This publication contains full papers of both oral and poster presentations of the symposium "Immobilized Cells: Basics and Applications" that was held in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, 26-29 November 1995. This volume covers recent developments in the field of immobilization e.g.: new support materials, characterization of support materials, kinetic characterizations, dynamic modelling, bioreactor types, scale up and applications are also given. Applications in the field of medicine, fermentation technology, food technology and environmental technology are described. Guidelines for research with immobilized cells. Based on the scientific sessions a strategy of research and methods for characterization of immobilized cells, especially in view of applications are given.The goal was to relate basic research to applications and to extract guidelines for characterization of immobilized cells in view of process design and application from the contributions. The manuscripts presented in these proceedings give an extensive and recent overview of the research and applications of immobilized-cell technology.