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Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Number Page71
1
M ACRO GROUP UK
P OLYMER P HYSICS G ROUP
BULLETIN
January 2009
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :
Editorial
Views from the Top 2
PPG & MGUK Committee members 3
PPG and MacroGroup News 4
MacroGroup UK Awards 8
Conference Reports 10
Bursaries 15
Forthcoming Meetings 16
Teaching and Learning Resources 20
MGUK committee Nominations 21
Contributions for inclusion in the BULLETIN
should be emailed (preferably) or sent to
either:
Dr Andrew Dove (MG UK),
Department of Chemistry
University of Warwick,
Coventry, CV4 7AL
a.p.dove@warwick.ac.uk
Tel: (024) 7652 4107
Welcome to the January 2009 PPG and MGUK bulletin.
We would like to wish all our readers a happy new year and
all the best for 2009.
This issue brings news of the recipients of the MGUK
medal, outstanding achievement medal and the young
researchers medal for 2008. The winner of the 2009 PPG
Founders prize is also announced.
We are also pleased to report the award of a major EPSRC
platform grant to researchers at the University of Reading.
Details are also given for a number of forthcoming
conferences including the PPG biennial meeting to be held
in Bristol in September and the ’Biological and Soft Matter’
meeting to be held in Warwick in April.
James Sharp
Andrew Dove
Bulletin Officers
Or
Dr James Sharp (PPG)
School of Physics and Astronomy
University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD
james.sharp@nottingham.ac.uk
Tel: (0115) 951 5142
The Pure and Applied Macromolecular Chemistry Group
(Macro Group UK) is a joint group of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Society
of Chemical Industry.
The Polymer Physics Group is a joint group of the Institute of Physics and the
Royal Society of Chemistry.
The deadline for contributions for the next
issue is
30 June 2009.

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 2
Views from the Top
From the Chairman of
Macro Group
We are pleased to announce our 2008 Medal winners in this
bulletin and a one day meeting celebrating their success will
take place in Sheffield on 21st July 2009 in Sheffield organised
by Patrick Fairclough. This will be run in conjunction with the
Young Researchers meeting on the following day and we hope
you will all be able to join us.
The Macro Group is continuing to be working hard to develop
the 2010 IUPAC World Polymer Congress in Glasgow between
July 11th and 16th . This is the 43rd IUPAC World Polymer
Congress, 'Macro2010', is the latest in the series of the biennial
meetings of the IUPAC Polymer Division. The series has been
running for several decades and is the largest international
multi-symposium conference dedicated to all aspects of polymer
science and engineering.
Macro2010 is organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry
(RSC) and hosted by the Pure and Applied Macromolecular
Chemistry Group (Macro Group UK), a joint interest group of
the RSC and the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).
Confirmed plenary speakers include:
Professor Jean M J Fréchet (University of California, Berkeley,
USA)
Professor Sir Richard Friend, FRS (University of Cambridge,
UK)
Professor Ming Jiang (Fudan University, China)
Professor Laura Kiessling (University of Wisconsin-Madison,
USA)
Professor Kiyohito Koyama (Yamagata University, Japan)
Professor Ludwik Leibler (ESPCI CNRS, Paris, France)
Please plan to attend this important meeting for UK Polymer
Science.
Best wishes for 2009
Dave Haddleton
Chairman
Macro Group
Thoughts from the
PPG Chair
Conferences big and small
Scientific meetings come in all sizes – from intimate gatherings
of a few tens of people to gigantic international behemoths
where thousands of delegates take over an
unlucky host city for a week or so. Big conferences and
small conferences each have their roles, but they serve
their scientific communities in different ways. Our community
of UK polymer physicists has a number of conferences,
big and small, coming up in the UK in the next year or two,
and each of these has its own significance to us.
For the Polymer Physics Group itself, our biennial meeting
is the central event for defining the group and its activities.
This year’s biennial - “Physical Aspects of Polymer Science”,
takes place this year in Bristol from 14 – 16 September;
it’s a time when we see the exciting work being
done by our members, particularly those early in their career.
We honour the many contributions to our community
by our Founders’ Prize winner, Athene Donald, and we
learn from distinguished guest speakers. This is the meeting
of our national community, where it defines and renews
itself.
But polymer physics doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and the UK
is just one of the many countries where excellent science
is being done. Another meeting coming this spring brings
our interests as polymer physicists together with those in
closely related fields, studying all kinds of complex fluids
and biological systems. “Biological Physics and Soft Matter”
takes place at Warwick from April 6 – April 8 this year;
it has been jointly organised by PPG with our colleagues in
the Liquids and Complex Fluids Group and the recently
established Biological Physics Group. This marks an important
step in our efforts to build up a larger community of
like-minded physicists, interested in all kinds of soft matter,
within the Institute of Physics.
Worldwide polymer science – taking in polymer chemistry,
polymer physics and the many applications of polymers in
areas as different as electronics and healthcare – is an
even wider community. In 2010 the polymer world is coming
to us; the 43rd IUPAC World Polymer Congress,
“Macro2010” takes place in Glasgow from 11-16 July
2010, attracting 1500 – 2000 scientists. The theme of
this meeting is “Polymer science in the service of society”-
and this should remind us of the wider relevance of our
subject in contributing to the new technologies that no-one
can doubt the whole world needs in difficult times.
Richard Jones
Chairman
Polymer Physics Group

