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Application Deadline for Spring 2023 ACS Meeting is October 17, 2022

The Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Symposium is organized by the POLY division and held at the Spring national meetings of the ACS to recognize outstanding graduate students in polymer science and engineering, foster networking and exposure, and help develop the careers of future leaders in the field of polymers. This symposium was started in 2004 and includes both oral and poster sessions with presentations exclusively from graduate students.

Eligibility: A participant must still be in graduate school in March or April when the presentation is given.  Applicants should submit their abstract through the MAPS webpage (available until October 17, 2022) and select “POLY” for the program area and “Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research” as the symposium.

Participation:  The application packages will be evaluated by a judging panel.  Students deemed worthy of recognition will be included in the symposium.  Participants are chosen without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, or sexual orientation.  Because of space limitations, only a maximum of 54 students can be accommodated in this symposium. 

Nomination and Application: Only one nominee/applicant per department is allowed and previous participants in this symposium are not eligible. Please send your nomination/application package (see below) via email to Dr. Jeffrey Self (self0018@umn.edu ) by October 17, 2022. The package should include:

  • A completed application form from the student including a research overview (1 page) and statement of goals (1 page)

(The application form can be downloaded here: file )

  • Nomination letter from student’s research advisor describing the accomplishments of the nominee (1-page maximum)
  • Nomination letter from student’s department chair (1-page maximum)
  • Also, enter a Graphical Abstract into the ACS MAPS submission system.

The symposium organizers are Jeffrey Self (University of Minnesota), Christine Coltrain (Eastman Kodak), Christopher Ellison (University of Minnesota), and Timothy Long (Arizona State Univ.).

For information on previous symposia please see:

POLY Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research 2021-2022

POLY Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research 2014-2020

POLY Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research 2004-2013

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