The virtual Soft Matter Young Investigators Meet (e-SMYIM) 2021, aims to bring together scientists and engineers in the broad area of soft-matter research, to exchange ideas, encourage new directions and kick-start fruitful collaborations. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the field, the meeting aims to bring those working on a wide variety of topics, that include colloidal/polymer/granular-matter – dynamics, self-assembly of mesoscopic structures, and the interface of soft matter, chemistry, and biology, and foster an environment that motivates high quality technical discourse that reaches beyond the horizon of any particular discipline.