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 3
PPG & Macro Group Committees
PPG Committee 2007-2009
Macro Group Committee
Chair:
Professor Richard Jones
Vice-Chair:
Dr. Simon Hanna
Honorary Secretary and Treasurer:
Dr. Nigel Clarke
Ordinary members:
Dr. Thomas Waigh
Dr. Michael Butler
Dr. Mike Jenkins
Dr. Roy Christopherson
Dr. Sally Organ
Dr. Ian Robinson
Dr. Joseph Keddie
Dr. João Cabral
Dr. Alex Routh
Dr. James Sharp (Bulletin Officer)
Dr. Daniel Read
Chairman: Prof. David Haddleton (University of Warwick) 2007 - 2010
Secretary: Dr Joachim Steinke (Imperial College) 2008 - 2009
Treasurer: Prof. Stephen Yeates (University of Manchester) 2005 - 2009
Ordinary Members:
Dr Peter Cormack (University of Strathclyde), Membership Officer 2005 - 2009
Dr Carl Waterson (Infineum International), Meetings Programme Officer 2006 - 2009
Dr Neal Williams (ICI Paints) 2006 - 2009
Dr Raj Bhardwaj (Polymer Laboratories) 2007 - 2010
Prof. Steve Brocchini (London University) 2007 - 2010
Dr Andrew Dove (University of Warwick), Bulletin Officer 2007 - 2010
Prof. Steve Howdle (University of Nottingham) 2007 - 2010
Dr Andrew Lewis (Biocompatibles) 2007 - 2010
Dr Christopher Sammon (Sheffield Hallam University), Web Site Officer 2007 - 2010
Dr Sharon Cooper (Durham University) 2008 - 2011
Professor Ian Manners (University of Bristol) 2008 - 2011
Dr Ezat Koshdel (Unilever) 2008 - 2011
Professor Ian Hamley (University of Reading) EPF Liason 2008 - 2011
Co-opted Member:
Dr Fred Davies (University of Reading), Polymer Roadshow Officer
Representative Members:
Representing Society of Chemical Industry:
Prof. Richard Jones (University of Kent)
Representing Colloid & Interface Science Groups, RSC and SCI:
Prof. Peter Williams (NEWI)
Representing Materials Chemistry Forum, RSC:
Prof. Stephen Yeates (University of Manchester)
Representing Polymer Physics Group, IoP:
Dr Nigel Clarke (Durham University)
Representing Biomaterials Chemistry Group, RSC:
Dr Aline Miller (University of Manchester)
Representing Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining:
vacant
Representing European Polymer Federation:
Dr Wayne Hayes (University of Reading)
Representing Polymer Degradation Discussion Group:
Dr Michelle Edge (Manchester Metropolitan University)
Representing Polymer Colloids Forum:
Prof. Peter Lovell (University of Manchester)
Representing RAPS Network:
Dr Rachel O’Reilly (University of Cambridge)
Career Break Grants
The Institute’s Career Break Grants help members to stay in touch with the wider physics community.
Contributions towards attendance and associated costs are available.
Members can apply by going to http://www.iop.org/activity/academia/Career_Break_Grants/page_5466.html
or by emailing cbg@iop.org
Career Break Rates for Conferences
Members can attend all Institute of Physics conferences at a reduced rate.
Reduced Membership Subscription Rates
Members on a career break are entitled to a reduced membership subscription rate, which is currently just £10.
Email membership.iop.org, including your membership ID number in the text, to qualify for this rate.

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 4
PPG and MacroGroup News
The IOP Research Student
Conference Fund
The IOP has recently introduced a new scheme for contributing
towards the cost of PhD students attending
international and major national conferences.
If you a PhD student and a member of the IOP, you are
entitled to apply for up to £250 conference support.
You may apply more than once, so you may either request
the full amount or decide to request a smaller
amount and then apply for funding again for another
conference at a later stage.
Grants will normally cover only part of the expenses
incurred in attending a conference and are intended to
supplement grants from other sources. Applications are
now made direct to the IOP, rather than through groups,
as has been the case in the past. Applications will be
considered on a quarterly basis and should reach the
Institute by: 1st March, 1st June, 1st September or 1st
December of each calendar year.
A decision will be made within eight weeks of the closing
date, so the deadline chosen should be at least
three months before the event that you wish to attend.
In return for the financial support you will be asked to
write a short conference report, which will appear in this
newsletter.
The only other condition is that if you wish to apply for
support for a polymer physics related conference you
must also be a member of the Polymer Physics Group!
Further details and an application form can be found at,
http://www.iop.org/activity/grants/
Research_Student_Conference_Fund/
page_26535.html
Those of you who are EPSRC funded, but not members
of the IOP, are entitled to join the IOP for FREE! Details
can be found at,
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/PostgraduateTraining/
InformationForStudents/FreeMembership.htm
Polymer Physics Group
Prize for the Best
Student Publication
The Polymer Physics Group (PPG) is pleased to announce
that applications are being accepted for a prize to recognise
the most outstanding publication by a PhD student
on a subject within PPG’s remit. The prize winner will
receive a monetary award and will also be invited to present
a lecture at the Polymer Physics Group Biennial
Meeting on 14-16 th September 2009.
Criteria for the award
The prize will be awarded
for the best publication in
a journal on a topic of
relevance to polymer
physics (as judged by the
awards committee). The
scientific quality, originality
and significance of the
research will be considered.
The applicant must
be an author or co-author
of the publication. The
research reported in the publication must have been
carried out as part of the PhD research of the applicant.
The publication must be publicly available, either on a
journal website or in printed format and the date of publication
(as stated by the journal) must be after the 30th
April, 2007. Manuscripts in preparation or under review
will not be considered for the prize.
Application Procedure
The application for the prize will consist of three items:
(1) A paper or electronic copy of the publication in a
journal.
(2) A signed letter (on University letterhead) from
the supervisor of the PhD student confirming
that the research was carried out by the applicant
as part of PhD research.
(3) A statement from the applicant outlining the
significance of the publication.
The application should be submitted to;
Dr Nigel Clarke, Department of Chemistry, University Science
Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE.
E-mail: nigel.clarke@durham.ac.uk
Mr Tao Wang (Uni. of
Surrey), recipient of the
Applications must be received by 30 April, 2009

