Electrorheological fluids and magnetorheological suspensions

The 11th International Conference on Electrorheological Fluids and Magnetorheological Suspensions (ERMR08) was organized between 25–29 August 2008 at the Technische Universität Dresden in Germany. The conference's scientific program focused on the synthesis, characterization and application of fluids which can be controlled by external electric or magnetic fields. Within this framework electrorheological fluids, magnetorheological suspensions, ferrofluids and—for the first time—magnetorheological elastomers, which have attracted great interest in recent years, formed the class of materials discussed during the conference. With more than 180 participants from 24 different countries and 85 oral presentations in non-parallel sessions, including 8 plenary talks and 81 posters, it has been the largest ERMR meeting held during the last decade. This growth is at least partly driven by the synthesis of improved fluids and elastomers, which open new possibilities for applications as well as in basic research characterizing the flow and properties of such materials under the influence of external magnetic and electric fields. The general proceedings of ERMR08 include 116 peer-reviewed papers covering all conference topics. They were published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series volume 149 in 2009. The present special issue of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter contains six selected papers dealing with basic research problems which will be of general interest to the condensed matter community. We hope that this selection will provide an insight into the fascination of soft matter controlled by external fields.