The 7th International Conference Interfaces Against Pollution (IAP2012) will be held in Nancy, France, from 11 to 14 June 2012.

IAP2012 lies within the framework of a series of conferences initiated in Wageningen (The Netherlands, 1997) and followed in Miskolc (Hungary, 2002), Jülich (Germany, 2004), Granada (Spain, 2006), Kyoto (Japan, 2008) and most recently in Beijing (China, 2010).

As a general objective, IAP conferences seek to provide a forum for researchers working in the interdisciplinary field of Environmental Science.

The main focus is brought on the importance of Colloids and Interfaces in natural environments both from fundamental and applied perspectives. This includes topics of societal concerns like environmental protection, remediation of polluted sites, optimization of mineral resources or the impacts of nanotechnology residues on the environment.

With the course of time, IAP conferences broadened their scope. IAP2012 warmly encourages the participation of scientists providing that their field of expertise is relevant for the understanding of interfacial processes at model or environmental particles, or that of transfer phenomena in natural sites. In line with the wide spectrum of disciplines (physics, biology, physical-chemistry, chemistry, mineralogy) relevant for environmental science, IAP2012 is intended to cover research work pertaining to length scale ranging from the angstrom to that of a natural site.

The IAP2012 conference also offers industrial companies an opportunity to appreciate the international state of the art in scientific research and applications in the domain.

The international IAP advisory board and the local IAP2012 committees warmly invite colleagues interested in these increasingly important topics to join us for fruitful discussion in Nancy, a relaxed town from Lorraine, in the eastern part of France.

Jérôme F.L. DUVAL, Chairman of IAP2012.

Fabien THOMAS and Laurent J. MICHOT, Co-Chairmen.