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 5
PPG and MacroGroup News
Athene Donald to be Awarded the 2009 PPG
Founders’ Prize
The Polymer Physics Group Founders' Prize, instigated to commemorate the work of Professor Andrew Keller, is
awarded biennially to a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to Polymer Physics in the UK or Ireland.
We are delighted to announce that the 2009 winner is Athene Donald. The award of the prize will be one of the highlights
of the group's biennial meeting in Bristol (see page 16 for further details).
Professor Donald began her career as an electron microscopist,
with a PhD from the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge in
1977. Initially trained as a metal physicist, she began work on
polymers during postdoctoral research at Cornell University. This
resulted in a series of seminal papers elucidating the molecular
basis of crazing, a common failure mode in glassy polymers.
Having moved back to the UK to research fellowships at Cambridge,
first in the Materials Science Department, and then the
Cavendish Laboratory, she made major contributions to the field
of liquid crystal polymers, summarised in a book co-authored
with Alan Windle. At the Cavendish, she became interested in
food biopolymers, and was one of the pioneers in finding a
sound physical basis for food science in the physics of biopolymers,
using techniques such as small angle x-ray scattering to
study starch. At this time she also pioneered the quantitative
use of the environmental scanning electron microscope in soft
matter systems. Most recently she has made important contributions
to the study of the misfolding and aggregation of proteins,
discovering for the first time the importance of spherulitic growth
in the growth of aggregates of amyloid fibrils.
The importance of her work has been recognised by many honours,
including the IoP's CV Boys prize (1989), election to the
Royal Society in 1999, the IoP's Mott Medal (2005) and the
L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Award For Women in Science (2009). Through
these honours she has raised the profile of polymer physics in
Prof. Athene Donald (Cavendish Laboratory,
Cambridge) pictured above will be awarded
the 2009 PPG Founder’s Prize
the UK, both in the mainstream physics community, but also, by virtue of her very wide- ranging interests, in many
other communities, including food science, plant biology, molecular biology and colloid science. She has also given
generously her time and efforts to the Polymer Physics community, as a long-standing member of the PPG committee
from 2001 to 2007, and through service to many other committees, for example for EPSRC and BBSRC and most
recently as a member of the current RAE Physics Panel. Through these efforts the importance of polymer physics in a
wide range of disciplines and applications well outside its traditional core interests has become widely appreciated,
to the great benefit of the field in the UK. Her work as founding chair of the IoP's new Biological Physics group will
ensure that the broader importance of Polymer Physics as one of the foundations of the wider area of soft matter
physics is widely appreciated.
In summary, Professor Donald has made an outstanding contribution to Polymer Physics in the UK, both through the
wide impact of her own research, and through her tireless efforts on behalf of the wider polymer physics community.
PPG Committee

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 6
PLATFORM GRANT SUCCESS
PPG and MacroGroup News
Polymer scientists at the University of Reading (Professors Colquhoun, Hamley and Matsen,
and Dr Hayes) have recently been awarded a prestigious Platform Grant by EPSRC (the UK Engineering
& Physical Sciences Research Council). This research grant is valued at over £1M and
will run for 5 years.
The grant provides a platform for ongoing research programmes on a wide range of advanced
polymeric materials, with applications in fuel cells for the hydrogen economy, self-repairing materials,
water purification, and healthcare – with particular relevance to protein-misfolding diseases
such as Alzheimer’s. The team will also work on the development of information transfer in polymers
and self-healing materials that can, without external input, repair damage in their surfaces.
The core theme of the research is the design of new polymeric materials with specified structures
on the nanometre length scale (1 nanometre ≈1/1000 of the width of a human hair). Structuring
on this length scale gives materials with entirely new properties.
A team of four experienced postdoctoral researchers will be supported by the new grant. They
will design and synthesize new polymers, characterise their properties and applications, and
carry out computational studies to explain and predict the behaviour of new, nanostructured materials.
Exciting discoveries are expected which could lead to low-cost drinking water for the developing
world, improved fuel cells for clean/renewable energy, new structural materials and adhesives,
and novel therapies for protein-based diseases.
The University of Reading is a leading research-intensive University (one of the top 200 in the
World), and has been a major centre for polymer science for more than thirty years.
Investigators and Postdocs: Back row: Mark Matsen, Barny Greenland, Ian Hamley, inset: Wayne Hayes
Front row: Howard Colquhoun, Valeria Castelletto, Zhixue Zhu, Jaeup Kim

