The first Annual General Meeting of MRSI was held at the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune from February 9 to 10, 1990. The meeting was hosted by the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and the University of Poona with the following Local Organising Committee:
| Dr. R A Mashelkar | Dr. V P Godbole |
| Prof. A S Nigavekar | Dr. S K Date |
| Prof. S B Ogale | Dr. M S Setty |
| Dr. S M Chaudhari | Dr. V J Rao |
Prof. C N R Rao delivered the inaugural address, in which he explained the background to the formation of MRSI. He emphasized that research in materials was truly interdisciplinary and, unless teams of researchers work together, one could not succeed. He citied examples of a number of key areas like nanoparticle technology, electronic materials, diamond like carbon films, advanced ceramics, biomedical polymers where there was a need for accelerating our efforts.