This award will support travel of twelve American participants to a U.S.-France workshop in materials science in Saint Augustine, Florida, October, 1995. The organizers are Randolph Duran of the University of Florida and Francoise Laupretre of the Ecole Superieure for Industrial Physics and Chemistry in Paris, France. The objective of the workshop is to bring together newly established American and French researchers in polymer science. The workshop is organized around new research developments on order in polymers. Sessions will be held on order in polymers in static systems at the molecular, local interchain and supermolecular levels. They will also include discussions on the influence of external fields such as flow, magnetic fields, or interfaces. The topic has important implications for the development of novel, high performance materials and for improvements in the physical and mechanical properties of existing polymeric materials.
