This volume contains the contributions presented at the IUTAM Symposium on Asymptotic Methods for Turbulent Shear Flows. The volume provides an overview of current findings in this field and presents results found worldwide. Asymptotic theory is here considered as the application of perturbation methods (singular perturbation methods, multiscale methods, rapid distortion theory etc) to solving the Reynolds- averaged flow equations for turbulent shear flows at high Reynolds numbers. These methods play an important role in turbulence modelling, as is demonstrated by many examples, including turbulence models describing flow separation. It becomes evident that asymptotic methods enable the extraction of a fairly comprehensive set of results from the governing equations without incorporating a specific turbulence model a priority. Furthermore, these methods can be used to quickly eliminate unsatisfactory models.