On September 18-20, an international event – “Baltic Polymer Symposium 2019” - was held in Vilnius. As the chairman of the conference organizing committee Prof. Ričardas Makuška noted at the opening ceremony, the “Baltic Polymer Symposium 2019” is a great opportunity for young scientists and doctoral students to present their scientific achievements, share their experience and discover new opportunities for collaboration.
Rector of Vilnius university prof. Artūras Žukauskas also welcomed participants who gathered at the Theater Hall of Vilnius University (VU) . He pointed out that polymers cover a very wide range of materials and, if we keep in mind plastic pollution and global warming, topics of this kind are extremely relevant today. The chairman of the Lithuanian Chemical Society Assoc. Dr. Rimantas Vaitkus wished all those gathered fruitful discussions. There were plenty of discussions not only during the conference breaks, but also during common dinners, as well as during excursions around VU and the Old Town of Vilnius.
The International “Baltic Polymer Symposium” is held annually in Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia. 110 scientists and doctoral students from 11 countries attended this year's conference, with the largest delegations from Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Belarus and Poland. During the two days of the conference, 8 invited speakers gave their lectures, 21 oral and 65 poster presentations were delivered. The invited speakers included famous specialists: prof. P. Claesson of the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), prof. M. Giamberini from the University of Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona (Spain), prof. J. V. Gražulevičius from Kaunas University of Technology, Dr. U. Cabulis, Director of Latvian Institute of Wood, Dr. M. Feldmann of Hexagon Purus GmbH (Germany) and others.
The invited speakers’ lectures were useful not only to doctoral students specializing in polymer chemistry or physics, but also to highly experienced researchers working in related fields. Poster presentations, which were delivered in two sessions, were followed by lively discussions. The authors of the best posters in their sections were awarded.
The winners were doctoral student Akvilė Andziukevičiūtė-Jankūnienė of Kaunas University of Technology, Oskaras Platnieks, a PhD student from Riga Technical University, Ivan A. Berezianko from the Belarusian State University, and Bartosz Tylkowski, a scientist from Rovira i Virgili University.
At the closing of the conference, the chairman of the organizing committee prof. Makuška was pleased to note that this meeting was productive and successful and that the scientific level of the conference is growing every year; all presentations are interesting and reflect the latest trends in polymer science. According to the professor, it is particularly gratifying that the event provoked a lively debate, and the event hall resembled a humming beehive, much like in large international conferences with an old tradition.
This year “Baltic Polymer Symposium 2019” was organized by Vilnius university and was supported by Kaunas University of Technology and the Lithuanian Society of Chemists. Anniversary conference “Baltic Polymer Symposium 2020” will be held in Estonia.
The conference organizing committee is grateful to the Lithuanian Research Council, “Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics”, LLC “Linea Libera”, LLC “Litnobiles”, LLC “Plastiksė”, LLC “Vildoma”, LLC “Neogroup”, and the information sponsor “Go Vilnius” for their support in organizing the symposium.