The 21st National Symposium “Polymers 2025” with international participation was held from 29 June to 2 July in Kazanlak. The forum was launched in 1967 and over the years, it had established itself as the most significant event in the field of polymer science in Bulgaria, providing an opportunity for the presentation of scientific results, exchange of ideas and development of collaborations between Bulgarian and foreign scientists.
The “Polymers 2025” Symposium was organized by the Institute of Polymers at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. The Forum was held with financial support from the Bulgarian National Science Fund (project КП-06-МНФ/48).
At the invitation of the organizers, this year’s edition was honored with plenary reports by leading scientists in the field of polymer science – Prof. Kris Matyjaszewski (Carnegie Mellon University, USA), Prof. Richard Hoogenboom (Ghent University, Belgium), Prof. Rui L. Reis (University of Minho, Portugal), Prof. Nick Tsarevsky (Southern Methodist University, USA) and Prof. Yoshihito Osada (RIKEN, Japan).
The scientific programme included topics such as polymer synthesis and macromolecular engineering, biomaterials and nanomedicine, hybrid materials and nanocomposites, plastics processing and recycling, polymer materials for energy, and modelling and reaction theory. The 21st edition of the forum was attended by 90 scientists with 27 papers and 60 poster presentations. Participants had the opportunity to present their research through oral presentations and poster sessions which fostered scientific discussions and created opportunities for future collaborations.
A scientific jury awarded a diploma and a cash prize to three young scientists – Krum Alexandrov (Institute of Polymers, BAS), Yavor Hristov (Institute of Polymers, BAS) and Savina Koleva (Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”).
Proceedings of the symposium can be published in the “Future Trends in Polymer Science: Materials, Design, and Advanced Applications” special thematic issue organized in collaboration with MDPI in the Polymers, Gels, Applied Nano, Macromol and Nanomaterials journals, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Prof. Ivan Panayotov and in honour of his pioneering contributions to the field of ionic polymerisation.
More information about the event can be found at: https://polymers2025.polymer.bas.bg/
