This award is for partial support of the 2020 Polymer Physics Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and the associated Polymer Physics Gordon Research Seminar (GRS). Polymer physics is a broad and interdisciplinary field with impact across diverse societal needs and industrial sectors, including energy, infrastructure, transportation, water, and health.
The 2020 Gordon Research Conference on Polymer Physics will focus on new experimental, simulation, and theoretical developments over a range of traditional and emerging topics, including block copolymers (especially focusing on the formation of quasicrystals), nanocomposites, big data methods, coacervates, polymer membranes, reconfigurable polymers, charged polymers, rheology, and networks. The conference will feature eighteen full-length lectures by senior researchers, whose talks will include a ten-minute introduction designed for a general polymer audience, as well as a session featuring shorter talks by eight early-career investigators.
The GRS will include approximately twelve talks delivered by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, two poster sessions, and a panel discussion. The focus of the 2020 GRS is to highlight the work of the next generation of polymer scientists and engineers in areas of current interest such as machine learning, reconfigurable polymers, and coacervates. The GRS will culminate in a panel discussion on "Becoming an Interdisciplinary Leader through Polymer Physics" in both academic and industrial settings.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
