POLYMAT is pleased to announce that two of our researchers, Nicholas Ballard and Clara García Astrain, were recently recognized for their contributions to polymer science at the Bordeaux Polymer Conference (BPC 2026).

During the special award sessions organized in collaboration with the journal POLYMER, our researchers were honored in two major categories acknowledging outstanding scientific achievements across Europe.

POLYMAT Awardees
Nicholas Ballard received the Bronze distinction for the Andrew Keller Award for Best European Paper 2025, an accolade recognizing exceptional published work within the field.

Clara García Astrain was presented with the European Future Faculty and Researchers Award 2026, a recognition designed to highlight emerging leaders and outstanding early-career scientists in polymer science.

Recognizing European Excellence
We also extend our congratulations to the other international scientists honored during the conference:

Andrew Keller Award: Melania Bednarek (Gold) and Qiang Yu (Silver).

European Future Faculty and Researchers Awards: Louise Breloy, Andriy R. Kuzmyn, Miriam Scoti, Dr. Oleksandr Dolynchuk, Rui Zhang, and Martina Plank.

Call for Nominations: Next Editions
The calls for nominations for the upcoming editions of both awards are now open. We encourage the scientific community to participate:

Andrew Keller Award for Best European Paper: Researchers publishing their work in POLYMER are encouraged to nominate eligible papers via the nomination portal.

European Future Faculty and Researchers Awards: Supervisors and mentors are strongly encouraged to nominate outstanding postdoctoral and early-career colleagues here.

We look forward to the continued celebration of scientific excellence at the European Polymer Congress 2027 (EPF2027) in Riga.