i-PCG-Webinar Series concludes first season

COVID-19 changed all in 2020. The world in lockdown. Academic scientific labs closed. Conferences, meetings, cancelled. Working from home, the new normal. The once clear borders for many between “work-life” and “life” faded out, with people juggling health, families and friends, work. A balancing act, walking the tightrope.

Creativity started to pop-up with the scientific community going online. Many excellent science webinar series, social sessions, quizzes emerged. So did ours from the International Polymer Colloids Group. A series of research talks and masterclasses to bring people together from their homes, to talk and discuss science, to provide a sense of normality. It has opened up scientific discussion to all. It has provided a platform for scientific learning to many. Will it have a permanent place in the years ahead, remains to be seen. I certainly hope so.

In our inaugural scientific i-PCG webinar series, we saw a great variety of colloid science brought with enthusiasm. We have seen fantastic science from all over the world in 26 research talks and 6 masterclasses. For a limited time, all talks are still accessible from our vault.

I would like to thank all the speakers who contributed to this inaugural i-PCG webinar series. I also would like to thank all of you, for participating.

One last session, coming thursday at 1700 BST, 1800 CEST. All are welcome to join.

I hope to see many of you return for season 2.

Warmest wishes,

Stefan Bon

International Polymer Colloids Group (IPCG) goes Online for 2020 Webinar Science Series

The International Polymer Colloid Group (IPCG) was founded in 1972 as a forum for the exchange of ideas and emerging research activities for scientists and engineers from both academia and industry who study or use polymer colloids.

It is a vibrant scientific community who normally meet face-to-face every two years to discuss the latest global developments related to polymer colloid science (2013 Shanghai, 2015 New Hampshire, 2017 the Basque Country, 2019 Singapore).

As a result of the global COVID19 pandemic, we are taking the IPCG forum online with a series of weekly scientific webinars. Anyone who is interested in science can participate as audience member, or even better, as presenter. All is free.

To find out more, see the schedule, and participate in the IPCG 2020 Webinars click this link.

We hope to welcome many of you,

prof. dr. ir. Stefan A. F. Bon

BonLab wins awards and prizes for Innovative Research

The BonLab team has recently won a number of awards and prizes in recognition for their innovative research in the field of polymer colloid science.

In April 2019 at the RSC/SCI Rideal Lecture in honour of prof. Peter Lovell Sam Wilson Whitford won the RSC Soft Matter poster prize for his work on microcapsules based on supramolecular waxes. At the same meeting Matt Donald won the RSC Polymer Chemistry poster prize for his work on the mechanistic aspects of vinyl acetate emulsion polymerization.

In May 2019 Wai Hin Lee was awarded a prestigious Warwick International Chancellor’s Scholarship to continue his PhD in complex 2D colloidal materials. Brooke Longbottom was awarded a Warwick University faculty of science PhD thesis prize for his outstanding contributions to the field of “active” colloidal particles.

In June 2019 Andrea Lotierzo was awarded best PhD student presentation at the International Polymer Colloids Group Conference in Singapore, for his work on the synthesis of Janus, patchy and armored latex particles.

Prof.dr.ir. Stefan Bon, leader of the BonLab, says: “ I am delighted with our recent awards and prizes and I am proud of the achievements of Sam, Matt, Wai, Brooke and Andrea. They all have worked tremendously hard with dedication and enthusiasm and all are the reason why BonLab continues to innovate in science”