The Eighth International Conference is dedicated to the 20th year celebration of the discovery of SUMO.   In 1996, several laboratories reported a novel ubiquitin-like protein that was named Sentrin, GMP-1, PIC-1, and UBL1.  This ubiquitin-like protein was shown to interact or modify FAS, RanGAP1, and PML.  The SUMO conjugating and de-conjugating enzymes were quickly discovered and they dwarfed in size to the ubiquitin enzymes. Thus, the early workers in this field thought SUMO only modifies a limited number of substrates.However, we continue to be surprised by the versatility of the SUMO pathway.Thousands of SUMO substrates have now been reported and the biology of SUMO spans the entire spectrum of cell function and disease processes.The first decade of SUMO world depicted a parallel universe with the ubiquitin system; however, the second decade witnessed a collision of the SUMO and ubiquitin galaxies to create a new concept of SUMO-dependent ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation.  The early biochemistry has entered cell biology and now explored at an organism level. Numerous disease processes and drug targets have been discovered in the field of ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins. It is indeed a very exciting time!  The Eight International Conference will continue our tradition of collegiality, discovery, and excellence. We will bring together world’s best scientists to gather in Shanghai to renew old friendships and to establish new ones.