In the aftermath of the catastrophic tsunamis in 2004 in the Indian Ocean and in 2011 in Tohoku, Japan, the community of the tsunami specialists and of the researchers involved in tsunami studies has grown drastically. Current challenges in tsunami science are related to robust hazard analysis taking into account uncertainties and probabilities, thus covering a wide spectrum of methodologies and techniques ranging from tsunami observations to numerical modeling. While the vulnerability of populations, of infrastructures and of the built environment in coastal zones increases everywhere, integrated plans for tsunami risk prevention and mitigation should be furthermore encouraged in any exposed coastline. This aspect is essential to provide the most efficient response to the operational warning messages issued by a growing number of Tsunami Warning Systems. This session offers a unique opportunity to present recent research on tsunami issues, encompassing field data, regional hazard studies, observation databases, numerical modeling, risk studies, real time networks, operational tools and procedures towards a most efficient warning