The title “Surfactants in Solution” has been retained for this series of conferences, although the breadth of topics covered has widened considerably over the years. A particular feature of the SIS conferences has been the coverage of both fundamental and applied research, presenting a great opportunity and platform for scientists from industrial research and development (R&D) organizations to meet people working on the basic aspects of surfactants and interface science.

The Surfactants in Solution conference series was initiated in 1976, when it was first held in Albany, New York, under the chairmanship of Kash Mittal. Two more meetings were held in the USA (Knoxville and Potsdam) before the symposium became truly international: Lund (1982), Bordeaux (1984), New Delhi (1986), Ottawa (1988), Gainesville (1990), Varna (1992), Caracas (1994), Jerusalem (1996), Stockholm (1998), Gainesville (2000), Barcelona (2002), Fortaleza (2004), Seoul (2006), Berlin (2008), Melbourne (2010), Edmonton (2012), Coimbra (2014), Jinan (2016) and Norman (2018).

The next edition of the conference was planned for 2020 (Lublin, Poland), but due to the Covid-19 pandemic it is moved to 2022.