I review the realization of conformal symmetry in the context of non-linear Schroedinger theory,
focussing on models in 2 spatial dimensions. The breaking of conformal symmetry in the quantized model is parametrized by the betafunction, which can be computed exactly. An extension with Chern-Simons terms preserves the conformal symmetry even in the quantum case for certain values
of the coupling. It is shown that this is related to the existence of vortex solutions in the model.