The organizers propose an interdisciplinary graduate student oriented two half-day symposium at the March 2014 meeting of the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry and the ACS younger Chemists Committee. The symposium is intended to provide recognition of outstanding graduate students engaged in polymer research, to foster fundamental scientific exchange, networking, and to help develop the careers of future leaders in polymer science and engineering. University departments in the US and Canada were invited to submit nominations for one outstanding graduate student each to speak on his/her's original research at this special symposium. Research presentations selected by the organizing committee will cover interdisciplinary topics in polymer science and engineering, encompassing novel synthetic strategies, structure/property evaluations and performance in rapidly emerging technologies.
10th Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Symposium Dallas – March 16-20, 2014 The tenth symposium on "Excellence in Polymer Graduate Research" took place at the national ACS meeting in Dallas, Texas on March 16-18, 2014. The purposes of this symposium are to provide recognition to outstanding graduate students in polymer science and engineering, to foster networking and exposure, and to help develop the careers of future leaders in our field. We publicized this symposium via the POLY list server, POLY web page, and direct email messages to over 100 departments that are active in polymer research. We requested that each department nominate one outstanding graduate student to speak on his or her original research in this special symposium. Each student should fill out an application form and have a nominating letter from the research advisor and a letter from the department head. This year we received a record number of 55 submissions. (The previous record was 42 in 2013.) We were very pleased with both the quantity and the quality of the papers. The symposium was organized into four half-day oral sessions, a very large poster session, and a networking social. In the oral sessions on Sunday and Monday 28 students gave talks on their work, and in the Tuesday poster session 27 students presented their posters. These oral and poster sessions went very well. Many graduate students asked questions during the talks, and it was enjoyable to see them interacting during and after the sessions. As part of the recognition, each student received a certificate plus a modest stipend to help defray travel costs. We were pleased that Dr. Tom Barton, the 2014 ACS President, personally visited the symposium and spoke to the students. Tom actually worked with polymers early in his career and made a reference to his experience in his speech. Later, Dr. Kathryn Beers, the 2014 Chair of the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division, also spoke to the students. A reception followed where the students mingled with the participants of the POLY Undergraduate Symposium. This symposium was organized by the ACS Polymer Chemistry Division (POLY), and cosponsored by Presidential Event (PRES), Young Chemists Committee (YCC), Division of Professional Relations (PROF), and Society Committee on Education (SOCED). The symposium had the generous support of POLY, Industrial Advisory Board of the Polymer Division (IAB), and the Division of Materials Research at National Science Foundation (NSF/DMR). Symposium Organizing Committee: H. N. Cheng, USDA Christopher Ellison, University of Texas Christine Landry-Coltrain, Eastman Kodak Company Timothy E. Long, Virginia Tech
