Exploring a New Frontier of Small

Small has fared well in 2015. Eleven years ago, Small was launched in response to the emerging field of nano- and microscale research. Since then, the journal has grown tremendously; in its first year, Small was a monthly journal with a number of submissions just under 500 but, by 2015, the journal has turned into a weekly publication and receives annual submissions of around 4000. With its highest-ever impact factor of 8.368 announced this year, Small continues to be a flagship journal for research in materials science and nanotechnology. Along with the expansion of our journal, as a multidisciplinary area, nano- and microscale research has also experienced a rapid enrichment over the last decade, showing increasing impact in energy, electronics, medicine, and life sciences. Focusing on the current frontiers in nano- and microscale research, the second Small Sciences Symposium was organized in Beijing in September 2015 as an independent session of the China Nano 2015 conference. This symposium received a great deal of support from advisory board members of Small and other journals from the Advanced family. Some of the best regarded names in the research community presented recent advances in diverse fields, ranging from biomimetic surfaces to sustainable energy. This highly successful conference saw the inauguration this year of the Small Young Innovator Awards, which recognizes outstanding, interdisciplinary scientific work in the fundamental understanding of nanoscience and nanotechnology. This year, the prize was awarded to Prof. Xiaodong Chen and Prof. Yi Cui, who come from Nanyang Technological University and Stanford University, respectively. Both winners also gave excellent talks at the Small Sciences Symposium, and received a warm response from the audience. In the first issue of 2016, you may also notice a special series of invited reviews and concept articles, highlighting many recent advances in the frontiers of Small science, such as superwettability, 2D functional materials, tissue engineering, smart sensors, and light-induced water splitting. This dedicated issue was contributed by our distinguished advisory board members, and we will be continuing this series in 2016, with over 30 articles to be published in total. With the continued evolution of materials science, the Advanced family of journals also has some exciting developments. We were pleased to see that Advanced Materials Interfaces and Advanced Electronic Materials have been accepted for listing in the Web of Science, making them more accessible and discoverable for all. In the coming year, Advanced Materials Technologies will be a new member of the Advanced Materials journal family, providing a venue for the publication of articles that focus on applications (including device design) and technologies based on novel materials. In closing this editorial and opening the special issue, we would like to sincerely thank the authors, reviewers, and editorial board members around the world, who have contributed and helped us to identify the excellent papers for our journal over the passing years. It is our honor to work with you together to maintain journal excellence and a quality service to the research community. Our best wishes for the new year!