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 7
PPG and MacroGroup News
The Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry
The Knowledge Centre in Materials Chemistry (KCMC) based on the world class research institutes in the northwest will be
established in 2009 to achieve innovative knowledge transfer into industry. This will initially be in the northwest, then the rest of
the UK and finally overseas.
Research has clearly indicated that at least half of the companies in the chemistry using sector rely in some way on materials
chemistry. This Centre will interact directly with these companies and will enable the leading materials chemistry research centres
in the Northwest to coordinate, develop and exploit their capabilities in order to drive significant industrial growth in the
northwest and the UK.
The Centre will comprise leading edge capabilities in materials chemistry at the universities of Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester,
and the Science & Technology Facilities Council at Daresbury.
The Centre will be managed by an independent Knowledge Transfer Team hosted by the Chemistry Innovation KTN whose role
will be to develop and manage the industrial and HEI collaborative research activity, increase industrial R&D spend and support
the chemicals industry both in the region and the wider UK. The overall aim of the Centre is to facilitate a step change in the performance
of the chemicals sector through combining the excellent research capabilities across the Northwest thus providing the
region with a truly internationally renowned capability in materials chemistry that will attract ongoing investment both from the
UK and overseas.
The Centre will be managed by an independent Knowledge Transfer Team hosted by the Chemistry Innovation KTN whose role
will be to develop and manage the industrial and HEI collaborative research activity, increase industrial R&D spend and support
the chemicals industry both in the region and the wider UK. The overall aim of the Centre is to facilitate a step change in the performance
of the chemicals sector through combining the excellent research capabilities across the Northwest thus providing the
region with a truly internationally renowned capability in materials chemistry that will attract ongoing investment both from the
UK and overseas.
The Knowledge Centre will be formally launched in the first quarter of 2009 and will build up its collaborative projects with
industry during 2009 and beyond. Funding has been provided by the NWDA to start the Centre and to underpin the main knowledge
transfer activities of the Centre during the first three years of its operation.
The objectives of the Centre are:
• To provide a multi-disciplinary research and knowledge transfer facility for small, medium and large companies, initially
within the Northwest but nationally and internationally within three to five years.
• In collaboration with industry to develop and execute research and development programmes to meet the medium term
research needs of chemistry using industries.
• To exploit the Northwest’s world class science base in materials chemistry for the benefit of the regional economy by attracting
investment in the region from the UK and overseas.
• To achieve collaboration and synergy between the Northwest’s different centres of expertise in materials chemistry.
• To develop the technical and business skills of chemistry using industry members, as well as the Project Scientists working
in the Knowledge Centre, in order to
enhance the skill base available to industry.
• To support the economic growth under
pinned by materials chemistry in the
region and the UK.
For more information about the Knowledge
Centre for Materials Chemistry please contact
D r M i k e H o l m e s
(mike.holmes@materialschemistry.org). The
KCMC web site will be launched in early 2009
and will be found at www.materialchemistry.org
Mike Holmes
Fig. The Structure
of the knowledge
centre for materials

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 8
MacroGroup UK Awards
MACRO Group Medal Awards Announced
Macro Group UK Medal for Outstanding Achievement
The Macro Group UK Medal for Outstanding Achievement is awarded biannually to a scientist
based anywhere in the world that has made outstanding contributions to the field of polymer science.
Prof. Markus Antonietti (MPI fuer Kolloide und Grenflaeche, Golm, Potsdam,
Germany) received a call for Max Planck Directorship in 1993, as one
of the youngest directors ever and took over an Institute of the former
Academy of Sciences of the GDR and restructured it to a modern European
Science Institution. This was not only a scientific, but also a social
and humanistic task. In 2007 the institute scored No.1 as the top institution
in the comparative evaluation of German chemistry evaluation, which testified
the successful accomplishment of the mission after 14 years, only. His
group has a current size of 60 people, mostly young scientists in the phase
of career shaping. He has coauthored 385 papers in a rather broad and interdisciplinary
fashion, covering polymer science, colloid science, material
chemistry, nanoscience, and physical chemistry. This made me currently to
the most cited material scientist in Germany (Europe: No.2) and high-listed in chemistry at the
same time (pos.175, worldwide). 40 of his papers from the last 10 years are filed as “ISI most
cited”, receiving more than 2000 citations per year, and his Hirsch-index is 67.
He is best known for my work on Amphiphilic Block Copolymers, their self organization, and their
use for hybrid material synthesis with nanostructures. In addition, he has worked on crystallization
control by amphiphilic copolymers and developed (with H.Cölfen) the concept of mesocrystallization.
His biggest “applied” success is presumably the development of stable nanodroplets
as nanoreactors (together with K. Landfester, see ref. 8). This has found entry already in some
industrial products of water based polymer dispersions, with rapidly increasing patent and product
coverage.
Macro Group UK Medal
The Macro Group UK Medal is awarded annually to a UK-based scientist who has made a significant
and substantial contribution to the development of polymer science through his/her scientific
achievements and/or services to the UK polymer science community.
This years award has been made to Prof. Steve Howdle (University of
Nottingham) for his outstanding contribution to the UK polymer community.
For over 15 years Prof Howdle has been at the forefront of the use
of supercritical CO 2 as a green solvent to process polymeric systems and
to synthesise new polymers with advantageous morphologies, the most
commercially interesting of which are metal-polymer nanocomposites
and tissue engineering scaffolds. He has published in excess of 250 invited
and refereed papers and has 10 patents to his name. He is an integral
member of the International Biomaterials Research Association, an
initiative which links recognised centres of excellence in polymeric science
in Australia, USA and the UK. In 2002 Prof Howdle founded Critical
Pharmaceuticals a company spun-out from his research into the use of scCO 2 for polymer
processing.

