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Sintering is, generally speaking, the process of consolidating and densifying a powder compact during high temperature treatment. The process has been used for millennia and more specifically studied and described for about a century. Over the past 20 years, a series of special techniques have been developed with the aim of reducing energy consumption and preserving the environment.

Ten internationally renowned scientists shared their experience in Sintering:

• Prof. Stuart Hampshire, University of Limerick ‐ Ireland “Overview of the Fundamentals of Sintering”;
• Prof. Anne Leriche, Polytechnic University Hauts‐de‐France, Valenciennes ‐ France “Toolbox to control grain growth during densification of ceramics”;
• Prof. Pavol Sajgalik, Academy of Sciences ‐ Slovakia “Miracle versatility of advanced Si3N4: from engineering to functional applications";
• Prof. Gary Messing, Penn State University ‐ USA “Contrasting Microstructure and Densification Processes during Solid State and Liquid Phase Sintering of Al2O3”;
• Dr David Salamon, CEITEC ‐ Czech Republic “Spark Plasma Sintering – design of experiments”;
• Damian Karpowicz and Maweja Kasonde, GeniCore – Poland “Examples of Industrial applications of U‐FAST(SPS) and PPC technologies”;
• Prof. Jon Binner, University of Birmingham ‐ UK “Microwave sintering; what can it and can’t it do?”;
• Prof. Richard Todd, University of Oxford ‐ UK “Flash Sintering – towards faster, cheaper, greener and better Ceramics”;
• Mathias Herrmann, IKTS ‐ Germany “Fundamentals and technology of hot pressing and hot isostatic pressing”;
• Prof. Clive Randall, Penn State University ‐ USA “Utilizing Cold Sintering in the Design and Integration of New Functional Composite Materials”;
• Dr Salvatore Grasso, Southwest Jiaotong University – China and Queen Mary university of London – UK “Impact of high heating rates: from pit firing to ultrafast high‐temperature sintering”.

There were 40 participants from 17 countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States).

A round table took place at the end of the School where all the participants could participate. This round table was animated by Vojtěch Nečina, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague ‐ Czech Republic.

This school was sponsored by the JECS Trust.