Nuclear shells -50 years : International Conference on Nuclear Physics : 49th Meeting on Nuclear Spectroscopy and Nuclear Structure, Dubna, Russia, 21-24 April 1999

It is known that nuclear shells play a particularly important role in the collective motion of nuclear matter and, as a consequence, determine the structure of nuclei, nuclear dynamics, nuclear decay models, etc.In 1999 the nuclear shell model turned fifty, and the 49th meeting on Nuclear Spectroscopy and Nuclear Structure was devoted to nuclear shells in their various manifestations. The talks presented at the conference covered a wide range of experimental and theoretical studies.