We are honored to welcome you at the 16^th edition of the International Conference on Organic Electronics (ICOE2023) in Madrid (Spain). The ICOE conference series is dedicated to the state-of-the-art research in organic electronics and became one of the major conferences in the field. ICOE2023 in Madrid, follows the previous editions held in Hasselt (2019), Bordeaux (2018), St. Petersburg (2017), Bratislava (2016), Erlangen (2015), Modena (2014), Grenoble (2013), Tarragona (2012), Rome (2011), Paris (2010), Liverpool (2009) and Eindhoven (2009).

ICOE 2023 provides an interdisciplinary forum for researchers from academia and industry to discuss fundamental aspects of organic semiconductors, demonstrate their position on the road-map for organic electronics and exchange ideas on new materials, technologies, and future applications. The conference will cover all areas related to organic electronics and photonics including chemistry, physics, biology, materials science, nanoscience, device engineering and commercialization.

ICOE2023 is hosted at the Complutense University in Madrid. One of the oldest universities in the world. Actually, its origins lie in the middle ages, when King Sancho IV of Castile created the Studium General in 1293.

Our University is located on a wonderful campus that occupies most of the Ciudad Universitaria district of Madrid, with annexes in the close district of Somosaguas which, altogether, allow hosting over 75.000 students and over 5.000 professors involved in teaching duties. These figures make Complutense University the largest university in Spain and one of the largest universities in Europe.

Currently, Complutense University ranks among the top universities in Spain and, along these over seven centuries of history, the University of Madrid has provided invaluable contributions in the sciences, fine arts, and political leadership to our country. Since ICOE-2023 Conference is devoted to science, some renowned Spanish scientists such as Nobel Prize winners Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1906) and Severo Ochoa (1959) are among those distinguished and prominent alumni from our University.

I would also like to remark the importance of the contribution of science to the modern society. Needless to say that the impressive progress of our society along the last two centuries is based on the scientific achievements and their application to the technological advances. Furthermore, a free and educated citizen of this century must have an important knowledge of science. Since the industrial revolution, the modern society is based on the knowledge and education as powerful engines to fuel the social progress. Today the so-called “knowledge-based society” requires, more than ever, new ideas. As stated by Albert Einstein, “In crisis times, ideas are more important than knowledge”. Science is based on the knowledge but also on visionary ideas.

Your work is, therefore, highly appreciated by the society and, in this regard, I would like to encourage you to continue with your personal efforts in the search for new ideas able to give rise to new concepts in science, new materials, new applications and, eventually, a new way of living in a better society.

Nazario Martín Symposium chairman ICOE-16 (2023)	Ana Ferruelo Nicolás Administrative secretary ICOE-16 (2023)	José Manuel Santos Secretary organizer ICOE-16 (2023)
Agustín Molina Secretary organizer ICOE-16 (2023)	Inés García-Benito Secretary organizer ICOE-16 (2023)	Javier Urieta Mora Secretary organizer ICOE-16 (2023)