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 9
MacroGroup UK Awards
MACRO Group Medal Awards
Announced
Macro Group UK Young Researchers
Medal
The Macro Group UK Young Researchers Medal is
awarded annually to a UK-based scientist, normally under
the age of 36 on December 31st of the preceding
year, whose contributions to polymer science show outstanding
promise for the future.This years award has
been made jointly to Dr Aline Miller (University of
Manchester) and Dr Rachel O’Reilly (University of
Cambridge).
Aline Miller has built up an active interdisciplinary
research group, with
particular emphasis on applying physical
principles within the life-science
field. The unifying theme is to relate
the physics of self-assembly to functional,
microstructural and mechanical
properties to gain both process and
product control. Aline and her group
have made significant advances and discoveries in the
research area of structure-property relationships of
polymers and biopolymers, application of typical polymeric
theories to biological macromolecules and also in
instrumental developments.
Rachel O’Reilly’s research aims to bridge the interface
between creative synthetic, polymer
and catalysis chemistry, to allow for the
development of materials that are of
significant importance in medical, materials
and nanoscience applications. Rachel
especially focuses her groups research
on the development new synthetic
polymerisation strategies, supramolecular
assembly of polymers into
precision organic/inorganic or hybrid nanoparticles to
afford materials that the group are studying for potential
applications as biological mimics, nanoreactors and
nanotechnology devices. Rachel has recently moved to
the University of Warwick through the award of an
EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship.
Macro Group UK Medal for Outstanding
Achievement *
2008. M. Antonietti
2006 J.M.J. Fréchet
2005 K. Matyjaszewski
2004 P. Hodge
2003 A.B. Holmes
2002 D.C. Sherrington
2001 J.M.G. Cowie
2000 J.C. Bevington
1999 E.W. Meijer
1998 W.J. Feast
1997 G. Wegner
Macro Group UK Medal
2008 S.M. Howdle
2007 S.P. Armes
2006 D.M Haddleton
Macro Group UK Young
Researchers Medal
2008 A.F. Miller
R.K O’Reilly
2007 R.V. Ulijn
2006 S. Pérrier
2005 P.A.G. Cormack
2004 W.C. Hayes
2003 N.R. Cameron
2002 A.I. Cooper
2001 W. Huck
1999 A. Slark
1997 S. Rannard
* previously known as the Macro Group UK
Lectureship and Medal (1997-2005)

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 10
Conference Reports
48th Microsymposium on Polymer Colloids: From Design to Biomedical
and Industrial Applications
Prague, 20th - 24th July, 2008
I attended the 48 th Microsymposium on Polymer Colloids from 20 to 24 July 2008 in Prague, Czech Republic. It
was a successful and very well-organized international conference.
The event brought together the scientific community
and industrialists from more than 30 countries, with
64 lectures and 96 posters. The conference covered
a broad range of topics, from recent advances in
polymerization, to biomedical prospects of colloid
particles, micelles and microgels, to industrial applications
of polymer colloids as pressure-sensitive
adhesives. For example, Prof Masayoshi Okubo’s
group (Kobe University) described their recent work
on colloids by seeded dispersion polymerization in
an ionic liquid, rather than in aqueous solution. Prof.
Mitchell Winnik (University of Toronto) discussed his
work on the early stages of latex film formation that
provides information on polymer diffusion when particles
first come into contact. Reinhold Leyrer from
BASF demonstrated an attractive example of ordered
arrays of core-shell particles, which display
different colours under stretching of films.
It seems that as emulsion polymerization reaches maturity as a subject after decades of research, the lectures
pointed to the new directions for future polymer colloid research in biotechnology. Prof Craig Hawker
(University of California, Santa Barbara) presented results on the construction of hybrid inorganic (metals, magnetic
particles)-organic nanoparticles made by mini-emulsion polymerization, which have potential biomedical
prospects. Prof Karen Wooley presented the chemical design of block copolymers and physical manipulation
to create nano-objects as devices for nanomedicine.
I presented a poster entitled “pH-tuning of adhesive properties of polymer colloid films containing poly(acrylic
acid)”, in which I showed part of my PhD work. The presentation triggered helpful discussions with Prof Peter
Lovell (University of Manchester), Dr John Tsavalas (University of New Hampshire), and Elise Degrandi
(ESPCI). These discussions have inspired new ideas for my further work.
Thanks to the organizing committee, we also had fantastic social programmes, getting together with all the participants.
We had a welcome dinner at the former farmstead “Ladronka”. We visited a 300-year-old monastery
“Loreta” and the libraries of the Royal Canonry of Premonstratensians. Then we visited the Prague Castle and
the famous Golden Lane. We finished that un-forgettable day with a cruise along the Vltava River with sunset,
dinner, beer, music and dancing until 11 pm.
I am very grateful to the Polymer Physics Group for awarding me a bursary from the Research Student Conference
Fund as a contribution to attend this very stimulating conference. I am sure my participation will illuminate
and inspire new developments in my future work.
Tao Wang (Department of Physics, University of Surrey)

