Matters is one of the key research fields of the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS). The HKIAS Rising Star Lecture – Materials Science was held at the CityU and online on 5 November 2021 (Friday). The lecture highlighted new research frontiers of the field made possible with the growing world-class innovative materials by three emerging materials science researchers at CityU.