This issue brings a selection of the papers presented by the invited speakers including the work of the recipients of the Ulrich Awards at the XV International Sol–Gel Conference (SOLGEL 2009) held in Porto de Galinhas, State of Pernambuco, Brazil from August 23 to 27, 2009.

Held every 2 years, the conference brings together industrial and academic scientists from all over the world to discuss the latest advances in this extraordinary multidisciplinary area of research. It is for sure the most relevant conference specifically devoted to Sol–Gel Science and Technology.

The Porto de Galinhas edition was a joint organization between the São Paulo State University—UNESP (Brazil) and the University of Aveiro, (Portugal) reflecting the cultural heritage of the Portuguese language. The conference was the second one to be organized in Brazil and followed the successful series held at Padova, Italy (1981), Wurzburg, Germany (1983), Montpellier, France (1985), Kyoto, Japan (1987), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1989), Sevilla, Spain (1991), Paris, France (1993), Faro, Portugal (1995), Sheffield, UK (1997), Yokohama, Japan (1999), Padova, Italy (2001), Sydney, Australia (2003), Los Angeles, USA (2005) and Montpellier (2007).

SOLGEL 2009 was organized under an exciting scientific program with 360 contributions from more than 1,000 authors of 24 different countries. One keynote lecture, 3 plenary lectures, 24 invited lectures, 72 oral presentations and 260 poster presentations were designed to encourage interaction among the 310 participants. The selected papers in this issue illustrate the high scientific level of the conference and the state of the art in this exciting field.

On behalf of the Organizing Committee we wish to thank those who attended the Conference and those who helped its organization. The São Paulo State University—UNESP in Brazil and the University of Aveiro in Portugal are acknowledged for their support. The International Sol–Gel Conference is the official meeting of the International Sol–Gel Society (ISGS) and we thank the staff of the Society for their support.

SOLGEL 2011 will be held in Hangzhou, China. We wish the next organizing committee a successful experience and a fantastic and fruitful event, as we got in Porto de Galinhas last year.