Macromolecules in Graz, Austria, December 3, 2004

In the last few years, Central Europe was the location of important, smaller but highly focussed conferences on Polymer Science. Last year there was a conference in Slovakia in the Tatra Mountains, called ModPol2003. Two years ago the conference “Macromolecules in the 21th Century” was held in Vienna, attracting over 200 participants from all over the world.This year a conference was held in Graz, Austria, in the state of Styria. Graz is a focal location of polymer science in Austria and surrounding countries. The occasion was the 80th birthday of one of Europe's leading scientists, Josef Schurz. His expertise and major contributions in cellulose chemistry and rheology have been well recognized in the past.