From October 31 to November 1, 2015, the 2015 Seminar on Functional Oxide Materials (SFOM-2015) was held at South China University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTC). Present were tens of experts and scholars from universities and research institutions such as Tsinghua University, Institute of Physics CAS, Nanjing University, University of Science and Technology of China, Nanyang Technological University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, National Chiao Tung University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and SUSTC. Academician Chen Shiyi, president of SUSTC, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a welcome speech. Prof. Chen Lang from the Department of Physics chaired the seminar.

In his speech, Chen introduced SUSTC’s situation of running and future development direction and objective to the experts present.

Prof. Zhao Yusheng, director of the Division of Scientific Research, delivered a speech at the seminar. He expected domestic and foreign peers to offer strong support for the construction of SUSTC’s Center for Neutron Scattering Research.

Prof. He Jiaqing, dean of the Department of Physics, introduced the department’s situation and development plan to the attendees.

Academician Yao Xi from Xi’an Jiaotong University spoke on behalf of academicians. As a functional oxide meeting organized by SUSTC, SFOM-2015 represents the debut of Shenzhen’s universities in this research field, and is distinctive with a grand concentration of relevant materials scientists and physicists, he noted, expecting that SFOM will continue as an annual meeting.

During the two-day seminar, 34 physicists and materials scientists in the field of functional oxide research from universities and institutions such as Tsinghua University, Institute of Physics CAS, Nanjing University, University of Science and Technology of China, Nanyang Technological University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, National Chiao Tung University, and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology made informative and impressive presentations.

SFOM-2015 displayed the latest progress of researches on the application of functional oxides such as strong correlation, semiconductor, multiferroic, ferroelectric, piezoelectric in fields such as materials science, physics and devices, presented some amazing new results, created a high-end platform for the attendees to extensively discuss functional oxide materials with top scientists and active young researchers and make academic exchanges with them, was widely received and highly praised by attending experts. The seminar cemented exchanges between functional oxide peers, activated the atmosphere of scientific research in this region, and enhanced the academic influence of South China in this field. Many renowned universities and research institutions expressed the willingness to continue undertaking it.