The ability to directly assess, manipulate, assemble and functionalize matter at the level of small scale atomic assemblies and beyond has opened-up an ongoing revolution which is bound to impact on every aspects of human life. Indeed, whereas successive ages of mankind have been labeled according to new generation of materials and their uses, from stone to silicon and onwards, we might very well be witnessing the emergence of a new "Nano age" or even a new "Nanobio age". In such a perspective, no domain of humain activity would remain untouched and this new era is bound to encompass almost all knowledge-based activities, all the way to daily life and societal issues.
The main goal of the workshop will be to allow for a critical reappraisal based on an already signficant and well established record track of successes and eventual pitfalls, if only to help push forward the domain and concentrate the effort towards relevant and better focused directions.