Materials science and engineering is an academic field studying a wide range of materials from an atomic level to application-specific materials. Outputs from materials research are being applied to the industry of steel processing, ceramic engineering, and polymer materials as well as the electronic-magnetic and bio-materials relevant to the core information technology.
 
The objective of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering is as follows:
 
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University will provide innovative frontiers of the materials science, contribute to the development of the science, and train resources to be leaders in the future materials society through the education.
 
Undergraduate students will learn engineering basics and build up materials-specific knowledge to be professionals in the industry or graduate programs who can play major roles in the community. Graduate students will add their knowledge of materials in depth to improve their capability of problem solving and to pursue creative thinking which leads to the development and the improvement of materials in the related research fields.
 
Faculty members of the department will expand the boundaries of the research area and create innovative frontiers of materials science, and serve the society using the knowledge accumulated through research and education.