Organize a Symposium

PMSE Sponsored Symposium

The PMSE sponsored symposia play a crucial role in advancing the field of polymer science and engineering by providing a dedicated platform for the dissemination of cutting-edge research, innovative methodologies, and emerging trends. We encourage our members to organize a PMSE symposium at a national ACS meeting. These symposia not only bring together experts and practitioners from across the globe to share their insights and developments but also encourage interdisciplinary collaboration by spanning broadly across various scientific domains. This inclusivity fosters a holistic understanding of polymer applications and interfaces with other fields, thereby driving forward the evolution of new materials, technologies, and solutions that can address global challenges. By promoting a rich exchange of ideas and fostering partnerships between divisions, PMSE sponsored symposia ensure a vibrant and dynamic future for polymer science and engineering.

Introduction to New Types of Symposia

Organizers can choose from different types of symposia based on their preferences and the cross-divisional relevance of the symposium. There are three types of symposia:

Standard Symposia: These are hosted exclusively by the PMSE division.
Nominal Cosponsored Symposia: This involves an agreement between two divisions where one division sponsors the symposium, and the other agrees to advertise it to their members. However, the symposium will not be listed in the call for abstracts for the nominal sponsoring divisions.
Joint Symposia: These are listed in the call for abstracts by all participating divisions. Joint symposia must have at least one organizer from each participating division, and all participating divisions contribute program sessions to the joint symposia.

Financial Cosponsorship: This is an agreement where another division allocates funding for a PMSE symposium and advertises it to their members, or alternatively PMSE allocates funding to anther division’s symposium. While the symposium can be advertised by all divisions and will be listed in the program as being cosponsored, the symposium will only be listed in the call for abstracts for divisions allocating sessions, and not for the divisions sponsoring just financially.

New Submission Procedure and Forms

To standardize the consideration and acceptance of Technical Symposia for ACS National Meetings, the following standard practices and timelines are being implemented beginning with the Spring 2026 program:

Symposia proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis with a closing date 2 weeks after the conclusion of the prior year’s meeting, and this date will be posted on the website. This will allow time for ideas to develop and be socialized during the current year’s meeting. Example: Spring 2026 Symposia Proposals can be submitted at any time up to 10 April 2025, two weeks after the conclusion of the Spring 2025 meeting.

The technical committee will begin reviewing any proposals upon receipt, and may reach out to the Division membership to solicit additional topics to round out the technical program. Symposia will be selected to balance technical content with the available number of symposium slots allotted to the Technical Division, with a decision date targeting 4 weeks after the submission deadline has passed.

Propose a Symposium

Example dates for the decision on Symposia Proposals are as follows:

For Spring 2026, proposals accepted until 30 April 2025. Decisions around 15 May 2025.
For Fall 2026, proposals accepted until 04 September 2025. Decisions around 03 October 2025.
For Spring 2027, proposals accepted until 09 April 2026. Decisions around 08 May 2026.

Proposal submissions should be submitted to the Microsoft Form found here: PMSE Symposia Proposal Form

2026 Symposia Topics (organizers and proposals needed)

At the Spring 2026 meeting, we will celebrate 150 years of ACS and therefore a symposium highlighting 150 years of polymer science would be very suitable for this meeting. We encourage symposia submissions on this topic, and if multiple are proposed, we are happy to connect the various organizers.
Joint programming efforts: Going forward, ACS aspires to have 10% of programming as joint between two divisions. For example, a joint symposium between PMSE and POLY would be a topic of interest to both divisions where both divisions contribute sessions and organizers. We are planning to organizing joint symposia on the following topics in 2026 (these can be either at the spring or fall meetings), and are soliciting organizers for these sessions. If you are interested, please contact us or propose the symposium here. We are happy to connect you with organizers in the co-organizing division!

