Symposium M, 'Solution Synthesis of Inorganic Functional Materials - Films, Nanoparticles, and Nanocomposites' was held April 1–5, 2013 at the 2013 MRS Spring Meeting in San Francisco, California. The symposium was focused on solution synthesis approaches for the growth of a wide range of advanced functional inorganic materials. Recent results were presented on the growth of: (i) highly crystalline functional oxide films; (ii) nanoparticles and nanocrystals; and (iii) nanostructures or nanocomposites by various chemical solution methods. Gas sensing, photovoltaic, plasmonics, memory devices, spintronics, biomedical, superconducting, and magnetic-field sensing applications were extensively discussed. The articles in this symposium proceeding volume cover the development of different chemical solution approaches to synthesize inorganic functional materials for enhanced and/or novel functionalities for a variety of applications. These papers convey the breadth of exciting advancements happening in the area of functional materials grown by various solution methods.