As part of Polymer Division's initiative on graduate student membership and graduate education, the Division started a special symposium, entitled "Excellence In Graduate Polymer Research" at the National ACS Meeting in Philadelphia in Fall 2004. The fourth symposium will be held at the National ACS Meeting in New Orleans, Spring 2008. It will consist of two half-day oral sessions, a poster session, and a networking social.
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. In our discussions with graduate students, they have indicated high levels of interest in scientific presentation, career development, and networking, both among members of POLY and with their peers. They wish to become more involved and integrated into the Division and the community of Polymer Chemistry as a whole. Our hope is that this symposium represents a step in this direction.
We request that each department (e.g., chemistry, chemical engineering, or polymer/material science) nominate one outstanding graduate student to speak on his or her original research in this special symposium. We would hope that the student's advisor would be able to fund the student's travel to the meeting. If possible, we will try to raise funds to provide limited financial assistance.
The nominated student should enter the abstract and the preprint of his or her presentation to the OASys, under "Excellence In Graduate Polymer Research Symposium" by the deadline below. There are two separate lines on OASys for the symposium: oral or poster. Either can be used for entry purposes. A decision will be made later as to the choice of a given paper for oral or poster presentation.
In addition, the nominating department should prepare the following materials in order to aid in the selection process:
- a nominating letter from the student's research advisor
- a seconding letter from the Department Chair or equivalent
- attached application form, to be filled out by the student
These three documents should be sent, by October 21, 2007 (electronically preferred but paper is acceptable) to:
Dr. H. N. Cheng
Hercules Incorporated
500 Hercules Rd
Wilmington, DE 19808-1599
hcheng@herc.com
Thank you in advance for your participation.
Symposium Organizing Committee
Timothy Long (POLY Past Chair)
Christopher Ellison
Erica H. Martin (POLY Member-at-Large)
H. N. Cheng (POLY Councilor)
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Division of Polymer Chemistry 
