The MatTech Conferences were initiated in the late 1980s – early 1990s by Finnish scientist Kaj Lillius (Aalto University) and Ukrainian scientist Viktor Trefilov (Frantsevich Institute for Problems of Materials Science) to promote the exchange of scientific results in the development, characterization, and processing of advanced materials. Four MatTech conferences were held: two in Helsinki (Finland), one in Strasbourg (France), and one in Saint Petersburg (Russia). The MatTech initiative was supported by the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) and the Federation of European Materials Societies (FEMS).
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the MatTech conferences were interrupted. However, the Frantsevich Ukrainian Materials Research Society and the Frantsevich Institute for Problems of Materials Science (Ukraine) decided to continue these conferences under the brand of HighMatTech. In 2021 and 2023, the HighMatTech conferences (HMT-2021 and HMT-2023) were successfully held in a hybrid format (with the main online venue in Kyiv, Ukraine) despite the challenges of recent years, such as the Covid pandemic and the full-scale war.
