Dear participants,

On behalf of the Organizing Committee it is a great pleasure to extend our sincere welcome to all the participants of the 13th International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA) World Congress and the 6th European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology (EUSFLAT) Conference, IFSA–EUSFLAT 2009. Both the IFSA World Congress and the EUSFLAT Conference take place every two years.

IFSA–EUSFLAT 2009 aims to provide a stimulating forum for scientists and stu­dents to share the excitement of disseminating the latest research findings in fun­da­mental issues of fuzzy set theory. IFSA–EUSFLAT 2009 is also intended to thrust an effective exchange of knowledge and experience amongst re­sear­chers active in various theoretical and applied areas of fuzzy systems. We trust that the atmosphere at IFSA–EUSFLAT 2009 creates a pleasant environ­ment for you to meet your old friends and make new friends for expanding your network connections with possible future collaborations.

IFSA–EUSFLAT 2009 features four state-of-the-art plenary speeches, 75 parallel regular sessions and special sessions, two moderated panel discussions, five informative pre-congress tutorials, and various entertaining social functions. Selected papers will be further screened for possible publication in special issues in leading fuzzy sets journals. Furthermore, one of our goals was to stimulate the participation of young researchers and PhD students to present their papers and research. We have offered free accommodation to encourage young talent. We are very pleased to see that a large number of students made use of this possibility and that about a quarter of conference participants are students. Other social and technical events at the conference include a welcome recep­tion, an award banquet, IFSA Council meetings, EUSFLAT Assembly and the board meeting of Fuzzy Sets and Systems.

A world event of this importance could not have been possible without contributions of many people. We would like to thank all the team that is working hard in the last years, and especially in the last months. From a large number of people, a special thanks go to the Program Chairs, João Paulo Carvalho and Didier Dubios, who worked really hard to elaborate the program, the Local Organizing Committee, especially to Susana Vieira and Luis Mendonça helping in all local jobs consuming an enormous amount of time, to the team in Rotterdam that has put together the book of abstracts, the Organizing Committee, the Area Chairs and to all the people who is helping to make IFSA-EUSFLAT 2009 a great event! Special thanks also for IFSA and EUSFLAT for their support throughout the whole process.

IFSA–EUSFLAT 2009 is held in Lisbon, Portugal, one of the most vibrant cities in Europe with a wealth of cultural and tourist attractions. We hope that you enjoy your time in Lisbon as well as the technical and social programs at IFSA–EUSFLAT 2009!

General Chairs of IFSA–EUSFLAT 2009.