This article summarises recent developments in solid oxide fuel cell research regarding materials, processing and microstructure-property relationships. In the materials section, the various cell and stack materials are briefly described, i.e. electrolytes, electrodes, contact and protective layers, interconnects and sealing materials. The section on processing gives an overview of manufacturing technologies for cells including a view of different substrate materials and designs. Besides the widely used planar cell designs, the technologies for tubular designs are also described. In addition, the technologies are grouped with respect to the support, e.g. metal- or ceramic-metal (cermet anode substrate)-supported SOFCs. Finally, special emphasis is laid on the microstructure of functional layers which primarily govern the power output of the SOFC.