It may be somewhat unexpected to find a special issue of Chemical Monthly dealing with materials science, because the journal is of course especially well known among scientists focusing on synthetic chemistry. However, as the borders between different natural sciences diminish, this is even more so for dividing lines within a specialization such as chemistry. The main challenges in synthetic chemistry are dominated by two driving forces: one is to design novel functional molecules or to find practicable synthetic strategies, especially targeting diagnostics and treatment of diseases; the other is to design novel, high-performance materials to ensure cost-effective and sustainable technological development. The strong interest in the field of developing and designing novel materials leads to a correspondingly large number of conferences on materials science each year. This special issue of Chemical Monthly collects papers presented at the 2nd International Congress on Advanced Material ...