On 17.03.2022, the Center for Polymer and Carbon Materials of the Polish Academy of Sciences organized the Silesian Meetings on Polymer Materials POLYMAT2022 Conference. The conference was dedicated to the memory of prof. Andrzej Dworak, an outstanding scientist in the field of polymers, founder and long-time director of the Center for Polymer and Carbon Materials of the Polish Academy of Sciences, who died in February 2021.

The conference was attended by outstanding scientists of world renown who cooperated (in many cases even became friends) with the late prof. A. Dworak. We had the honor of hosting outstanding scientists: prof. Brigitte Voit (Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research, Dresden, Germany), prof. Rainer Haag (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany), prof. Stergios Pispas (National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece), prof. Axel Müller (Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany) and prof. Petar Petrov (Institute of Polymers, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria). These scientists presented works related to the scientific interests of Prof. Dworak, which included nanomaterials with special properties, as well as possibilities of their potential application.

The Polymat2022 Conference was attended by over 170 scientists from leading research centers from Poland and abroad. The poster session presented over 130 works on very diverse polymer topics, starting from the synthesis and characterization of polymers, through polymer nano- and microsystems to polymer scaffolds, hydrogels, (bio)composites and blends. The conference awarded three prizes for the best posters in the following categories: advanced techniques of synthesis and research of polymer materials (Aneta Medaj, Jagiellonian University in Krakow), advanced polymer biomaterials (Mattia Parati, University of Wolverhampton, UK) and in the category of interdisciplinary works conducted in international cooperation (Erik Dimitrov, Institute of Polymers, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Sofia University and CMPW PAN, Zabrze). The prizes of 450 Euro were funded by the journal Polymers.

The conference was held under the auspices of the European Polymers Federation, the Committee on Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Chemical Society. The media patronage over the conference was provided by the journal Polymers and Przemysł Chemiczny.

The conference was an important scientific event and finally created an opportunity for direct discussion and exchange of views after the Covid-19 pandemic that has been going on for 2 years. It was an excellent opportunity to integrate the scientific community of universities and institutes, students, experts and engineers working in the area of ​​precisely designed polymers for new applications and will enjoy great interest from scientists working in this field.

Details of the conference can be found on the website at: http://polymat2022.https://cmpw-pan.pl/.