The European Virtual Institute on Knowledge-based Multifunctional Materials AISBL (KMM-VIN) has been founded under the auspices of the European Commission as a single legal entity with a supranational character to foster integrated research, educational and innovation activities in the field of knowledge-based multifunctional materials (shortly KMM). The KMM-VIN (www.kmm-vin.eu) is an international non-profit association (AISBL) based in Brussels and incorporated under Belgian law (No d'entreprise 889 462 185).

KMM-VIN has emerged from the FP6 Network of Excellence ‘Knowledge-based Multicomponent Materials for Durable and Safe Performance’ (KMM-NoE) devoted to the study, understanding, design and development of new advanced materials of a ceramic, metallic, metal-ceramic or intermetallic, homogeneous or heterogeneous nature, or which are functionally graded, with a view to enhancing their functional properties and characteristics: reducing their bulk density, improving their performance on exposure to extreme temperatures, providing them with greater toughness, reducing fatigue during their service life, increasing their resistance to wear, corrosion, and oxidation.