For more than 60 years, the discipline has been adhering to the fine tradition of “take root on the island and thrive in Danzhou”, practicing the cultivation concept of "Promoting the qualities, Expressing the will, and Seeking the truth", insisting on cultivating "high quality professional talents with national sentiment, innovative spirit, solid knowledge, strong practical ability, comprehensive development of moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic qualities to meet the needs of socialist construction with Chinese characteristics". It has also been making outstanding contributions to national major projects and economic construction, cultivating a large number of outstanding talents in the field of materials, providing talent and technical support for the deepening of reform and opening up of Hainan and the construction of Chinese characteristically free trade port.

School of Materials Science and Engineering (abbreviated as SMSE) has more than ten national and provincial teaching and scientific research platforms like State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea (co-construction), Natural Rubber Collaborative Innovation Center, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials from Tropical Island resources of Ministry of Education, Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Research on Utilization of Si-Zr-Ti Resources, Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Special Glass, and Hainan Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center for the Progressive Utilization of Quality Silicon Resources and Special Glass, etc.

There are 110 faculty members in SMSE, including 97 full-time teachers, 36 senior professional titles, 30 associate senior professional titles, and 94 doctoral degrees. The discipline has 8 national high-level talents, 3 flexible introduction of national high-level talents, 1 winner of the first Prize of National Science and Technology Progress, and more than 40 doctoral supervisors. In the past 5 years, we have received nearly 200 projects from the national "863" program, national key R&D, joint funds (key support projects), and major science and technology programs in Hainan Province, with total funding of over 70 million RMB. We have published more than 600 SCI-indexed papers, including more than 50 papers in top journals such as Nat. Commu., Angew. Chemie, Adv. Mater, etc., more than 20 highly cited hot papers, more than 50 authorized invention patents, and more than 10 awards such as the First Prize of Science and Technology Progress of Hainan Province.

Currently, there is 1 excellent teaching team in provincial level, 1 excellent course in provincial level and 4 excellent courses in Hainan University. There are "Hainan University Materials Science and Engineering Science Experimental class", polymer materials and engineering "Ministry of Education Excellent Engineer Education Training Program pilot class" and other advanced characteristic classes. The college has formed a new engineering "undergraduate - master - doctoral" talent training model with distinctive professional characteristics, multiple types, teaching according to the students and focusing on innovation and practical ability cultivation. The college pays attention to international and domestic exchanges and cooperation, and has established close scientific research cooperation and talent training relationships with Ames National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, etc. The college has signed agreements with more than 10 domestic enterprises to "jointly build engineering practice teaching centers", which provides strong support for improving academic and engineering innovation capabilities.

The college has the ability to systematically train "undergraduate - master - doctoral students", and the graduation rate of 2022 undergraduates is about 45%, among which 88% of the students are admitted to Fudan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and other key universities or CAS institutes. As a mid-western university, our university has a single quota of government-funded oversea study for outstanding graduate students (only for mid-western superior universities), and about 2 government-funded students go to Europe and America for doctoral studies every year. In addition to further education, the main employment opportunities for undergraduates include Sinopec, China Construction, China Railway, China National Nuclear Corporation, BOE and Foxconn Technology Group, etc. The employment rate has been maintained at over 90%, which is among the highest in the university.