Two international scientific groups, the International Association of Colloid and Interface Scientists and the American Chemical Society Division of Colloid and Surface Science, will come together June 14 - 19, 2009 at Columbia University Morningside Campus in New York City to host the Joint 13th International Conference on Surface and Colloid Science and the 83rd Colloid and Surface Science Symposium. This conference will bring together top researchers and technologists focusing on a wide range of topics that come under the umbrella of colloid and surface science. Approximately 1300 abstracts were submitted to the conference. Presentations will include invited plenary and oral presentations, contributed papers and posters. Various symposia areas will be featured such as Dynamics, Surfactants and Supermolecular Assemblies, Biology and Health Sciences, Engineering at the Nano-Scale and Nano-Technology, Environmental Colloid and Interfacial Processes and the Future Directions in Colloid and Surface Science.