The Workshop was held in Cortona (Tuscany) from September 10 through September 14, 2001; it took place in the Palazzone, a villa belonging to the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa. The Meeting was supported by the Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica, an Italian Institution that promotes advanced studies in Mathematics. The scientific organizers were Professor E.G. Virga (Pavia) and Dr. P. Biscari (Milan).

The schedule included both General Lectures and Short Presentations, the latter arranged in 2 Thematic Round Tables, one for Liquid Crystals and the other for Biological Membranes. Few such presentations were invited by the organizers; the remaining ones were invited by the Co-ordinators of the Round Tables, namely, Dr. I.STEWART   (Strathclyde) for Liquid Crystals, and Dr. J.-B.FOURNIER   (Paris) for Biological Membranes. All participants interested in delivering a short presentation were requested to send an abstract to the Co-ordinator of the Round Table fit for their topic.
 

Contact Addresses: Professor Epifanio G. Virga  Università di Pavia  Dipartimento di Matematica  via Ferrata 1  I-27100 Pavia  Email: virga@dragon.imati.cnr.it Doctor Paolo Biscari Dipartimento di Matematica  Politecnico di Milano Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32 I-20133 Milano Email: biscari@mate.polimi.it