The 8th International Conference on Protein Kinase CK2 (www.uks.eu/ck2), organized by Matthias Montenarh and Claudia Götz, will be held at the Faculty of Medicine of Saarland University, in Homburg, Germany, from 6-9 September, 2016. Protein kinase CK2 is a serine/threonine kinase, which is highly conserved in evolution. Knock-out experiments have shown that this enzyme is absolutely necessary for cell viability. The enzyme is highly expressed in rapidly proliferating cells, which goes along with an elevated enzyme activity. Protein kinase CK2 is involved in a broad range of signaling pathways, regulating proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, or senescence. Recent advances towards the characterization of the three-dimensional structure of protein