Current developments in geomechanics and geoengineering are motivated by many theoretically- and technically-challenging applications such as construction activities in difficult grounds, disposal of nuclear waste and unconventional energy extraction. In recognition that most of the observed complexity of geotechnical problems emerges at different length scales, it appears crucial for the geotechnical community to develop multi-scale approaches to provide reliable solutions to the aforementioned issues. Therefore, great efforts have been devoted over the past decades to advance the development of theoretical concepts, computational methodologies and experimental techniques and to conduct detailed examinations of well-documented field cases at different length scales.

The Multi-Scale Geomechanics and Geo-engineering (MSGG) symposium series serves as a specialized forum to discuss and exchange knowledge pertinent to the most recent theoretical, experimental, computational and practical advancements in geomechanics and geoengineering and to inspire explorations on the wide open and unexplored horizons from a multi-scale perspective.

The first two symposia were held in Nanjing (2013) and in Wuhan (2014). The attendees of these two events were mostly young Chinese researchers who have made a part of their study or career abroad. To bring together researchers from more diverse backgrounds and to enhance international collaboration, the 3rd Symposium on Multi-Scale Geomechanics and Geo-engineering is planned to be an international conference and will be held at Tongji University, Shanghai, China in November 9-13, 2016.

This international symposium will be jointly organized by Tongji University, Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering and Université des Sciences et Technologie de Lille 1. The organizers are very pleased to hold this event and would like to invite researchers and practitioners worldwide to present, share and cooperate in MSGG-Tongji 2016.