ECVAM initiated its workshop programme in 1994, to enable it to become well informed about the state of the art of non-animal test development and validation, and about the possible incorporation of alternatives into regulatory requirements for safety testing. Fifty-one such workshops had been held on specific topics, up to 2002. In these workshops, the current status of in vitro tests and their potential uses were reviewed and recommendations were made as to the best ways forward to progress and enhance the use of in vitro methods. Reports for 46 of these workshops have been published in ATLA. Most of the workshops focused on