Meetings

Forthcoming Meetings

19th Annual RAPS meeting (RAPS 2018)

The 19th Annual RAPS Meeting (RAPS 2018) will be held at the University of Bradford from 5-7th September 2018, and organised by Dr Maria Katsikogianni. Confirmed plenary speakers are Prof. Rachel O'Reilly (University of Birmingham), Prof. Giuseppe Mantovani (University of Nottingham, and Prof. Ben Whiteside (University of Bradford).

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We are very thankful to the following sponsors:

Previous RAPS Meetings

The 18^th annual conference of Recent Appointee in Polymer Science (RAPS) hosted and chaired by Dr Aram Saeed in the School of Pharmacy, University of East Anglia. The meeting was held at the Julian Study Centre building from 6^th- 8^th September, supported by UEA conference team. The scientific programme spread over three days and attended by a diverse group of a recent appointee of academics, industrialist and postdoc in polymer chemistry area.

Dr Saeed, the conference chair, said: “This year’s meeting has been a real excitement for me to bring the thriving community of RAPS here to the School of Pharmacy and University of East Anglia”.

RAPS community is a hot spot for emerging academics in polymer science to become the future leader in the field. This year we had a diverse range of speakers, with invited lectures from Prof. Mike Raxworthy (Neotherix,University of Leeds), Prof. Wayne Hayes (University of Reading), Professor Yaroslav Khimyak (University of East Anglia), Dr Emma Chapman (BP), and Miss Jacqui Murray (Innovate UK), who gave a broad-spectrum view of the current field and future challenges. Dr Saeed continues, “The quality of the presentations and posters have been of very high standards”. Dr Saeed like to thank all the attendees and the sponsors Agilent Technologies, Radleys, Polymer Physics Group, and Macro Group UK. Both Agilent Technologies and Radleys had exhibition throughout the programme, with Dr Raj Bhardwaj providing support and recommendation on challenges facing complex polymer characterisation. The best poster prize was presented by Dr Bhardwaj to Dr Lewis Hart from the University of Reading.

Dr Saeed said the social dinners organised at Vista, and The Refectory at Norwich Cathedral has been well-received and enjoyed by all parties, and thanks to the UEA conference team for this organisation.

Recent Appointees in Polymer Science (RAPS) is a network for young academic and industrial scientists working in any area of polymer science. RAPS membership is free and extended to all those in the early stage of their career, typically those within six years of starting their first permanent academic or industrial post, as well as research fellows and postdoctoral researchers who are keen to progress on a scientific track

Dr Aram Saeed is a lecturer in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering at the School of Pharmacy, University of East Anglia.

17th Annual RAPS Meeting (RAPS 2016)

The 17th Annual RAPS Meeting (RAPS 2016) was held at Loughborough University from 7-9th September 2016. It was organised by the chair of RAPS, Helen Willcock. It featured plenary lectures from Prof. Dave Adams (University of Liverpool), Prof Andrew Lewis (Biocompatibles UK Ltd), Dr Claire Hansell (Nature Publishing Group), Dr Roman Boulatov (University of Liverpool), and Dr Anja Palmans (Eindhoven University of Technology). We also had presentations from attendees on a range of topics including polymer synthesis, materials characterisation, nanoparticulates, and computational research.

Poster prizes this year were won by Kay Doncom (Warwick University), Fiona Hatton (University of Sheffield), and Rebecca Williams (Warwick University).

We would also like to thank our sponsors for their generous support of this meeting.

16th Annual RAPS Meeting (RAPS 2015)

The 16th Annual Recent Appointees in Polymer Science meeting was held on the 2nd-4th September 2015 at the University of Birmingham. The meeting was organised by RAPS committee member Paco Fernandez-Trillo and totalled 55 participants from a wide range of backgrounds across polymer science including academics, industrialists and seasoned PDRAs. This year we had a combination of plenary lectures, together with oral and poster contributions from delegates. Prof Steve Rannard, Prof. Dr. Michael A. R. Meier, Dr Paul D Topham, Dr Stuart Cantrill and Dr Joe Gaunt were the plenary speakers for this year.

Full details about the conference can be found on the meeting webpage.

15th Annual RAPS Meeting (RAPS 2014)

The 15th Annual Recent Appointees in Polymer Science meeting was held on the 3rd-5th September 2014 at the University of Reading. We totaled 40 participants from a wide range of backgrounds across polymer science including academics, industrialists and seasoned PDRAs. During the day we enjoyed 16 talks and 6 invited talks (programme and attendees may be seen here). This year we had a wide range of speakers talking about their personal experiences in polymer research, academia, industry and commercialisation. These included Prof. Tom McLeish, Prof. Charlotte Williams, Dr Jonathan Howse and Dr Vitaly Khutoryanskiy. Furthermore we were also fortunate to have some superb talks and discussions from Tom Whipple (Science Correspondant, The Times) and Dr Helen Niblock (Physical Sciences Portfolio Manager, EPSRC). There were also 12 posters for 2 poster sessions with a prize generously sponsored by Polymer Chemistry (blog) and won by Robert Deller of Warwick University. In the two evenings we had group dinners at Zerodegrees and Sweeny and Todd.

We wish to thank our sponsors for their generous support of RAPS 2014

14th Annual RAPS Meeting (RAPS 2013)

The 14th annual RAPS was held at the University of Manchester on 4-6th September 2013.

The plenary speakers were:

Prof. Cameron Alexander - University of Nottingham

Prof. David Porter - Oxford University (ex Dow Chemical & QinetiQ)

Prof. Mark Moloney - Oxford Advanced Surfaces / Oxford University

We thank the following sponsors their support of the 14th RAPS meeting: