January 1st 2008 by Professor Claude Fabre, a former Specialist Editor of our Journal, also from the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel in Paris. He is also at the Institut Universitaire de France. We warmly welcome Claude as a new and important asset for the progress of our Journal.
• Professor Victor Zadkov, from the Moscow State University, has recently joined the board of Specialist Editors: his presence will strengthen the Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Section of our Journal, one which has recently enjoyed a significant expansion in terms of both submissions and of accepted manuscripts.
• Other additions to our roster of Editors will be implemented during the following months as we wish to make our scientific staff more varied and more capable of assessing the quality of the increasing number of papers which our Journal is receiving from all over the World. We hope that all our readers and authors will appreciate the efforts involved in making EPJD a vibrant and well-read Journal in the world of Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Plasma physics.

The Editors-in-chief:
Claude Fabre and Franco A. Gianturco