Materials Science at Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland, has a distinguished past as well as a promising future. Trinity College published the first book on optics in English by Molyneux (1692). The work of Hamilton, Lloyd, Fitzgerald and others in the 19th century are impressive antecedents for today's research as well, which now enjoys broader horizons and new research opportunities due to major funding by the European Community (EC) and other agencies.

In the Departments of Chemistry and Pure and Applied Physics, internationally recognized research groups are pursuing materials-oriented research in laser physics and nonlinear optics, surfaces and interfaces, magnetic materials, polymers, and theoretical solid-state physics and chemistry.

The current research, described in the following two sections, has for many years resulted from close collaboration in the materials area among researchers in both departments. Common interests have led the departments to establish an honors degree course in the science of materials. The final section discusses the aims of this course.