Announcing a new section of The European Physical Journal E

‘Soft matter’ is a generic term that has come to refer to a large group of condensed systems including , supramolecular assemblies of purpose-designed organic molecules, liquid crystals, , lyotropic systems, emulsions, biopolymers, and biomembranes. These are systems – often complex fluids – that display a strong response to weak external perturba- tions and also share many other common properties. Their similarities have led to the grad- ual emergence of the research field of soft matter sciences. Soft matter sciences include the 123 study of structured and surface-dominated materials such as microemulsions, block-copoly- mer mesophases, foams, and granular matter, whose properties are governed by slow internal dynamics and sensitivity to extremely weak external perturbations. Other characteristic features of these systems include entropic forces and colloidal or mesoscopic length scales, whose investigation demands new experimental techniques such as micromanipulation.

The study of soft condensed matter has already stimulated fruitful interactions between physicists, chemists, and engineers, and is now reaching out to biologists. Most importantly, complex fluids have many applications in every- day life, and fundamental research on soft matter is often closely linked to industrial research. A broad interdiscipli- nary community encompassing all these areas of science has emerged over the last thirty years, and with it our knowledge of soft matter has grown considerably.

A great many European scientists now believe that a journal dedicated to all aspects of soft matter science is urgently needed. The new section, EPJ E – Soft Matter, of The European Physical Journal aims to fill this need.

EPJ E will provide a common platform and audience for all scientists involved in soft matter science; a melting pot for ideas from diverse areas including , chemistry, materials sciences and of course biology. EPJ E will be in part a continuation of the subsection ‘Soft Condensed Matter’ of The European Physical Journal B, and will be launched as an independent journal in January 2000. Serving this wide range of scientific communities, EPJ E will be substantially larger than the existing subsection of EPJ B, and further significant growth is envisaged within the first year of publication.

The new monthly journal will publish regular articles and rapid notes, but will also accept review articles. The latter are intended to explain and lay open current problems of common interest to all the communities involved. We expect such an approach to stimulate further interdisciplinary research on soft matter. EPJ E further intends to pub- lish special issues on selected topics. The journal will also provide adequate scope for presentation and discussion of controversial ideas, well-founded conjectures, and comments on published work. However, the publication of confer- ence proceedings is not among its aims. High scientific standards will be the top priority of the journal. To this end, and to ensure rapid publication of important results, every effort will be taken to ensure efficient communication between authors, editors, and publishers.

Manuscripts for The European Physical Journal E – Soft Matter can be submitted as of now to the Editorial Office in Orsay, France.

The Editors-in-Chief The Co-Editors The European Physical Journal B – Condensed Matter The European Physical Journal B – Soft Condensed Matter

S. Großmann D. Jérome A. Paoletti M.E. Cates J. Daillant M. Daoud R. Lipowsky L. Peliti T.A. Witten

The External Advisors The Editors-in-Chief The European Physical Journal E – Soft Matter The European Physical Journal E – Soft Matter

P.-G. de Gennes H. Ringsdorf A. M. Donald J.-F. Joanny M. Möller G. Reiter The European EPJ E will include the following Subsections: Physical Journal Biological Aspects Soft Matter Biomimetics and biomineralisation E Membranes and vesicles Molecular recognition Biomolecular action and forces Living cells: mechanics and hydrodynamics Model for evolution Editorial Board Colloids Colloidal and molecular interactions External Advisors: Hydrodynamics and Amphiphilic systems Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, ESPCI, Paris, France Foams, emulsions and dispersions Helmut Ringsdorf, University of Mainz, Germany

Editors-in-Chief: Functional Materials Magnetic molecular compounds Athene M. Donald, , UK Electrically conducting organic materials Jean-François Joanny, University of Strasbourg, France Electro-optical properties Martin Möller, University of Ulm, Germany Smart material response Günter Reiter, University of Mulhouse, France

Co-Editors: Granular Matter (preliminary list) Statistical physics of powders Glasses and fragile matter David Andelman, Tel-Aviv University, Israel Mechanical properties Philippe Auroy, Institut Curie, Paris, France Philippe Barois, Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Liquid Crystals Bordeaux, France Michael Cates, University of Edinburgh, UK Thermotropic and lyotropic phases Arturo Falaschi, Trieste, Italy Liquid-crystalline polymers and elastomers Hans J. Herrmann, Universität Stuttgart, Germany Richard Jones, University of Sheffield, UK Polymers Eric Kaler, University of Delaware, Newark, USA Solutions and melts Toyoki Kunitake, Fukuoka, Japan Copolymers Dominique Langevin, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France Gels, rubbers and networks Reinhard Lipowsky, MPI Golm, Germany Crystalline polymers Francesco Mallamace, University of Messina, Italy Biopolymers Bert W.Meijer, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands Supramolecular Assemblies Takuhei Nose, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan Joachim Rädler, Universität München, Germany Purpose-designed organic molecules Tom Witten, University of Chicago, USA Hierarchical structures Giuseppe Zerbi, Milano, Italy Specific interactions Self-assembly

Surfaces and Interfaces Adhesion and Friction Langmuir-Blodgett films Wetting and spreading Structured surfaces Confinement