Margrit Hanbuecken is Research Director in the French National research Council (CNRS) and director of the Competence Centre of Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region, a centre uniting 40 laboratories of the region. Her group at CINaM-CNRS in Marseille develops new strategies for the nanofabrication and functionalisation of novel templates, subsequently used in different fields going from biology to spintronics and looking at fundamental aspects as well as applications. Dr Hanbucken has authored over 70 publications, patents and book chapters.

Pierre Mueller is professor at the University Paul Cezanne and vice dean of the Science and Technology School of St Jerome in Marseille, France. His research is dedicated to physics at the surface with a strong expertise in surface elasticity, surface thermodynamics and crystal growth mechanisms. Pierre Muller has authored more than 60 publications and has given 24 invited lectures. He regularly organizes the International Symposium on Surface Science.

Ralf Wehrspohn is Full Professor in Experimental Physics at the University of Halle-Wittenberg and Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials which is also located in Halle, Germany. He has received the outstanding young inventor award of the German Science Foundation and is one of the TR100 nominated by the MIT Technology Review in 2003. Dr. Wehrspohn is author of more than 100 publications and co-inventor of nine patents. Since January 2006 he has been editor co-editor of Applied Physics A.