This contribution to the special issue of Catalysis Today is dedicated to selected contributions presented at the Carbocat-IV (Carbon for Catalysis) Symposium held in Dalian (China) on November 7-10 (2010). The introduction first shortly overviews the main reasons for the interest on carbon materials for catalysis and the elements of novelty discussed on the contributions of this issue, and then provide a concise outline of the general trends and developments in this field to give a glimpse on the progresses in the field, and on the perspectives of this exciting area of catalysis. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.