The ECT conferences are promoted by the European Thermoelectric Society (ETS) and are the primary annual gathering events in Europe in the field of thermoelectrics (TE). The New Materials & Energy Unit of the European Space Agency is the organizer of the ECT 2013 which will take place at the ESA/ESTEC site in Noordwijk, The Netherlands from November 18th to November 20th. We welcome the participation of the international community of professionals working in the field of thermoelectrics who are committed to contribute substantially to the technological advances necessary for significantly improving the efficiency and the sustainability of (waste) energy conversion systems. The aim of the ECT 2013 conference is to honour the ECT conference's tradition of bringing together innovative academics and industrial experts in the field of thermoelectrics and to promote high quality scientific and technological information interchange of the latest developments on TE materials and module design, manufacturing and testing.