I warmly congratulate the Materials Research Society (MRS) for celebrating its 50th anniversary of supporting the interdisciplinary materials research community. In this special issue of MRS Communications, we have brought together some of the best expertise and contributions from our Advisory Board, Editorial Board, MRS Communications Lecturers and friends of the journal.

MRS Communications strives to attract the best new ideas from esteemed researchers and authors through the Research Letter and Prospective formats. Since its founding more than 12 years ago, the journal has been attracting contributions from leaders in all areas of materials research. We intend for the journal to be a platform for peers and communities to make it a home for their publication priorities. In this tradition, we have invited esteemed colleagues Vladimir Tsukruk, Róisín Owens, Jürgen Stampfl, Clara Santato, Jason Locklin, Roger Narayan, Sossina Haile, Timothy Long, Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez, Christophe Moser, Lijun Zhang, Chang Kyu Jeong, Pengfei Cao, Ankit Agrawal, Puxian Gao, Walter Voit, Giuseppe Strangi, Yong Zhang, Shinji Takeoka, Katherine Cimatu and others (apologies to authors not on this list, whose papers were not yet published at the time of this writing) to contribute to this commemorative issue. Topics include 2D nanomaterials, polymers for energy and storage, advanced catalysis, AI-directed materials, biomaterials, theory and simulation, quantum materials, additive manufacturing and advanced solid-state devices—all at the forefront of current materials research.

MRS Communications intends to disseminate transformative ideas and cutting-edge discoveries in our highly interdisciplinary field. We strive to have high intellectual value, long-term impact and broad coverage of advanced materials research. In celebrating with this special issue, I also acknowledge the past leadership of Paul McIntyre and Peter Green. We invite you to join us in our next issues as an author or leading a topical issue in your own field of expertise.

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Rigoberto C. Advincula

Editor-in-Chief

MRS Communications

UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair Professor

University of Tennessee (UTK) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

ACS Fellow, POLY Fellow, PMSE Fellow, NATAS Fellow, FRSC