The Second International Symposium on Functional Nanomaterials (ISFN) was held in DCU on the 6th and 7th September. The goal of organising the meeting was to bring together a group of creative thinkers working in Functional Materials, and to encourage participation in discussions and exchanges that will hopefully generate new ideas, research directions and collaborative networks. The symposium is particularly appropriate as Dublin was designated a City of Science by the Lord Mayor of Dublin at the beginning of the year. This designation is to celebrate Dublin hosting Europe’s largest science event, the Euroscience Open Forum which was hosted by Dublin in July. Functional Materials brings together a multitude of knowledge domains, ranging across synthetic chemistry, surface analysis and visualisation, sensor science, nanotechnology, microfluidics. It has the potential to impact significantly in every aspect of life, and more than ever, it will form the basis of a multitude of applications with tremendous commercial potential.

This is inherently a very multidisciplinary topic – and no on person can be fully aware of developments across the various knowledge domains that can contribute to functional materials; from fundamental science to applied technologies and device prototyping. This symposium therefore presented an opportunity to renew contacts, and generate new friendships. The conference was a huge success, congratulations to the organisors.