Polymer
Networks Group |
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Status and history |
The Polymer Networks
Group (PNG) is an independent international
organization for the promotion of international
contacts and the stimulation of research in the
field of polymer networks. The main activity of
the group is the organization of a conference on
the formation, structure, properties, and
applications of polymer networks.
In addition, the Group cooperates in the
organization of other conferences on polymer
networks and in joint research projects. Until
1997, the projects were coordinated through the
Working Party on Polymer Networks of Commission
IV.2 of the Macromolecular Division of the
International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry (IUPAC). This Division is presently
under the chairmanship of R.F.T. Stepto.
The activities of the PNG are guided by the PNG
Committee, a full list of current members of
this committee is to be found on the 'people'
page:
In 1993, the Polymer Networks Group introduced
Corporate Membership for companies and
institutions active in research on polymer
networks to stimulate contacts between academy
and industry. Each participating company has a
delegate on the Corporate Advisory Board of the
PNG and can influence PNG policies and
activities.
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Historical Development of the Polymer
Networks Group |
First considerations concerning the
establishment of some kind of international
cooperation in the field of polymer networks
arose in the early seventies during numerous
contacts between the Centre de Recherches sur
les Macromolecules CNRS (now Institut Charles
Sadron) in Strasbourg and the Institute of
Macromolecular Chemistry CSAS in Prague (Benoit,
Hild, Rempp, Dusek). However, it was not until
1974, during the Faraday Discussion of the Royal
Society of Chemistry in Norwich on Gels and
Gelling Systems, that a group of participants
(Allen, Burchard, Dusek, Gordon, Herz, Hild,
Rempp, Ross-Murphy, Stepto, Ziabicki, and
perhaps some others) considered the foundation
of an international organization. The ideas took
a more definite shape during the IUPAC
Microsymposium "Crosslinking and Networks" in
Prague later in 1974.
Officially, the international organization
started its activities in 1975. This was also
the year of its first meeting, taking place
jointly at CRM Strasbourg (H. Benoit, G. Hild)
and Freiburg (W. Burchard, H.J. Cantow). The
final decision to form a group (Allen, Benoit,
Dusek, Gordon, Hild) was taken in October 1975
and the organization was given the name Polymer
Network Club. It was decided that no formal
structure of the Club was necessary and that the
business would be run by a Secretary. G. Hild
was asked to serve as Secretary to the Club. H.
Benoit tried to get recognition of the Club by
the Macromolecular Division of IUPAC. However,
the possible sense of exclusiveness of a "club"
was objected to and, therefore, later (1977)
"Club" was changed to "Group". Moreover, it was
felt that the proposed activities of the Group
did not fit well the usual activities of a IUPAC
Working Party and it was recommended that IUPAC
sponsorships be sought individually for
conferences, or that collaborative projects be
included in existing IUPAC Working Parties.
Eventually, a separate Working Party on Polymer
Networks was launched in 1987 under the
chairmanship of R.F.T. Stepto.
In 1975-6, the PNG started with about 40
participants from France, United Kingdom,
Federal Republic of Germany, Czechoslovakia,
Poland and The Netherlands. Over the years, the
number of members (now more than 300) and their
activities have continued to increase and it was
felt that some more formal and efficient
organizational structure would be useful. In
1986, the first Chairman (R.F.T. Stepto) and
Vice-Chairman (K. Dusek) were elected during the
Elsinore meeting and G. Hild was confirmed in
his position of PNG Secretary. It was decided
that the Chairman would serve for four years and
the office would then be taken over by the
Vice-Chairman. More recently, the post of
Treasurer was created.
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Biennial Meetings of the Polymer Networks
Group |
The
following regular meetings of PNG have taken
place:
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1975 Strasbourg, F - Freiburg, FRG (Benoit,
Hild - Burchard, Cantow) |
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1977 London, UK (Allen) |
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1978 Breisach, near Freiburg, FRG (Burchard) |
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1979 Jablonna, PL (Ziabicki) |
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1980 Karlovy Vary, CS (Dusek) |
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1982 Strasbourg, F (Hild) |
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1984 Manchester, UK (Stepto, Stanford,
Still, Ross-Murphy) |
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1986 Elsinore, DK (Kramer) |
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1988 Freiburg, FRG (Burchard) |
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1990 Jerusalem, IL (Gottlieb) |
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1992 San Diego, USA (Eichinger) |
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1994 Prague, CZ (Dusek) |
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1996 Doorn, NL (te Nijenhuis) |
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1998 Trondheim, Norway (Stokke) |
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2000 Krakow, PL (Galina) |
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2002 Autrans, F (Geissler) |
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2004 Bethesda, USA (Amis/Horkay) |
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2006 Sheffield, UK (Stanford/Ross-Murphy/Ryan) |
.
The programmes of the meetings include contributions
in all areas relevant to the formation,
structure, properties and applications of
polymer networks, but usually a special emphasis
is put on certain topics, which vary from
meeting to meeting.
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