Book excerpt: This volume contains a peer reviewed selection of the papers presented at the highly successful fifteenth meeting of the European Colloid and Interface Society which was held in Coimbra, Portugal in September 2001 and highlights some of the important advances in this area. The topics covered include Self Assembly in Mixed Systems, Surface Modification, Biological and Biomimetic Systems, Theory and Modelling, New Techniques and Developments, Food and Pharmaceuticals, Dynamics at Interfaces and Mesoscopic and Mesoporous Systems. The volume is of interest to both academic and industrial scientists working with colloidal and interfacial systems in chemistry, physics and biology.