The Society for Polymer Science, India

 
President's Message
Dear Fellow Members

Greetings from the Society and me, personally, for a happy and prosperous New Year.
I wish to briefly update you on the activities of the Society during the past one year.
The highlight of the year was the successful conclusion of Macro 2013 at Bangalore, May 15-18, 2013. As you are aware Macro 2013 was held in conjunction with the Third Congress of the Federation of Asian Polymers Societies (FAPS). The Conference was a great success and as usual brought together a large number of active Indian scientists and those from overseas for four days of intense deliberations. We also had a large number of student poster presentations. In view of the FAPS participation we also had good participation from Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and Malaysia.
I wish to thank Professor S. Ramakrishnan and his band of enthusiastic volunteers for having organized a wonderful conference and set a new bench mark for scientific excellence. A new initiative was the “power” presentation by students short listed for “best poster” awards giving aspiring young scientists a platform to present their work before a large audience.
On the sidelines of Macro-2013, SPS (I) held its AGM on May 16, 2013. The minutes of the AGM are uploaded on the web.
One of the important decisions taken at the AGM was to accept the offer of Kolkata Chapter to host the next Macro 2015. This will be jointly hosted by the Kharagpur and Kolkata Chapter with active participation of institutions in the vicinity such as IISER-K and University of Kolkata from 23-26 January 2015. The venue will be the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science, Kolkata. SPS (I) will also complete twenty five years of its existence in January 2016. The year 2015-16, thus, marks the Silver Jubilee Year of SPS (I). It is only fitting that Macro 2015 is being hosted at IACS, Kolkata, where, under the leadership of Professor Santi Ranjan Palit, Indian polymer science research was born in the late forties and early fifties. Historically, the first paper from India in polymer science was published by Professor Palit and coauthored by Sadhan Basu and J.N. Sen in 1950, Proc. Royal Society, A, p.485 titled “Degree of polymerization and chain transfer in methyl methacrylate”.
I wish the organizers all success as they prepare for this meeting.
Increasing number of regional meetings is also being held under the umbrella of SPS (I). I welcome these initiatives as they bring greater visibility to the activities of the Society.I encourage each chapter to actively engage their members in a meaningful manner. It is through the activities of the Chapters that the Society acquires its identity.
I am also happy to say that the Pune Chapter has accepted to host the FAPS Council Meeting in October – November 2014 at CSIR-NCL, Pune. A small Symposium is planned to coincide with the Council meeting
I wish each one of you a very productive New Year.

Society of Polymer Science (India) (SPSI)(www.spsi.co.in) was established in 1995 with its national headquarters located at the campus of National Chemical Laboratory (www.ncl-india.org), a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific Research, New Delhi(www.csir.res.in). India had a few regional organizations catering to the needs of the polymer community prior to that time. However, in 1992, a decision was taken to merge all the regional societies and to constitute a national society.
The mission of the Society is to promote the advancement of the science and technology of polymers in India and to provide a forum for the practitioners to meet periodically and exchange information on the contemporary developments in the area. India is one of the fastest growing markets for polymers with consumptions exceeding fifteen million tons in 2012. India has a vibrant manufacturing and processing industry, in large, medium and small sectors.
The Society is registered as a non-profit entity and is managed by an elected body of office bearers consisting of a President, two Vice Presidents, a Honorary Secretary, a Treasurer and nine Executive Committee Members. The activities of the Society are conducted through ten chapters located all over India. The chapters organize local events on a regular basis for the benefit of their members. SPSI organizes a national conference, once in two years, in different parts of India. Since 1991, when the first such Conference was organized in Pune, India, eleven conferences have been organized thus far. The Society has close to one thousand life members and several student members. The Society's conferences are well attended with over six hundred participants with a large number of speakers from overseas. These national conferences showcase the best of polymer science research in India.
SPSI is a member of the Federation of Polymer Societies and is listed in the World Polymer Organizations brought out by the Society of Polymer Science, Japan. SPSI is also a founder - member of the Federation of Asian Polymer Societies (FAPS).
Presidents of SPS (India)
1.
  Prof. H. Kothandaraman   Founder President
2.
  Dr. R.A. Mashelkar   1991 - 1995
3.
  Dr.(Ms.) I.K. Verma   1996 - 2001
4.
  Dr. G.N. Mathur   2002 - 2004
5.
  Prof. Ashok Misra   2005 - 2008
6.
  Dr. S. Sivaram   2009 - 2015
7.
  Prof. S. Ramakrishnan   2015 - till date