AbstractMost eigenvalue problems arising in practice are known to be structured. Structure is often introduced by discretization and linearization techniques but may also be a consequence of properties induced by the original problem. Preserving this structure can help preserve physically relevant symmetries in the eigenvalues of the matrix and may improve the accuracy and efficiency of an eigenvalue computation. The purpose of this brief survey is to highlight these facts for some common matrix structures. This includes a treatment of rather general concepts such as structured condition numbers and backward errors as well as an overview of algorithms and applications for several matrix classes including symmetric, skew‐symmetric, persymmetric, block cyclic, Hamiltonian, symplectic and orthogonal matrices. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)