Theacknowledgmentofthefundamentalrolethatthecreationofacommon internationalforumforresearchersofthediversecommunitiescouldplayfor theadvancementofthisresearch?eldmotivatedthepresentseriesofwo- shopsonmultipleclassi?ersystems. Followingitspredecessors, MultipleCl- si?erSystems2000(SpringerISBN3-540-67704-6)and2001(SpringerISBN 3-540-42284-6),thisvolumecontainstheproceedingsoftheThirdInternational WorkshoponMultipleClassi?erSystems(MCS2002),heldattheGrandHotel ChiaLaguna, Cagliari, Italy,onJune24-26,2002. The29papersselectedby thescienti?ccommitteehavebeenorganizedinsessionsdealingwithbagging andboosting,ensemblelearningandneuralnetworks,combinationstrategies, designmethodologies,analysisandperformanceevaluation,andapplications. Theworkshopprogramandthisvolumeareenrichedwiththreeinvitedtalks givenbyJoydeepGhosh(UniversityofTexas, USA),TrevorHastie(Stanford University, USA),andSarunasRaudys(VilniusGediminasTechnicalUniversity, Lithuania). Papersweresubmittedfromresearchersofthefourdiversecom- nities,socon?rmingthatthisseriesofworkshopscanbecomeacommonforum VI Foreword forexchangingviewsandreportinglatestresearchresults. Asfortheprevious editions,thesigni?cantnumberofpapersdealingwithrealpatternrecognition applicationsareproofofthepracticalutilityofmultipleclassi?ersystems. This workshopwassupportedbytheUniversityofCagliari, Italy,theUniversityof Surrey, Guildford, UnitedKingdom,andtheDepartmentofElectricalandEl- tronicEngineeringoftheUniversityofCagliari. Allthesesupportsaregratefully acknowledged. WealsothanktheInternationalAssociationforPatternRecog- tionanditsTechnicalCommitteeTC1onStatisticalPatternRecognitionTe- niquesforsponsoringMCS2002. Wewishtoexpressourappreciationtoallthose whohelpedtoorganizeMCS2002. Firstofall,wewouldliketothankallthe membersoftheScienti?cCommitteewhoseprofessionalismwasinstrumental increatingaveryinterestingtechnicalprogram. Specialthanksareduetothe membersoftheOrganizingCommittee, GiorgioFumera, GiorgioGiacinto,and GianLucaMarcialisfortheir