The 7th Phase-Field Method and Integrated Computational Materials Engineering Forum (PFM-ICME 2026) was held at the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMR, CAS) from August 28 to 30. The forum was jointly organized by IMR, Xi’an Jiaotong University, and North University of China/University of Science and Technology Beijing.
Prof. WANG Yujia from IMR chaired the opening ceremony. Prof. CHEN Xingqiu, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of IMR, attended the ceremony and delivered a welcome address. On behalf of the organizers, he extended a warm welcome to the attending experts and scholars, and introduced IMR’s research landscape and recent progress in materials science and engineering. He noted that the phase-field method and integrated computational materials engineering are important components of Materials Genome Engineering and intelligent materials design, expressing his hope that the forum would serve as a platform for academic exchange, interdisciplinary integration, and high-quality development in the field.
Prof. ZHAO Yuhong from North University of China and University of Science and Technology Beijing, Chair of the Forum Council, reviewed the development history of the forum since its inception in 2017. She traced its legacy through six previous editions hosted by Northwestern Polytechnical University, Southeast University, North University of China, Beijing Institute of Technology, Central South University, and Zhejiang University. She emphasized that the forum has consistently aimed to provide a high-level academic exchange platform for researchers in the field, and expressed her hope that the free discussions would inspire new ideas and foster new collaborations, jointly advancing both theoretical innovation and engineering applications of the phase-field method and integrated computational materials engineering.
The forum covered five major themes: phase-field simulation of multi-scale microstructural evolution, integrated computational materials engineering and intelligent technologies, phase diagram calculation and applications, phase-field thermodynamics and kinetics, and materials design software development and applications. More than 30 plenary and invited presentations were delivered by experts and scholars from universities and institutes across China, with nearly 100 participants attending. The presentations encompassed theoretical developments and engineering applications of the phase-field method in metallic materials, ferroelectric/ferromagnetic materials, nuclear materials, additive manufacturing, and solidification, fully demonstrating the vigorous growth of the field in recent years.
