Book excerpt: This self-contained monograph presents methods for the investigation of nonlinear variational problems. These methods are based on geometric and topological ideas such as topological index, degree of a mapping, Morse-Conley index, Euler characteristics, deformation invariant, homotopic invariant, and the Lusternik-Shnirelman category. Attention is also given to applications in optimisation, mathematical physics, control, and numerical methods. Audience: This volume will be of interest to specialists in functional analysis and its applications, and can also be recommended as a text for graduate and postgraduate-level courses in these fields.