The bilateral French-Russian workshop on SHS was held at ISMAN (Chernogolovka, Russia) on October 6–8, 2003. It was coorganized by ISMAN and Groupe Francais d'Autocombustion, GDR 2391 CNRS, under the aegis of the World Academy of Ceramics, International SHS Association and French Embassy in Moscow. The French delegation comprised of 12 representatives from the French Universities united into a team for SHS research.

The Russian delegation involved the representatives of ISMAN, Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics (Chernogolovka), Institute of Steel and Alloys (Moscow), Bauman Technical University (Moscow), Tomsk Research Center (Tomsk), Institute of Solid-State Chemistry and Mechanochemistry (Novosibirsk).

In his word of greeting, Acad. Yu. A. Osip'yan wished the participants a success and further strengthening of international cooperation in the field of SHS.

Prof. J. C. Niepce, the head of the French delegation, told about the destination of Groupe Francais d'Autocombustion that unites not only 24 SHS researchers from 14 french laboratories but also is a structural unit of CNRS with its own budget. It is interesting to note that Prof. Niepce is a descendant of Joseph Nicephore Niepce, welknown inventor of heliography (photography) but, also, and it is almost unknown, of the first internal combustion engine whose patent was signed by Napoleon I on 1807 (Napoleon Bonaparte)!

Acad. A. G. Merzhanov presented an historical sketch on the origin and development of SHS research in Russia, on the current problems of Russian science, and on the ways of their overcoming.

34 presentations made during the workshop have clarified the areas of mutual interests: effect of external influences on SHS, mechanoactivation, time-resolved XRD of SHS, combustion of thin films, deposition of coatings, and controlled structuring of SHS products.

In conclusion, Acad. A. G. Merzhanov and Prof. J. C. Niepce signed an agreement on mutual cooperation that makes provision for (1) basic research in the field of structural macrokinetics, (2) joint R&D of new materials (including nanophased and foam materials), (3) joint elaboration of new processes and facilities, (4) setting up a European Laboratory for SHS research, and (5) organization of joint ventures for manufacturing SHS products in Russia and France.

It was also decided to the held of the next bilateral workshop in France in 2004.