The Materials Research Society of Singapore (MRS-S) was established in 1999 as a not-for-profit organization to serve a rapidly emerging materials science community in Singapore. The Society is a member of the International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS).

MRS-S has the privilege of organising IUMRS – International Conference in Asia (ICA 2003, 2009, 2015), International Conference on Advanced Materials (ICMAT 2023), IUMRS – International Conference on Electronic Materials (ICEM 2016), and IUMRS – International Conference of Young Researchers on Advanced Materials (ICYRAM 2012) and serving IUMRS in different capacities including Presidentship. For fostering collaboration between different adhering bodies of IUMRS, MRS-S initiated the Trilateral Conference on Advanced Materials for bringing together scientists from China, India, and Singapore together and it 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2025.

Since its inception the focus of MRS-S has been to promote materials science not only to researchers in Singapore, but also to publicise the niche capabilities of local researchers throughout Asia and further afield.

To this end, the Society’s major activity is the organization of a biannual event – the International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies or ICMAT – that is usually held in July which attracts more than 2,000 delegates from all over the world. MRS-S has the credit of attracting more than 25,000 participants including Nobel Laureates for the first 12 editions and organising Nobel Laureate Public Lectures for the benefit of non-conference participants.