Cosmic dust traces a wide range of physical and chemical processes, ranging from the solar system to the high-redshift universe. Infrared and millimeter radiation from dust grains has served as the best tool to detect and characterize structures from proto-planetary discs around nearby brown dwarfs to distant quasars. Analysis of the first cometary dust particles collected have opened exciting new views on individual cosmic dust particles. Solid particles play an enormously important role in the life cycle of cosmic matter by providing the surface on which chemical reactions take place. They also interact with radiation, cosmic rays, and gas particles to determine the thermal, ionization, and dynamical state of matter.

These proceedings summarize the results of the international conference "Cosmic Dust—Near and Far" that was held at the Convention Center in Heidelberg, Germany, from September 8–12, 2008. The goal of the meeting was to bring together researchers in the various fields of astrophysics in which dust is a ma-jor player in our understanding of cosmic evolution. The meeting covered new findings and future pros-pects for cosmic dust research in environments as diverse as the solar system, brown dwarf and plane-tary atmospheres, evolved stars, supernovae, the Milky Way and other galaxies, and the early universe. Observational results, theoretical models, and the outcome of laboratory experiments were discussed during the meeting, and their implications for future ground-based facilities and space missions have been highlighted.