Preface: Contrib. Plasma Phys. 1/2012

This special issue contains papers presented at the International Conference on Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems (SCCS), held between 24 and 29 July 2011, in Budapest. The Budapest conference was the 12th in the series, which started in 1977: The purpose of the conferences is to provide a regular international forum for the presentation and discussion of research achievements and ideas relating to a variety of plasma, liquid and condensed matter systems that are dominated by strong Coulomb interactions between their constituents. Each meeting has seen an evolution of topics and emphases that have followed new discoveries and new techniques. The field has continued to see new experimental tools and access to new strongly coupled conditions, most recently in the areas of warm matter, dusty plasmas, condensed matter, heavy ion collision physics, and ultra-cold plasmas, as reflected in the conference topics: • Dense and astrophysical plasmas • Plasmas in condensed matter • Confined and mesoscopic Coulomb systems • High energy-density plasmas in the laboratory • Classical charged systems • Developments in theoretical methods and numerical techniques One hundred colleagues came from nineteen countries and four continents to participate in the Conference. Those giving presentations were asked to contribute to this special issue to make a representative record of this exciting meeting