· Polymers for Biomanufacturing (joint with BIOT, needs to be a spring meeting)

· Interactions between macromolecules and the microbiome (joint with BIOL)

· Data management for chemistry (joint with COMP)

· Wearable polymeric materials and technologies for healthcare (joint with CELL and BIOT, needs to be a spring meeting)

· Protecting innovations in polymer science (joint with POLY, CELL, and CHAL)

Questions should be directed to the PMSE Technical Programming Committee at (programming@pmsedivision.org). The current committee members for the 2025 calendar year are:

Name	Affiliation	Department
Davita Watkins	Ohio State University	Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Yuanqiao Rao	Dow	Formulation, Automation, and Materials Science
Joshua Orlicki	Army Research Laboratory	DEVCOM – Aberdeen Proving Ground
Rachel Letteri	University of Virginia	Department of Chemical Engineering

Financial Sponsorship for PMSE Organizers

PMSE FUNDING

PMSE funding is limited and early requests will get preference. The deadline for requesting funds is 30 days before the ACS meeting. PMSE funds are provided to defray registration costs and travel costs for invited speakers. These funds may not be used for speaker dinners, organizer travel expenses, and other miscellaneous items. PMSE may provide $500.00 per session up to $2,000.00 in total. Total amounts are dependent on if there are a large number of requests. For PMSE awards that include travel support, PMSE will not provide amounts of over $1500 to awardees. Joint symposia (those jointly sponsored with another division), can receive $500 for any sessions that are allocated to PMSE up to a total of $2,000.00. You must contact Jay Dias with a copy to Rob Hickey and Eileen Ernst with the name of your symposium, which divisions are joint programming and the number of sessions from PMSE as well as the total number of sessions (accounting for all divisions). You may also feel free to contact the other divisions who are jointly sponsoring your sympopsia to inquire if they also offer financial support.

For any amount $600 or more provided, a W9 form must be supplied to the PMSE administrator prior to the receipt of the PMSE funds. PMSE is required to provide the I.R.S. with a 1099 for these funds.

PROCEDURE FOR REQUESTING PMSE FUNDS

A request for PMSE funds must be made via email to Jay Dias (Email) with a copy to Rob Hickey (Email) and also to Eileen Ernst, PMSE Administrative Assistant [office@pmsedivision.org]. These funds are not guaranteed and no promises should be made to speakers unless funds have been approved by Jay Dias in writing.

OUTSIDE FUNDING

Organizers are encouraged to defray costs for speaker dinners, registration fees, organizer travel expenses, and other costs by obtaining funding from outside sources. We find that companies and publishers that do business in the area of your symposium topic are often willing to provide funds in return for the recognition. We strongly encourage you to contact them directly. Also consider the traditional NSF, NIH, DOE, and DOD sources. They often contribute. These sponsorships will be acknowledged in the on-line and on-site programs. Sponsors of symposia will also be included on the pmsedivision.org webpage. The procedure for dealing with these funds is as follows:

Provide Eileen with the proper name of your financial sponsor, the amount they will be providing, your contact’s name and the address (or email) of your contact. Eileen will provide an invoice to your sponsor along with a copy for you. Clear instructions of where to mail the check or wire the funds will be included in the invoice.
Prior to the meeting, provide the PMSE Treasurer with the names of anyone who is to receive a check at the meeting and the amount of the check. The Treasurer will bring these checks to the meeting. If you have expenses that you will not know until after the meeting (i.e. cost of a dinner), the check will be mailed to you by the Treasurer after the meeting.
Financial sponsors are acknowledged in the final on-site program PDF that is posted on the ACS website. Please understand that if we receive the information too late, it may not be possible to acknowledge them in this way.

pmsedivision.org Promotion

To promote symposium on the website, please send a 200 word description of the symposium. Any additional files, such as a PDF promotion, will be added at the end of any description. Details on sponsors, featured presentation, or general details are most effective at communicating the scope of the symposium. This can be done at any time prior to the abstract submission window.

The description will be included on the conference page. During the abstract submission time period, all symposium descriptions will be promoted on the home page in rotation until the PMSE submission deadline.