Experiments where we observe the formation of structure from some kind of 'atoms' show a general pattern: there is interaction between the atoms, interaction with some kind of 'environment' and a change in structure (formation or disappearance) according to some change in the environment. Despite that spin glasses, molecules, clusters of atoms, crystals and liquids may seem very different at first, the concept of energy landscapes and methods for their characterization has proven very useful to decribe some common, important aspects of these systems.

This lecture introduces the participants to the concept of 'energy landscapes' and its application to the description of complex systems. We will learn how these energy landscapes relate to the fundamental laws of interaction between the atoms, how we may determine relevant properties of these energy landscapes and how such properties relate to the behaviour observed in experiments.