The time for the 20th ICMFM Conference is close and we need to meet some decisions about its realization. There is no need to say that the COVID-19 Pandemic is the crucial factor that has to be considered.

Obviously, the health and safety of all participants of the 20^th ICMFM Conference is for us a non-negotiable priority. We are happy to notice that some optimistic signals are gradually observed in countries that have been largely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Yet, we are afraid, that it is not realistic to expect that the situation will be fully normalized within the remaining few months up to the Conference starting date and issues like travel restrictions, flight schedules, hotel accommodation, or even the 20^th ICMFM event which itself is expected to gather more 150 people, are of great concern.

Therefore, we have decided to postpone the 20^th ICMFM Conference, which was initially planned for 2^nd to 4^th September 2020, and shift it to the second half of 2021: 15th to 17th September. The location, namely the Wrocław City in Poland, as well as the Conference Venue will remain the same. At the same time, we would like to inform you that due to the pandemic, it was decided to organize the conference in a virtual mode "vICMFM 2020".

Fatigue damage represents one of the most important types of damage to which structural materials are subjected to normal industrial services that can finally result in a sudden and unexpected abrupt fracture. Since metal alloys are still today the most used materials in designing the majority of components and structures able to carry the highest service loads, the study of the different aspects of metals fatigue attracts the permanent attention of scientists, engineers, and designers. The first International Colloquium on Mechanical Fatigue of Metals (ICMFM) was organized in Brno, Czech Republic in 1968. Afterward, regular Colloquia on Mechanical Fatigue of Metals started in 1972 also in Brno and were originally limited to participants from the countries of the former “Eastern Block”.

They continued until the 12th Colloquium in 1994 (Miskolc, Hungary) every two years. After a break twelve years long, the Colloquia restarted in 2006 (Ternopil, Ukraine), followed by the ones in 2008 (Varna, Bulgaria), 2010 (Opole, Poland), 2012 (Brno, Czech Republic), 2014 (Verbania, Italy), 2016 (Gijon, Asturias, Spain) until the last one, which was organized in 2018 in Porto City, Portugal with the aim of opening the Colloquium to participants from all countries interested in the subject of fatigue of metallic materials.

The XX International Colloquium on Mechanical Fatigue of Metals (ICMFM XX) will be organized on 15–17 September 2021 in a virtual form (vICMFM XX), in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, in Wrocław City, Poland. This International Colloquium is intended to facilitate and encourage the exchange of knowledge and experiences among the different communities involved in both basic and applied research in this field, the fatigue of metals, looking at the problem of fatigue from a multiscale perspective, and exploring analytical and numerical simulative approaches, without losing the perspectives of the application.