Since Professor Enrique Tirapegui (1940-2020) created it in December 1985, this workshop has been a regular fixture in the Viña del Mar or in Valparaíso, Chile. It has continued over the last ten years with the help of his students and colleagues. During this workshop, specialists from the region and the rest of the world will have a stimulating environment to present and discuss their results with the nonlinear and statistical mechanics community. Since its inception, the main objective of the workshop has been to encourage and support the participation of young scientists and multidisciplinary interactions with more experienced professionals from several fields of nonlinear science and statistical mechanics.

This conference is the oldest in South America and is strictly dedicated to the study of nonlinear science and statistical mechanics. The workshop has been a fundamental element for the development of the discipline in the region. Through collaboration between researchers from the region and from all continents of the planet and through the exchange of young researchers and students.

The Proceedings of the first nine sessions have been regularly published with Kluwer Academic Publishers (Holland) in the Series on Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems of the Center for Nonlinear Physics and Complex Systems of Santiago (CFNL), a center founded by Prof. Tirapegui . The Proceedings of the 11th Session appeared in a select issue of the International Journal of Bifurcations and Chaos, and the Proceedings of the 12th Session were published in a special issue of the European Journal of Physics D. The Proceedings of the 16th Session session have been published. in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. The proceedings of the 17th session have been published in Chaos journal. The most outstanding works of the 18th session have been published in Chaos, Soliton & Fractal journal.