The first of an intended biennial symposium, the First International Symposium on New Materials for Fuel Cell Systems, was held at the Montreal Bonaventure Hilton, Canada, from 9 to 13 July 1995. The symposium, which was organised by the Laboratoire d'Electrochimie et de Materiaux Energetiques, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, concentrated on the material science of fuel cell systems, rather than on applications. As such, all aspects of the fuel cell system, namely catalyst, electrolyte and fuel processing components were dealth with. The meeting attracted some 120 delegates, including a large number of participants from industry.The keynote address was delivered by A.J. Appleby from Texas A & M University, who discussed New Materials for Fuel Cell Systems . He stressed the importance of the electrolyte, since it determines the properties required for the other materials in the system. In practice, only a limited choice of materials is available: strong acids, strong aqueous alkalis, molten alkali carbonates and solid oxides.Appleby pointed out that there are gaps in the operating temperature ranges of fuel cells due to a lack of suitable electrolytes; for example there is a gap between the upper operating temperature of phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs): 210°C, and the lower operating temperature for molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC): 625°C; and similarly between the upper temperature for the MCFC: 675°C, and the lower temperature for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs): 900°C. The temperature windows, in which fuel cells are operated, are set by their performance characteristics at the lower temperature and by material characteristics (stability and resistance to corrosion) at the upper temperature.