The well known support effect observed for molybdenum sulfide has been studied with rhenium sulfide, which was reported to be a very active hydrotreating catalyst. Solids containing from 0.8 to 4 rhenium atoms per nm(2) have been prepared on titania, zirconia and gamma-alumina supports and sulfided using N-2-H2S (15%) or H-2-H2S (15%) mixtures. The catalytic activity in thiophene hydrodesulfurization (HDS) has been evaluated and additional information about the structure over the different supports has been obtained by XPS and HRTEM. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.