The proceedings of the VIIth International Symposium on the Scientific Bases for the Preparation of Heterogeneous Catalysts, are in line with the general scope of this series of events. Emphasis in all Symposia has been on the scientific aspects of the preparation of new and industrial catalysts, or on new methods of preparation, rather than on the catalytic reactions in which such solids are ultimately used. In the present context, the catalytic event itself has only been considered as another, though often decisive, method of catalyst characterization.

This volume of Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis contains the Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on the Scientific Bases for the Preparation of Heterogeneous Catalysts, held on the campus of the "Universit catholique de Louvain" (UCL) in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, on September 10-14, 2006. This series of symposia was initiated in 1975 on a regular 4-year interval basis. The Symposium covered the following topics: key aspects in catalysts preparation, micro- and mesoporous supports, supported metal catalysts, structured catalysts, tailored zeolites, catalysis by bases, and catalysts for fuel production. These topics served as guidelines for the sessions both in the programs of oral communications (41 contributions including 7 keynote communications – one for each topic) and poster presentations (101 contributions). In addition, the opening invited lecture addressed the question of scaling-up high-throughput experimental approaches.* Contains a collection of the papers presented at the workshop

The proceedings of the IVth International Symposium on the ``Scientific Bases for the Preparation of Heterogeneous Catalysts'', are presented in this volume. Since its start in 1975, this series of Symposia has continued to attract increasing scientific attention. An appreciable proportion of the papers presented at this Fourth Symposium stemmed from industrial research laboratories. The symposium dealt with catalysts for selective oxidation, hydrodesulphurization, Fischer-Tropsch catalysis, methanol synthesis, metal supported catalysts and new trends in catalyst preparation.

The organizers of this Fifth Symposium maintained their initial objectives, namely to gather experts from both industries and universities to discuss the scientific problems involved in the preparation of heterogeneous catalysts, and to encourage as much as possible the presentation of research work on catalysts of real industrial significance. Another highlight of these symposia was to reserve a substantial part of the program to new developments in catalyst preparation, new preparation methods and new catalytic systems. The fact that chemical reactions which were hardly conceivable some years ago have become possible today through the development of appropriate catalytic systems proves that catalysis is in constant progress.The papers in this volume deal with studies of unit operations in catalyst preparation, catalyst preparation via the sol-gel route, preparation of catalysts from layered structures and pillaring of clays, preparation and modification of zeolite-based catalysts, carbon supported catalysts, preparation of oxidation catalysts and novel and unusual preparation methods.

The Fourth International Natural Gas Conversion Symposium was attended by 180 delegates from 25 countries. Representation was evenly balanced between industry and academia. The opening address was delivered by Mr Roy Pithey, Chairman of South Africa's Central Energy Fund, who dealt with the importance and utilisation of natural gas in sub-Saharan Africa. Plenary lectures were presented by Professors E. Iglesia (Catalyst design and selectivity for F-T synthesis) and E.E. Wolf (Oxidative Coupling Methane). A number of keynote addresses were delivered:- Dr T. Fleisch (Amoco) described the use of DME as a transport fuel and the work which has been carried out in this area in collaboration with Haldor Topsoe- Professor L.D. Schmidt (Univ. of Minnesota) explained his work on the direct conversion of methane at high velocities- Dr B. Jager (SASTECH R & D) reported on the recent developments in slurry and fluidized bed F-T reactors as SASOL- Dr J. Rostrup-Nielsen (Haldor Topsoe) discussed the role of catalysis in the conversion of natural gas for power generation.Areas signalled for further research were: direct conversion of methane to intermediate monomers; methanol conversion to higher alcohols; CO/H2 conversion in a commercially viable route to higher alcohols; and CO/H2 conversion to high quality gasoline. It is obvious that such developments would fit into the energy cycle which has moved from wood, to coal, to oil, to gas, and will most probably move to hydrogen.

This volume includes papers presented at the second International Workshop on Oxide-based Systems at the Crossroads of Chemistry, held at Villa Olmo in Como, Italy, 8-11 October.The selected papers present the highlights of recent research in the field of oxide structure. A wide range of oxidic materials, including real oxides, zeolites and layer-structured systems, is considered and described in terms of preparation methods, structural characterization and the relation between active sites, structure and catalytic properties. The application of the most powerful simulation and physical-chemical techniques show their usefulness in discovering and explaining structural and dynamic properties of complex materials. Moreover the development of sophisticated spectroscopical and analytical techniques are shown to significantly improve the growth of surface oxide science, generating new tools for the knowledge of catalyst structure and reaction mechanisms. An interesting feature is the inclusion of papers which show the mutual roles of experiment and theoretical models.

The proceedings of the 11th Zeolite Conference has been published in three volumes, containing 5 plenary lectures and 274 full papers. Part A comprises Synthesis and Characterization (99 papers), Part B Catalysis and Environment (102 papers) and Part C Adsorption and Diffusion, Modifications, Novel Materials and Theory (78 papers). Zeolite science and technology has been and continues to be an area receiving great attention. Increasing interest in the synthesis and the characterization of zeolite and microporous materials is reflected in the large number of contributions. Other areas gaining recognition include novel materials, adsorption, theory and modeling.