This Polymer Physics GRC will be designed both to present exciting progress in well-established research areas, and to introduce the community to important emerging topics in the areas of energy and biological applications. The conference will feature 22 invited lectures, wherein the opening 10 minutes are specifically designed for a general polymer physics audience. This conference will gather leading people in the field and bring them into extended contact with one another and with younger researchers (specifically, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers). Extended discussions in both formal and informal settings over many days are accomplished by the retreat-like atmosphere of the GRC format that is known to build and nurture lifelong interactions and to ignite new collaborations. In addition to the scientific content of these discussions, it is also an opportunity for mentoring. The PI has set specific diversity objectives for the speakers and discussion leaders with respect to career stage, gender, and geography. To integrate the new and returning conferees, the PI will continue the recent tradition of a speakers? table, where speakers dine with junior scientists.
This meeting will also offer the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) in Polymer Physics. The GRS is an opportunity for students and post-docs to assume the lead role in a scientific conference. Attendees will share current research with their peers through oral and poster presentations; initiate early professional relations that may develop into future research collaborations; and obtain a sense of the scope of research topics, methodologies, and career opportunities contained in the realm of polymer physics. The GRS is a venue for graduate students and postdocs to discuss their research in an intellectual environment of GRC caliber, but with an audience of peers. Attendees will share their current research with other young scientists whose perspectives and expertise span the range of research topics and methodologies in polymer physics. Interactions with senior-scientist mentors will illuminate the scope of corresponding career trajectories. In addition, students will gain the confidence to participate actively in the GRC, asking questions after talks and getting to know other researchers during meals. More generally, it is hoped that the GRS will engender a sense of community among the next generation of leading scientists in polymer physics.
The Gordon Research Conference on POLYMER PHYSICS was held at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, July 22-27, 2012. The Conference was well-attended with 148 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 148 attendees, 85 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 85 respondents, 18% were Minorities – 4% Hispanic, 12% Asian and 2% African American. Approximately 27% of the participants at the 2012 meeting were women. The Gordon Research Seminar on POLYMER PHYSICS was held at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, July 21-22, 2012. The Conference was well-attended with 44 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 44 attendees, 21 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 21 respondents, 15% were Minorities – 0% Hispanic, 10% Asian and 5% African American. Approximately 32% of the participants at the 2012 meeting were women. In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field. There was a conscious effort to stimulate lively discussion about the key issues in the field today. Time for formal presentations was limited in the interest of group discussions. In order that more scientists could communicate their most recent results, poster presentation time was scheduled. Attached is a copy of the formal schedule and speaker program and the poster program. In addition to these formal interactions, "free time" was scheduled to allow informal discussions. Such discussions are fostering new collaborations and joint efforts in the field. Thank you for your support of this Conference. As you know, in the interest of promoting the presentation of unpublished and frontier-breaking research, Gordon Research Conferences does not permit publication of meeting proceedings.
