Announcements

The 2024 National Symposium on Polymer Materials Science and Engineering, held in Yangzhou, China, from 15 to 19 October 2024, was jointly hosted by the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Yangzhou University and the Department of Chemical Engineering of Tsinghua University. There were 10 academic sub-venues, covering many innovative fields related to polymer materials science and engineering.

In addition to the special reports presented at the conference and the invited reports presented at the sub-venues, this conference also had two special report venues: the Polymer Feng Xinde Polymer Award Report Conference and the US-China Polymer Forum; here, famous scholars from China and the United States showcased innovative research in the field of polymer science and engineering and shared their results and experiences.

More than 1000 attendees from different countries gathered at this conference. Among them, 10 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Sciences participated. The conference provided a great opportunity for all attendees to interact with each other and exchange academic ideas. The symposium featured eight topics in the field of polymer materials science and engineering, including the following: polymer materials synthesis and characterization, the structure and properties of polymer materials, the molding and 3D/4D printing of polymer materials, polymer composites and nanocomposites, functional and self-assembly polymer materials, biomedical and environmentally friendly polymer materials, the industrialization of polymer materials and new instruments and equipment, and polymer materials under the two-carbon strategy.

 (Photo taken by the conference organizer)

Prof. Dr. Rui Yang, the Conference Chair, is a Professor at the Institute of Polymer Science & Engineering, Tsinghua University. Her research interests are aging degradation mechanisms, stability evaluation and the life prediction of polymer materials; heat storage phase-change composite materials; and the structural properties of polymer materials. She has published more than 100 papers; written two English monograph chapters; authorized more than 10 patents; been invited to present academic reports, home and abroad, 15 times; and has won the second prize in Natural science of the Ministry of Education and the second prize of Beijing Science and Technology Progress.

The Conference Chair, Prof. Dr. Rui Yang (the EB of Polymers and Materials), gave an opening speech to the conference attendees.

Poster Session

During coffee breaks, many attendees took this opportunity to exhibit their research achievements with poster presentations. This was a perfect occasion for Ph.D. students and young researchers to exchange academic ideas and broaden their scientific horizons. Twenty of these researchers won the Best Poster Award. These excellent posters presented innovative developments in polymer science, broadened the horizons of scholars, and enlightened the participants.

(Photo taken by the conference organizer)

Invitation Topics

The symposium also included topics from the US-China Polymer Forum (11th CCS-PD/ACS-PMSE Joint Symposium on Frontiers in Polymer Science and Technology Engineering). The Advisory Board Member of Polymers, Prof. Dr. Sebastien Lecommandoux from Université de Bordeaux, delivered an excellent report.

The symposium also featured the participation of Prof. Dr. Megan Robertson of the University of Houston, Prof. Dr. Marc Hillmyer of the University of Minnesota, Prof. Dr. Stuart Rowan of the University of Chicago, Prof. Dr. Elsa Reichmanis of Lehigh University, and Prof. Dr. Jennifer L. Schaefer of the University of Notre Dame, among others.

Meeting the Editors at the Conference

Through this conference, we had an in-depth conversation with scholars in the field. In particular, some Editorial Board Members provided many pertinent suggestions:

• Continue to maintain high-quality control on the manuscript processing;
• Strengthen the collaboration with the community;
• Pay attention to the young investigators and rising starts in the field;
• Enhance publicity to ensure that more scholars are aware of MDPI's open access journals.

The JDE of Polymers, Venassa Gong, met the Conference Chair, Prof. Dr. Rui Yang from Tsinghua University, who is also an EBM for Polymers.

Prof. Dr. Rui Yang, Polymers JDE Venassa Gong

Prof. Xuming Xie, from Tsinghua University, was also a member of the Organizing Committee.

From left to right: Polymers JDE Venassa Gong, Prof. Xuming Xie, Materials ME Riley Ren

Prof. Yanlin Song, from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was also invited to speak at this conference.

Polymers JDE Venassa Gong, Prof. Yanlin Song

Prof. Shaoyun Guo, from Sichuan University, joined our Editorial Board in 2024.

Prof. Shaoyun Guo, Polymers JDE Venassa Gong

Prof. Tao Chen, from Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science.

Polymers JDE Venassa Gong, Prof. Tao Chen

This conference demonstrated the latest progress and the level of research in the fields of polymer materials science and engineering in China, and was warmly welcomed by all delegates.

The aim of Polymers is to provide scholars with high-quality services and to develop more innovative forms of collaboration, as well as to provide a platform for the advancement of polymer science.