The Raman effect results from inelastic light scattering and reveals molecular and materials specific vibrational patterns for characterization and identification. These proceedings report on the worldwide status of Raman spectroscopy, featuring biological, biomedical, imaging, art, ecological, industrial and forensic applications. The latest developments in surface and tip enhanced Raman, coherent methods, and studies of nanoparticles, semiconductors and novel carbon based materials are highlighted.