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 11
Conference Reports
British Society of Rheology Meeting
University of Leeds
15th-16th December 2008
This meeting was co-sponsored by the Polymer Physics Group and, over the two days, had plenty
to keep the polymer physicist interested (especially those who work on polymer flow).
Alexei Likhtman (Reading) presented some of his recent research, attempting to get to the bottom
of what entanglements really are and how you might spot them (for example) in a molecular
simulation.
The BSR Prize was awarded to Peter Olmsted for his work on shear-banding, and his talk touched
on whether this is observed, after all, in polymer melts. There were talks and posters on blockcopolymers,
polymer mixing (by the great Han Meijer), processing and multiphase flows, and crystallisation.
But I enjoyed the meeting because of the breadth of soft-matter science on display. A
particular highlight was the talk given by Lucio Isa (awarded the Vernon Harrison prize for best
PhD thesis) on imaging and tracking particles in colloidal flows. The conference dinner was also
very good.
Daniel Read, University of Leeds
Recent Appointees in Polymer Science
University of Nottingham
17th—19th September 2008
The RAPS 2008 conference, held at Nottingham University last September, was once again a great
success. Being the 10 th anniversary since the first RAPS conference it was a delight that many of the
founding members could be present to see how far their idea has come! There was an impressive series
of academic plenary lectures from Dr Derek Irvine, Dr Patrick Fairclough and Prof. Igeoma
Uchegbu, who all gave a fascinating insight into their careers and research. There were 35 posters
presented and 17 lecturers from young polymer scientists from the UK. A new feature this year was
that addition of a career development session with talks on funding from the ERC and EPSRC, talks on
publishing from Nature Materials and the RSC, and a talk on the commercialisation of research. The
scientific and social programs together made for an excellent and stimulating couple of days.
RAPS is very grateful to our sponsors Wyatt Technology, Polymer Laboratories, Viscotek and the Institute
of Physics for their support. We also are very grateful for the support we received from Perkin
Elmer, Presearch and Metrc who exhibited and attended the conference.
Next year’s conference will be held on the 16 th -18th September at the University of Reading. I do hope
you will be able to support us in next year’s conference – if you are interested in becoming involved
please contact the chairperson Rachel O’Reilly (rko20@cam.ac.uk)
Andrew Naylor, Critical Pharaceuticals

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 12
Conference Reports
Polymers & Neutron Scattering meeting in honour of Dame
Julia Higgins
14th-15th September 2008, Imperial College, London
The Polymer Physics Group (PPG) organised a conference at Imperial College London to review recent progress in
polymer science and neutron scattering. The meeting was dedicated to Professor Dame Julia Higgins and celebrated
her numerous contributions to the field in the UK and abroad.
The meeting attracted nearly 80 delegates from over 20 nationalities, many friends and co-workers, including
speakers and chairpersons from the UK, Spain, France, Sweden, Japan and USA.
The programme contained sessions on Polymer structure & flow (Tom Russell, Tom McLeish, François Boué), Homopolymer
& Mixture Dynamics (Toshi Kanaya, Juan Colmenero, Valeria Arrighi), Mixtures and Thermodynamics
(Tim Lodge, Jane Lipson, Nigel Clarke), Polymers at Interfaces (Richard Jones, David Bucknall) and concluded
with an Instrumentation and outlook session (Sean Langridge).
The lively and often heated debates demonstrated that neutron scattering continues to contribute significantly to
our understanding of polymer physics and that important advances are expected in the near future of “Polymers
and Neutron Scattering” as instrumentation continually improves.
The meeting and social agenda was made possible by the sponsorship of Imperial College London, ISIS (UK), Institut
Laue-Langevin (France), and the Institute of Physics. The conference reception and dinner took take place at
the elegant Polish club (Ognisko) adjacent to Imperial and was animated by a string quartet and the after dinner
speech of Prof Randal Richards. Dame Julia thanked all participants and pledged to remain active in the field.
João Cabral,
Imperial College London
Photo 1: Group photo at the Royal Albert Hall.
Photo 2: Dame Julia concluding the meeting.
Photo 3: Toshi Kanaya and Julia Higgins
Photo 4: Joe Keddie and Athene Donald.
Photo 5: Tom Russell, Tom McLeish and Richard Jones.
Photo 6: Tim Lodge, François Boué, Jane Lipson and Joao Cabral.
Photo 7: Walther Burchard and Julia Higgins.
Photo 8: Paul Luckham, Adrian Rennie and Juan Colmenero.
Photo 9: Easan Sivaniah, Tony Ryan and Richard Jones.
Photo 10: Nigel Clarke, Scott Milner and Randal Richards.
Photo 11: Clive and David Bucknall.

