Materials science is a thriving area of research today, and has a very broad canvass. In this talk, I shall highlight three aspects of materials research that is driving the field: (1) The ever rapid discovery of new materials and an investigation of their properties, (2) Attempts at understanding materials behaviour under extreme conditions and (3) An exploration and drive towards potential applications. The above theme would be exemplified with results drawn from on-going investigations at the Materials Science Group, IGCAR.