In succesion to former international meetings on differential geometry held in Hungary and also as a satellite conference of ECM96, the European Mathematical Congress, a Conference on Differential Geometry took place in Budapest from July 27 to July 30, 1996. The host of the Conference was Lorand Eotvos University. The Conference had the following Programme Committee: D.V. Alekseevsky, J.J. Duistermaat, J. Eells, A. Haefliger, O. Kowalski, S. Marchifava, J. Szenthe, L. Tamassy, L. Vanhecke. The participants came mainly from Europe and their total number was 190. The programme included plenary lectures by J. Eliashberg, S. Gallot, O. Kowalski, B. Leeb, and also 135 lectures in 4 sections. The social events, an opening reception and a farewel party, presented inspiring atmosphere to create scientific contacts and also for fruitful discussions. In preparation of the Conference and during it B. Csikos and G. Moussong were constanly ready to help. The present volume contains detailed versions of lectures presented at the Conference and also a list of participants. The subjects cover a wide variety of topics in differential geometry and its applications and all of them contain essential new developments in their respective subjects. It is my pleasant duty to thank the participants who contributed to the success of the Conference, especially those who offered us their manuscripts for publication and also the referees who made several important observa- tions. The preparation of the volume was managed with the assistance of E. Daroczy-Kiss.

In succession to our former meetings on differential geometry a Colloquium took place in Debrecen from July 26 to July 30, 1994. The Colloquium was organized by the University of Debrecen, the Debrecen Branch of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and supported by the Janos Bolyai Mathematical Society. The Colloquium and especially this proceedings volume received an important financial contribution form OMFB in the framework of the ACCORD Programme no. H9112-0855. The Organizing Committee was the following: S. Bacso, P.T. Nagy, L. Kozma (secretary), Gy. Soos, J. Szenthe (chairman) and L. Tamassy (chairman). It was pleasant to meet both the returning participants of our former colloquia and the numerous new guests. The Colloquium had 68 participants from 22 foreign countries and 18 from Hungary. At the opening we commemorated the 25th anniversary of the death of Otto Varga, the late Professor of the Debrecen University, one of the founders of Finsler geometry, the master of many differential of our country. The programme included 10 plenary lectures from: P.B. geometers Gilkey, R. Miron, I. Kolar, B. Wegner, D. Lehmann, o. Kowalski, T. Otsuki, K.B. Marathe, M. Crampin, W. Sarlet and 68 short lectures in 3 sections. The meeting created an inspiring atmosphere for fruitful discussions between the participants. The historical sites of the town Debrecen and its famous surroundings offered ideal to get to know Hungarian cultural traditions and for evening programmes.

In succesion to former international meetings on differential geometry held in Hungary and also as a satellite conference of ECM96, the European Mathematical Congress, a Conference on Differential Geometry took place in Budapest from July 27 to July 30, 1996. The host of the Conference was Lorand Eotvos University. The Conference had the following Programme Committee: D.V. Alekseevsky, J.J. Duistermaat, J. Eells, A. Haefliger, O. Kowalski, S. Marchifava, J. Szenthe, L. Tamassy, L. Vanhecke. The participants came mainly from Europe and their total number was 190. The programme included plenary lectures by J. Eliashberg, S. Gallot, O. Kowalski, B. Leeb, and also 135 lectures in 4 sections. The social events, an opening reception and a farewel party, presented inspiring atmosphere to create scientific contacts and also for fruitful discussions. In preparation of the Conference and during it B. Csikos and G. Moussong were constanly ready to help. The present volume contains detailed versions of lectures presented at the Conference and also a list of participants. The subjects cover a wide variety of topics in differential geometry and its applications and all of them contain essential new developments in their respective subjects. It is my pleasant duty to thank the participants who contributed to the success of the Conference, especially those who offered us their manuscripts for publication and also the referees who made several important observa tions. The preparation of the volume was managed with the assistance of E. Daroczy-Kiss."