Metal-ceramic interfaces are involved in a great number of technologies, where specific electrical, optical, magnetic or mechanical properties are required. These properties often depend on the characteristics of the interfaces, such as their atomic structure and composition, as well as the nature of the interfacial bonds. Such relevant characteristics can be obtained by studying the initial stages of the metal-ceramic interface formation, the metallic deposit being condensed from a vapor phase, onto the in situ prepared and well characterized ceramic surface. The usual surface science methods relying on the detection of the electrons emitted under an electron or photon beam can then be used in situ, and information on the interface can be obtained, while it is being formed, provided that the deposited metallic layer is thinner than the escape depth of the detected electrons. Through some examples, we show how it is possible to follow, when the interface is being formed : the growth mode of the metallic film onto the ceramic surface, the atomic structure at the interface (long range and short range order), the chemical bond formation, the composition of the interface, and the possible formation of an interfacial new compound.