International: Joint U.S.-Germany Workshop on Polymers, July 20-25, 2003, Bayreuth, Germany

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This proposal seeks funding for a joint Workshop focusing on the synthesis and properties of new polymeric materials, and will involve younger scientists from the United States and Germany. The proposed participants in this symposium have contributed to the synthesis and characterization of sophisticated polymeric materials whose properties can be confined at micron and nanometer length scales. The polymers have complex architectures, complex arrangements of diverse chemical constituents, and the range of characterization methods has expanded through the development of high throughput combinatorial techniques. The proposed participants have many overlapping interest, including the broad use of dendrimers, hyperbranched and cyclic polymers; the development of polyelectrolyte multilayers; the development of responsive materials for devices and drug delivery; the synthesis of pepties and proteins; the self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules and block copolymers in both solution and solid-state; and the use of organized phases for new synthetic procedures and to develop new materials. The goal of the Workshop is to initiate new collaborations and interactions, and will therefore emphasize younger researchers who lack international exposure. In order to emphasize new interactions, no one is allowed to attend the US-Germany workshop twice, unless he or she is chosen to co-organize the next meeting or was the previous organizer. The proposed American participants include nine Assistant Professors, two recently-promoted Associate Professors, and the two organizers who are both Associate Professors. In addition to ensuring that new interactions are constantly forming, this stipulation also discourages evolution into an "old-boys club". The proposed workshop features active participation of women and minorities. Of the fifteen proposed US participants (three industrial), six are women, three are African American, one is hispanic, and three are Asian (which are minorities at the faculty level in the US). Of the twelve proposed German participants, two are women. The US participants represent Universities and companies from California, Texas, the Midwest and northeastern states.