The course main aim is to revise the state-of-the-art in design of new materials with properties of technological interest, to allow a faster progress towards the rational design of these materials in academia and industry. Besides, The course will attempt to establish a common language between disciplines that are not traditionally in close contact (materials chemistry, solid state reactivity, nanotechnology and biotechnology). The scientific programme is focused on the modelling, design, synthesis and applications of crystalline solids and on the methods to understand and to exploit the resulting collective properties. Top notch scientists will cover the most relevant aspects on molecule-based materials, and discuss frontier problems for applications in magnetism, conductivity and superconductivity, non-linear optics, drug delivery, bio- and nano-technology. The course aims mainly at showing the potential developments of molecule-based materials (magnetic, conducting, superconduction, non-linear optical, bioltechnological…) and to foster new lines of research aimed at the rational synthesis of these materials. An example is the increasing amount of structural research on fullerenes and their elongated (nanotube) derivatives, as they promise to play a major role in several areas of modern technology from medicine to molecular electronics and civil engineering; new molecule-based materials can also play a key role in electronics and computers; another example is lithium batteries and the importance of structure in their design, to satisfy the demand for reliable and safe high energy-high power tools by the medical, transportation, space and defense sectors.