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 13
Conference Reports
See page 12
for captions

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 14
Conference Reports
A Random Walk through Polymer Science
19 th December 2008, University of Durham
Only a year after visiting Durham for the biennial meeting, PPG returned to the North East of England
to celebrate the career and achievements of Randal Richards at the time of his retirement.
Although it was announced shortly before the meeting that Randal will be taking over as part time
Director of the Polymer IRC, the meeting was too good
an excuse for a PPG Christmas party to postpone.
Randal’s pre-retirement roles included Deputy Chief
Executive of EPSRC, Head of the Department of Chemistry,
Durham University and Chair of MacroGroup.
Throughout his career, Randal has had an enormous
impact on polymer science within the UK, Europe and
farther afield. His achievements and influence have
recently been recognized with the award of an OBE in
the 2009 New Years Honours.
In addition to be a very enjoyable social occasion, as is evident
from the accompanying pictures taken during the reception
following the meeting, we were treated to an afternoon
of excellent science, and the occasional magic trick,
by colleagues and former students of Randal who have
themselves made significant contributions to polymer science.
The speakers included two PPG Founders’ Prize winners,
Julia Higgins and Athene Donald and the current Director
of ISIS, Andrew Taylor. UK industry was well represented
by Bill MacDonald of Dupont Teijin Films and Stella
Peace, a former student of Randal and now Operations
Director at Unilever. Naturally, the meeting would not have
been complete without learning about the latest developments
in polymer surfaces and interfaces, and the richness
and variety of the topic was wonderfully illustrated by
Jeff Penfold, Richard Pethrick and Richard Jones.
Nigel Clarke, Durham University

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 15
D H Richards Memorial Bursaries (Macro Group UK)
Are you: ● a student member of Macro Group UK?
desperate to go to an important conference?
short of all the funding needed?
then the D H Richards Memorial Bursaries scheme can help you!
About the bursaries
Macro Group set up the bursaries as a memorial to D H Richards, who was one of the founding officers of
Macro Group and worked hard to establish it as a major group in the UK. Under this scheme, Macro
Group sets aside funds each year to support its student members that wish to attend a scientificallyimportant
conference, but are short of funds to make this happen. Only one student from a particular department/school
will be granted a bursary for a particular conference. The applicant must be a current
Macro Group member, have their supervisor's support, and be planning to make an oral or poster contribution
at the conference. It is expected that part of the funds needed to attend the conference will be obtained
from other sources. A particular student can only receive one bursary award during their period of
study and the maximum amount awarded will be £300. A condition of receiving a bursary award, is that the
student will be required to write a short conference report for publication in the Bulletin.
How to apply
Application forms can be obtained from the Macro Group Secretary, Wayne Hayes, by sending an email
request to: w.c.hayes@reading.ac.uk The completed application form must be sent by the applicant's supervisor (to
confirm their support of the application) via email to Joachim Steinke in accord with the following three
deadlines - 1 November, 1 February and 1 May
Decisions will normally be announced less than 4 weeks after the deadline.
Bursaries
The 236th ACS National Meeting & Exposition 17th-21st August 2008 Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Philadelphia, widely known for its Cheese Steaks, The Liberty Bell and of course “Rocky”, was the venue for the 236th
meeting of the American Chemical Society and saw the society unveiling its new slogan: “Chemistry for Life”. As well as
reassuring the members of the society that the ACS would be here for the remainder of our lifetimes this slogan also
helped to shape the thematic programming at the conference and ensured that many of the symposia were health based.
In the POLY division there were many different symposia but I spent most of my time in the 5th Controlled Radical Symposium
which was co-sponsored by HEALTH. There were many interesting talks, in particular Sebastian Perrier, Felipe du
Prez and Chris Bielawski all gave informed talks on how they were using RAFT chemistry and the direction their research
was heading in the future. This was of interest to me as RAFT plays a major role in the research I am undertaking for my
PhD.
After the technical sessions during the day there were two opportunities to present posters. The first session was the
Sci-Mix drinks session where people from all divisions displayed their posters and we were able to meet people from different
fields. In the second poster session I was able to talk with Graeme Moad, Andrew Lowe and Bert Klumperman all of
whom were eager to discuss the chemistry I had been doing and intended to do and as a result of this I was awarded the
third prize for the 5th Controlled Radical Symposium Poster Session. I received a copy of the Handbook of RAFT Polymerisation
and a year’s paper subscription to a Wiley Journal of my choice. The title I chose was Journal of Polymer Science:
Part A as this contains many papers relevant to my research.
All in all the conference was very rewarding as I was able to meet a lot of people who were working in my field and listen
to a variety of talks from people in related fields, which has helped me to generate some new ideas and directions for my
project work.
All of this was only made possible by the award I received from MGUK in the form of the DH Richards bursary.
Jared Skey, University of Cambridge

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 16
Forthcoming Meetings & Conferences
Physical Aspects of Polymer Science
The 24th Biennial Meeting of the Polymer Physics Group
14 -16 September 2009
Wills Hall, University of Bristol
This is the 24th in a series of conferences dating back to the 1960s, when Andrew Keller and Ian
Ward first established the Polymer Physics Group. The meeting has a broad remit, attracting
delegates from across the polymer community, and providing a forum for younger members of
the community to showcase their work.
Ph.D. students are particularly encouraged
to attend.
The meeting includes four invited talks and a
lecture from the Founders' Prize winner, Prof.
Athene Donald, FRS. In addition, an early
career polymer physicist from the USA will
give the DPOLY/PPG exchange lectureship.
The remainder of the program will be filled
with contributed talks and posters from all
areas of polymer science.
Wills Hall: the venue for the 24th PPG Biennial
meeting
Invited speakers:
Mervyn Miles (Bristol, Physics)
Henning Sirringhaus (Cambridge, Physics)
Ralph Colby (Penn State, Materials Science and Engineering)
Günter Reiter (Freiburg, Physics)
The conference will be held in the picturesque surroundings of Wills Hall, at the University of Bristol.
For further information visit:
http://www.iop.org/Conferences/
Macro Group UK Annual General Meeting
21st/22nd July 2009
The AGM of Macro Group will take place on either the 21st or 22nd July, integrated into the programme
of the Frontiers of Research / Young Researchers Meetings that will take place at the University
of Sheffield. Any member who would like to attend the AGM but not the symposium should inform
Dave Haddleton (d.m.haddleton@warwick.ac.uk) by no later than Monday 24 May.

