The use of vaccines is saving millions of lives every year across the globe, but a number of important diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB and hepatitis C continue to frustrate attempts to produce effective vaccines against them. Confronting these challenges will require new approaches and increased research efforts by the scientific community. The Sixth Framework Programme (FP6; 2002-2006) of the European Commission (EC) has been an important catalyst in this direction by allocating a financial contribution of more than EUR 210 million to a wide variety of vaccine research activities, ranging from basic vaccinology, translational research to clinical application of vaccines. Taken together, around 581 research groups from 52 countries are participating in the vaccine activities of FP6. This impressive number signals a new spirit of collaborative research, which will facilitate the exploitation of the immense possibilities in modern vaccinology.