Dear friends and colleagues, members of the large family of polymer science and technology, we are sending you personal greetings from Prague – the historic city in the heart of Europe and the capital of the Czech Republic. 

As a consequence of the worldwide pandemic situation, the Board of the European Polymer Federation decided to postpone the Congress of the European Polymer Federation (EPF) by one year. The next scheduled Congress will thus be held in Prague in the year 2022 instead of 2021. On behalf of the European Polymer Federation, of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Czech Chemical Society, we cordially invite you to visit Prague to attend this important meeting. It is planned to be held from the 26^th June to 1^st July 2022 at the Prague Congress Centre. 

As with previous EPF congresses, we shall welcome renowned leaders in polymer research who will deliver plenary lectures and who will present current and future trends in polymer science and technology. Distinguished experts in highly topical sub-areas of polymer science will then deliver key-note messages. In addition to the well-known personalities from European countries, we shall also welcome scientists from other continents. Europe is undoubtedly the cradle of polymer science, but the adult years of polymer science and technology have been developed to a large extent also on other continents. We would like the Congress to be highly interdisciplinary, which will allow meetings and discussions of experts from different fields of basic and industrial research. Moreover, we want the Congress to encourage intergenerational contacts. We would like to welcome to Prague all young colleagues who have started their professional careers in polymers just recently. That is why we have set a lower conference fee for both postgraduate and pre-graduate students.

As a way of supporting and stimulating contacts between members of the polymer community we have organised a one-day on-line Inter-Congress EPF workshop during the period at the end of June  2021, when the Congress was to take place originally. For details see link here.

At the time of this announcement in 2021, the organising Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry commemorates a remarkable anniversary. It is associated with the Institute’s founder and first director, Otto Wichterle who was an excellent chemist, but he became world famous mainly for his invention of soft contact lenses. His patent for a revolutionary method of preparing hydrogel lenses by spin casting was granted sixty years ago, in 1961. Wichterle supposedly got his great idea by accident while stirring coffee. Chance, however, only favours prepared minds. In the original words of Louis Pasteur: “Dans les champs de l'observation, le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés!“. In the magical early summer of 2022, many such open and prepared minds will meet in Prague. Please join us.