The quest for ``good'' point configurations is ubiquitous in many applications
of mathematics, and of course in mathematics itself as well: any discretisation
of a continuous object has to satisfy an (intrinsic or extrinsic) quality
measure. Point sets or discretisations minimising a given quality measure are
of special importance. Many such quality measures have been introduced and
studied.

The first week is dedicated to a winter school with lecture series

• Dmitriy Bilyk, University of Minnesota: Minimal energy, packing, and covering

• Thomas Leblé, CNRS, Université de Paris: Statistical mechanics of particle systems.

These lecture series give the opportunity to reach and
educate PhD-students and young researchers interested in the subject. Of course, besides the winter school there will be enough time for scientific interaction.

The second week is dedicated to a workshop which brings together researchers working on the subject and giving them the
opportunity to exchange recent results and to cooperate.