The series "Unifying concepts in glass physics" was initiated with a 1999 meeting at the Abdus Salam ICTP , in Trieste. The motivation for the meeting was a feeling that the ongoing research activity, focused around the study of the structural glass transition in liquids at low temperatures and the theory of spin glasses, was leading toward an increased appreciation of universal aspects of glassiness. It was thus thought desirable to bring together researchers conducting (mainly) theoretical and computational investigations of different glassy systems, in the hope of promoting an exchange of ideas about recent developments and of exploring interactions between different approaches that may play a key role in addressing outstanding problems.

Subsequent editions were held in Rome (2002), Bangalore (2004 --  proceedings ), Kyoto (2008), and Paris (2011).  Over the years the workshop has attracted a vast array of researchers conducting theoretical and computational investigations of glassiness. Meanwhile, glass physics has steadily progressed. Dynamical heterogeneities, glassy correlation lengths, and exactly solvable microscopic models have provided new perspectives on supercooled liquids; theoretical progress has enhanced our understanding quantum glassy phenomena; and glass analogs have been discovered in error correction codes and satisfiability problems.

Continuing the spirit of the previous editions, the 2015 workshop in Aspen will focus on universal aspects in the behavior of glassy systems. The program will include traditional themes of the series, such as supercooled liquids and structural glasses, spin glasses, and disordered systems, as well as interdisciplinary themes that have emerged in recent years, such as jamming in colloidal and granular systems as well as glassiness in information theory and computer science.