The initiative of organizing the International Roundtables (IRTs) was taken by Drs. Jean-Louis Imbach and Leroy Townsend, to have a biannual platform to discuss nucleoside chemistry and its biological applications, and later expanded to include nucleotides and nucleic acids. The first meeting was organized in Montpellier in 1974 and subsequently, IRTs have taken place in the US, Europe, and Japan.  Today over 400 attendees from academia and industry gather to discuss cutting-edge research in medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, physicochemistry, and molecular biology, as well as synthetic and therapeutic applications of nucleosides and oligonucleotides. As there are not parallel sessions, everyone can attend every talk, if desired.  Poster presentations form an important part of the scientific program and are displayed in place for several days.​