Entirely new phenomena appear in solids as their characteristic dimensions reach the nanometer scale,comparable to the de Broglie wavelength of the electrons and other fundamental length scales such as the Debye screening length. The experimental characterization and theoretical description of these phenomena are currently pursued with great intensity worldwide. PIs of the IMPRS-CMS are among the leaders of research on nano-electronics, molecular magnetism, magnetic nano structures, diamond-based quantum computation and magnetometry, nano-optics and plasmonics, nano-chemistry, nano-ionics, nano-fluidics, and application of solid-state nanostructures in biology. IMPRS-CMS students will thus be able to experience and explore many facets of research at the frontier of this field.