"The objectives of the project ""Hybrid organic/inorganic memory elements for integration of electronic and photonic circuitry"" (HYMEC) are to resolve fundamental issues of materials science and to realize new hybrid inorganic/organic devices with functionality far beyond current state-of-the-art. This is of direct relevance to the objectives of the FP7-NMP Work Programme, as it calls for ""design novel knowledge-based smart materials with tailored properties, releasing their potential for enhanced and innovative applications"". Specifically, we will perform research towards understanding and controlling all relevant properties of systems comprising inorganic metal nanoparticles embedded in matrices of conjugated organic materials (organic semiconductors), and we will demonstrate the function of such material hybrids as non-volatile memory elements that can be addressed electrically and optically, which thus represent potential interconnects of future hybrid electronic and photonic circuitry. Moreover, we target implementing cost-efficient production routes, such as printing, as well as exploring the ultimate miniaturization of such memory elements by novel sublimation- and imprinting-based nanostructuring processes.Electronic, optical, dielectric, structural, and morphological properties of our systems will be determined using state-of-the-art experimental techniques and modelling to establish a reliable specific knowledge base, which we will exploit for device fabrication and integration. Through our cooperative efforts, we expect to make use of new knowledge for the realization of reliable non-volatile memory elements (NV-ME) employing resistance switching, with a substantial extension of existing NV-ME functionality, i.e., optical addressing of devices in addition to purely electric."