UK Colloids 2011 - the first multi-day conference on the topic of colloid science held in the UK for many years, jointly organized by the RSC Colloid and Interface Science Group and the SCI Colloid and Surface Science Group. The conference had over 250 delegates, from all across the world - good representation from Japan, China, Australia, USA, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Georgia - as well as a substantial number of UK based researchers. This Special Issue of "Progress in Colloid and Polymer Science" collects together a selection of 20 papers, mostly presented during the Conference. The papers included cover the wide variety of topics from fundamentals in colloid and interface science to industrial applications. The current Special Issue also reflects the international character of the Conference.

This volume includes 35 contributions to the 24th Conference of the European Colloid and Interface Society which took place in September 2010 in Prague. The contributions from leading scientists cover a broad spectrum of the following topics: * Self-assembling, Stimuli-responsive and Hierarchically Organized Systems * Colloid, Polymer and Polyelectrolyte Solutions; Concentrated Systems and Gels * Thin Films, Interfaces and Surfaces; Wetting Phenomena * Novel Nano-to-Mesostructured Functional Materials * Biologically Important and Bioinspired Systems; Pharmaceutical and Medical Applications

Colloidal systems and dispersions are of great importance in oil recovery, waist water treatment, coating, food and beverage industry, pharmaceutical industry, medicine, environmental protection etc. Colloidal systems and dispersions are always multi-component and multiphase systems. In these systems at least one dimension is in a range of colloidal forces action: colloidal dispersions/emulsions are examples of three dimensional colloidal systems, while thin liquid films are examples of one dimensional colloidal systems. The contribution presented in this issue deals with flow, distribution and redistribution, coating and deposition of surfactant and polymer molecules in colloidal systems. The book presents reviews of recent advances and trends by well-know scientists and engineers in this area.