During the last 15 years spectacular advances have been made
in controlling quantum systems composed of atomic
constituents, revolutionizing the field of traditional
atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics and opening up
new and spectacular avenues in such diverse areas as
precision spectroscopy, quantum information, quantum
many-body and condensed matter physics. The challenge is now
to reach the same level of control in molecular systems, for
which the presence of additional microscopic degrees of
freedom promises a new era for quantum physics and
chemistry. In this emerging, strongly multi-disciplinary
field, challenges range from the production of cold and
ultracold molecules to the application of these cold and
ultracold molecules to precision spectroscopy, few-body and
many-body quantum physics, chemical physics, and quantum
chemistry. It is the aim of this conference to bring
together scientists from these diverse fields, which are now
contributing to an increasing extent to developing new ideas
and approaches for the realization of cold and ultracold
molecular gases and to identifying new research directions
and applications of these novel systems. This conference
will be structured to initiate and foster intensive
collaborations, in particular between theory and experiment,
which will be an essential ingredient for the overall
progress of this interdisciplinary field.