This volume contains a peer reviewed selection of the papers presented at the highly successful sixteenth meeting of the European Colloid and Interface Society which was held in Paris, France in September 2002 and highlights some of the important advances in this area. The topics covered include: Molecular self assemblies; Colloids and interfaces; Long range and/or weak interactions in interfacial systems; Original ways to probe colloidal systems; Colloids in biology. The volume is of interest to both academic and industrial scientists working with colloidal and interfacial systems in chemistry, physics and biology.

The 14th Conference of the European Colloid and Interface Society (ECIS 2000) was held in September 2000, in Patras, GREECE. Researchers from the academia and the industrial sector met and presented research work divided in nine thematic sections: molecular interactions in thin films, polymer-surfactant interactions, structure and dynamics at interfaces, biocolloids, colloids in pharmaceutical and biological applications, new trends in colloid and interface science techniques, rheology, self assembly of amphiphiles and measurements in concentrated suspensions. Selected contributions from these thematic areas are presented in the present volume and show the up today achievements of the Colloid and Interface Science.