The First Regional Conference on Magnetic and Superconducting Materials (MSM99)organized and mooted by Professor M. Akhavan at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran is the first of series of MSM conferences planned to be held biannually in the regional countries. The purpose of these meetings is to bring together regional and international groups of researchers and technologists to discuss new results and current problems in the area of superconductivity and magnetism. The objective of these conferences is to increase collaboration within the region and with the international community among the scientists. It is only through the sharing of experiences with scientists around the world that one could fully benefit from natural and human resources. Using the vast technological and human resources in the region is the greatest opportunity and challenge for development and progress.

            Ever since the first conference , which was dubbed as "a First World conference in a Third World country" several different subsequent MSM conferences have been organized. The 2nd MSM conf. (MSM01) was organized by Prof. Mahmood at Yarmouk University in Jordan during 9-13 Sept. 2001, and the proceedings were published in Physica B 321 (2004). At this meeting it was decided, due to the vast international participation in the conference, to change the name of the series from �regional� to �international�. The 3rd MSM (MSM03) was organized by Prof. Cheikhrouhou in Tunisia during 1-4 Sept. 2003, and the Proceedings were published in Physica Status Solidi c 1 (2004), The 4th MSM (MSM05) was organized by Dr. Taoufik in Morocco during 5-8 Sept. 2005, and the Proceedings are published in Phys. Stat. Sol. c 3 (2006). Finally, the 5th MSM (MSM07) was organized by Dr. S.S. Saxena through the University of Cambridge and Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences in Khiva, Uzbekistan during 25-30 Sept. 2007. Overall, MSM has been a very successful series of conferences with many eminent international scientists attending each conference. This series has been held on a biannual basis, and this year India is the host to the 6th International Conference on Magnetic and Superconducting Materials (MSM09), which is organized by Professor SahaDasgupta at SN Bose Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata during 11-14 Nov. 2009.

            One of the byproducts of the MSM series has been the thought of a need for a workshop in the field of superconductivity and magnetism for training young scientists and graduate students. Professor Akhavan suggested a biannual international workshop on magnetic and superconducting materials (WMSM) at the MSM05 conference in Morocco, which was approved overwhelmingly. The First International Workshop on Magnetic and Superconducting Materials (WMSM08) was organized by Professors T.K. Lee and M.D. Lan and Professor Akhavan with the guidance of Professor C.W. Chu at the National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan during July 7-10, 2008. The 2nd workshop of this series is scheduled to be organized by Professor M. Farle at the Fachbereich Physik and Center of Nanointegration, University of DuisburgEssen, Germany during Summer of 2010. Discussion is in progress with Professors T.D. Tretyakov and E.U. Antipov to hold the 3rd Workshop (WMSM12) at Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia during the summer of 2014.