Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to welcome our guests and participants of the 11-th International Student Seminar on Microwave Applications of Novel Physical Phenomena.

Some words about the history of the Seminar. The first International student seminar was held in 1994 at Chalmers University of Technology in the city of Gцteborg (Sweden) with support of Professor E. Kollberg. The first seminar was called the International Student Seminar on High Temperature Superconductors at Microwaves. At that time, application of high temperature superconductors at microwaves was a hot problem and attracted attention of many laboratories all over the world. At present time one may say that the fundamental problems of the high temperature superconductivity at microwaves have been solved. The attention of specialists involved in the microwave applications of the high temperature superconductivity is mainly attracted to the problems of management and market.

The great interest of active people at Universities and Research Laboratories switched from the microwave applications of high temperature superconductivity to other physical phenomena. Therefore, the title if the Seminar was changed: since 2001 the Seminar is called "The International Student Seminar on Microwaves Applications of Novel Physical Phenomena". The whole spectrum of the physical phenomena at microwaves in semiconductors, superconductors, ferroelectrics, and ferrites is included in the Seminar Programme. It is worthy of note an avalanche of new problems in the area of artificial materials and the so-called metamaterials at microwaves. Let us show a good tone under this new avalanche.

The International Student Seminar took place in many European countries. The following countries should be mentioned: Sweden, France, Germany, and the Great Britain. Two times the Seminar was held in Finland, four times in Russia.

This 11-th International Student Seminar has been organized in a framework of the 6 Frame Programme of European Commission as a part of the Network of Excellence (NoE) "Metamorphose". We are grateful to the Coordinator of the NoE "Metamorphose" Professor Sergei Tretyakov for help in the organization of the Seminar.

I wish to all participants of the Seminar a great success during the sessions and discussions in halls of Saint-Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI" and a good time in the city of Saint-Petersburg.