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 17
Forthcoming Meetings & Conferences
Date(s) Title and Location Organiser
6th-8th April 2009
Biological and Soft Matter (University of Warwick)
Matthew Turner and
Claire Garland (IoP)
21st-23rd April 2009 FRT09: Fire Retardant Technologies 2009 (Uni. Central Lancashire) Ruth Lane (RSC)
15 th -17 th June 2009
5 th -9 th July 2009
Soft Nanotechnology, Faraday Discussion Meeting 143 The Royal
Society, London, UK
13th International IUPAC Conference on Polymers and Organic
Chemistry (Montréal, Canada)
12 th -17 th July 2009 European Polymer Federation Congress 2009 (Graz, Austria) -
21 st -22 nd July 2009
YRM and Frontiers of Polymer Science Meeting (University of Sheffield)
1 st -9 th August 2009 MC9 and IUPAC Congress (Glasgow) RSC
14th-16th Sept 2009 Physical Aspects of Polymer Science (University of Bristol)
Wilhelm Huck and
Joachim Steinke
-
Patrick Fairclough
Simon Hanna (Bristol)
and Dawn Stewart (IoP)
16th-18th Sept 2009 Recent Appointees in Polymer Science (University of Reading)
Vitaliy
11th -16th July 2010
IUPAC World Polymer Congress 2010
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow
Peter Lovell and Nicole
Morgan (RSC)
FRT09: Fire Retardant Technologies
2009
University of Central Lancashire, 21 st -23 rd April 2009
This 3-day symposium will provide a comprehensive review of the industry today, primarily targeted at
people working in (or with) industries which produce, sell use, test or develop fire retardant materials.
It will also provide an overview of the area to those people looking for new materials opportunities in
this multi-billion pound industry.
The key topics covered are:
• summaries of the existing technologies - materials, mechanisms of action and testing
• emerging technologies
• legislative and environmental pressures shaping the future
Further information about the meeting and registration can be found at:
http://www.rscspecialitychemicals.org.uk/conferences/fire-retardant-technologies.cfm

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 18
Forthcoming Meetings & Conferences

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 19
Forthcoming Meetings & Conferences

Macro Group UK & Polymer Physics Group Bulletin No 71 January 2009 Page 20
Teaching and Learning Resources in Polymer Science
OpenLearn
Many Universities now make learning materials available on the web, but few on the scale of the
Open University’s OpenLearn initiative (see http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/home.php for
more details)
Here you will find more than 300 self-contained interactive study units, freely available to use,
amend and rework on an individual or collaborative basis.
OpenLearn is divided into two environments:
Learning Space, which provides access to learning materials over a wide range of topics and at
different levels of study, together with a range of online tools and opportunities for discussion
and collaboration.
LabSpace, which provides all LearningSpace material and other, less structured material, with
the intention that this is downloaded, remixed and reused by the community to suit their needs.
New and remixed content can then be uploaded, adding to the resources available.
For polymer-related content you might like to try
Introduction to polymers (T838_1), Introduction to forensic engineering (T839_1) ,
Structural materials in cells (T356_3) or Manufacturing (T173-2) for starters
Or simply choose the 'Science and Nature' category for lots more physics material.
Macro Group Committee Nominations
Nominations are required for Ordinary Members of the committee to serve for a three-year period from April 2009.
The Group constitution requires that the persons elected as Ordinary Members must be Macro Group members and
include at least one member from each of the parent societies (RSC or SCI). Nominations signed by the proposer
and seconder (both of whom must be members of Macro Group) and also by the nominee and should be made using
the form below to the Group Secretary, Joachim Steinke, no later than Monday 24 March 2009. Nominations should
be signed by the proposer and seconder (both of whom must be members of Macro Group) and also by the nominee
to indicate his/her agreement to serve. A short biographical outline of the experience, knowledge and skills that the
nominee would bring to the committee also is required and should be attached to the nomination..
Nomination for Macro Group UK Committee
To be returned to Dr Joachim Steinke, Macro Group Secretary, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, London SW7. UK
DEADLINE FOR RECIEPT: MONDAY 24 MARCH 2009
We hereby nominate: _________________________________________ (print name)
for the post of Ordinary Member on Macro Group UK Committee
Proposer: _____________________ (print name) __________________________ (signature)
Seconder: _____________________ (print name) __________________________ (signature)
Nominee:
I __________________________________________________ (print name)
confirm that I am a member of Macro Group through the RSC / SCI (delete as appropriate) and agree to serve
on Macro Group Committee if elected.
__________________________ (signature)