Intellectual and Technical Merit: This is a proposal for partial support of the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Elastomers, Networks and Gels to be held at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH from July 17-22, 2005. This conference was previously known as the GRC on Elastomers. In this proposal we broaden the conference to include networks and gels because the field of elastomers is mature and the inclusion of new subject matter will rejuvenate the conference without having it lose its identity with crosslinked materials. In the spirit of this broadened perspective, the 2005 conference will be organized to emphasize fundamentals of networks as they may apply to novel systems, industrial elastomers and to biological systems. The part of the program that welds these together is in the fundamentals of networks. The PI is highly qualified both technically and organizationally to carry out this organization. He has published widely his original work on networks and gels and has participated frequently in the present conference. In addition, he has both served as the local arrangements chair for the Society of Rheology annual meetings and has served as the technical program chair for the Society of Rheology and the Society of Plastics Engineers Polymer Analysis Division annual meetings. Elastomers, Networks and Gels are important materials both in industry and in the burgeoning activities of the biological sciences. In addition, in spite of the nominal age of crosslinked networks or elastomers as a field of endeavor, there are many new and exciting activities and findings going on in the field. Not only is industry finding novel materials, such as liquid crystalline elastomers, but the advent of electrolytic gels such as DNA gels and their relevance to biological systems has resulted in a resurgence of work in the specific area of gels. Furthermore, nanoscience has made possible new approaches to understanding reinforcement of elastomers and this permits unresolved problems in rubber reinforcement, such as the mechanisms of the Payne and Mullins Effects, to be reinvestigated. This GRC brings these areas of knowledge together in a way that promotes interaction among the researchers in the different fields and cements the interactions by providing sessions on theory and simulation that are relevant to all elastomers, networks and gels.
Outreach Participation of women and minorities: In developing this conference we will pay particular attention to the participation of women and minorities. We are very pleased that in this year's program approximately 25 % of the speakers and session chairs are women (10/40, accepted or invited). This compares with just 6 women of 41 chairs or speakers for the 2003 conference and 5 of 42 for the 2001 conference. For the most part, Hispanic and African Americans speakers were not identified, although the PI recognizes one Hispanic and one African American in the list of invited speakers. Also the organizers will strive to ensure that during the selection of participants in the meeting, minority participants will be selected to attend the meeting. When the attendees are selected from the poolof applicants, principles of affirmative action with respect to minority groups, women, and junior scientists will be used as criteria, in addition to the date of application and the scientific background of the applicant. Finally, the dormitories, dining facilities, and conference rooms at Colby Sawyer are all accessible to persons with disabilities. Of the funding requested, at least $2800 will go towards the support of women or minority participants. Inclusion of Young Researchers: This GRC on Elastomers, Networks and Gels will emphasize new blood in its organization and participant selection process. This is to address past concerns that the conference did not have sufficient younger researchers participating. This includes post-doctoral and graduate student researchers. The Pot Pourri session addresses this partially by bringing in younger researchers to present their work as discussed above. In addition, the expansion of the poster session makes more slots available for graduate students and post-docs to participate. Finally, of the requested funds we will provide $250 each as partial support for up to four students or post-doctoral researchers to encourage their participation in the program.
Benefits to Society The Gordon Research Conferences are widely recognized as cutting edge conferences in which frontier-level research is disseminated to a geographically and technically diverse community of participants. This conference builds on that infrastructure and brings together researchers from around the world to discuss and challenge the current state of knowledge about elastomers, networks and gels.
