The conference recorded in this volume was one of the events organised to celebrate the centenary of the (re)establishment of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, on Blackford Hill in 1884. Circumstellar Matter was selected as the topic because of important contributions toward research in the field by recent observations in the infrared and submillimetre, particularly with the two telescopes which the Observatory has both operated and built instru­ mentation for - the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The programme aimed to cover as many aspects of circumstellar matter as could fit into a one-week meeting, omitting only planetary nebulae, which had been well served by meetings in the previous two years. We thank the international scientific advisory com­ mittee (overleaf) for their help in selecting the Invited Reviewers around which the programme was built. The Invited Reviews and oral contributions are included in the order and sections in which they were presented, even where re-ordering might have been more logical. We did not attempt to categorise the poster contributions but have included them in alphabetical order. An evening session for viewing and discussing posters in an unhurried atmosphere was very successful. A competition for the best poster was held and the prize was awarded for that by Lindqvist, Lucas, Olofsson, Omont, Eriksson & Gustafsson.