The 2024 International Symposium on New Materials Interdisciplinary Frontiers was held in Wuhan from November 1 to 4. The conference was co-organized by the School of Materials Science and Engineering and the Office of International Affairs of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. More than 20 experts from home and abroad gathered to discuss the latest research and cutting-edge topics of new materials and their interdisciplinary fields, facilitating integration and innovation across multiple disciplines, and promoting new developments in the field of materials.

Prof. Zhai Tianyou, Deputy Dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering, introduced the development and current situation of the School of Materials Science and Engineering, and highlighted the significant progress made in the exploration of new materials. He said that promoting international exchange and cooperation in the field of materials is a prevailing trend, and that this symposium aims to provide scholars with a high-level academic platform to foster collaboration and innovation across multiple disciplines.

Chen Jie, Director of the Office of International Affairs, extended a warm welcome to the participants on behalf of the university, and introduced the overall status of international exchange and cooperation at HUST, highlighting the characteristics and advantages in the field of materials. She expressed the hope that the forum would become a regular occurrence where experts and scholars from all over the world could promote technological innovation and the wide application of mew materials, provide support for building an innovative society in China, and make greater contributions to global scientific and technological development.

Young Hee Lee, a member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as a professor at the Department of Energy Science and Physics, Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, gave a speech on Van der Waals-Layered Magnetic Semiconductors: Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors (DMSs). His works mainly focus on two-dimensional ferromagnetic materials. He introduced a novel semiconducting WSe₂ with a magnetic vanadium dopant, which can achieve manifest Tc at room temperature and gate tunability at low doping concentration. This research opens a new pathway to change the Curie temperature of ferromagnetic materials and is expected to further advance the research and application of two-dimensional ferromagnetic materials.

Afterwards, experts from Sungkyunkwan University, the University of Pennsylvania, University of New South Wales, Nanyang Technological University, St. Petersburg University, and other famous universities at home and abroad reported on cutting-edge issues in the cross-cutting field of materials, such as preparation methods, performance research, and industrial applications of various types of new materials. The reports covered many hot topics, such as solar cells, memristors, electrocatalysis and more. The participants engaged in in-depth discussions on these issues, and the seminar was a great success!

The 2024 International Symposium on New Materials Interdisciplinary Frontiers was initiated by the School of Materials Science and Engineering, HUST. The conference not only showcased the latest research results in the field of new materials but also provided new ideas for future research directions and international cooperation.

Written by: Pengfei Guan, Ke Ning

Edited by: Chang Wen, Peng Yumeng