HIPOLE Jena was represented at PolimerTR 2026 in Istanbul by Prof. Dr. Hatice Mutlu, who recently joined HIPOLE Jena as Professor of Sustainable Polymer Chemistry, and her PhD student, Bercis Pektas. Both presented their research on functional polymer materials.
Prof. Dr. Mutlu was invited to give a talk entitled “Sulfur as a Molecular Language in Functional Polymeric Materials: From Molecular Order to Energy Storage.” Bercis Pektas presented her work on “Engineering Functional Sulfur-Decorated Polymers from Calcium Carbide.”
A more personal moment came during a session chaired by Prof. Mutlu, when she introduced Prof. Michael A. R. Meier, her former PhD supervisor, for his talk. Prof. Mutlu had been Prof. Meier’s first PhD student. Meeting again years later in these different academic roles made this a particularly special moment.
The conference took place from 16 to 18 September 2026 at Yıldız Technical University and brought together around 800 participants from 19 countries, with more than 300 poster presentations. The programme opened with a plenary lecture by Prof. Steven P. Armes from the University of Sheffield.
Besides the scientific programme, there was also plenty of time for conversations with colleagues and for making new connections. The gala dinner cruise along the Bosphorus offered another opportunity to continue these discussions in a more informal setting.
