On June 4-8, 2013, the 3rd Conference on Regulation with RNA in Bacteria took place in Wurzburg, Germany. Following two earlier meetings in Berlin and San Juan, this conference has established itself as the primary bi-annual meeting for everyone interested in RNA-based regulations in prokaryotes. The 2013 meeting was organized by Joel Belasco, Susan Gottesman, Franz Narberhaus, and Jorg Vogel. Close to 300 participants from more than 27 countries in Europe, North America, and Asia enjoyed four days of talks and posters on many experimental and biocomputational aspects of prokaryotic RNA biology.