Fourteenth World Round Table Conference on Sintering and IISS

The International Institute for the Science of Sintering (IISS – www.iiss-sci.org) was originally established in 1968 as the International Team for the Study of Sintering, based in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (today the Republic of Serbia) at the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences. The founding assembly was held the following year in Herceg Novi and brought together about one hundred scientists from different parts of the world. This was an open symposium at which all the founders gave plenary lectures on their most up-to-date research. The team decided to organize the conference at the same location every other year. After the first conference, interest in the field grew rapidly, and by 1973 many new members had joined. The International Team for the Study of Sintering soon became the International Institute for the Science of Sintering. At the initiative of the President of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA), Pavle Savić, the Institute received the patronage of SASA and eminent institutions from the member countries. At that time, the Institute played an important role in bringing scientists from all over the world closer together. This was especially significant during the Cold War, when Yugoslavia was one of the places where scientists from the East and West could meet.

The XI World Round Table Conference on Sintering was held from September 2–6, 2019, in the same hotel complex where the very first Founders’ Conference had been held fifty years earlier. It was organized jointly with the 21^st Annual Conference of the Materials Research Society of Serbia (YUCOMAT) in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. This cooperation proved beneficial for both sides and was therefore continued. The XII WRTCS was held from August 29 to September 2, 2022, in Herceg Novi, jointly with the 23^rd YUCOMAT, when approximately 30 new members were elected. The XIII WRTCS was subsequently held from September 2 to 6, 2024, in Herceg Novi, jointly with the 25^th Jubilee YUCOMAT Conference.

Since the formation of the Institute in 1969, 183 prominent scientists from the fields of the science and technology of sintering and related phenomena have been elected as members, making the IISS a unique international scientific community. The Institute currently has 93 active members, continuing a long tradition of international cooperation and scientific exchange in the field of sintering.

The XIV WRTCS 2027 will continue this tradition and will be held jointly with the 28^th Annual YUCOMAT Conference, bringing together the international scientific communities of sintering and materials science in Herceg Novi.