Spiros H. Anastasiadis, Professor of the Department of Chemistry of the University of Crete and Director of the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), has been unanimously elected as the President of the European Polymer Federation (EPF) for the period 2018-2019. 

EPF is an umbrella non-profit organization of National Polymer Societies in Europe. It was established in 1986 with 16 European Countries as founding members whereas today it includes 24 full and 4 associate members.  The goals of EPF are to co-ordinate and stimulate the activities of the European Countries in the science, technology and applications of synthetic and natural macromolecules, to encourage European cooperation and networking in polymer science and engineering and to promote and advance the potential of European young polymer scientists.

Prof. Anastasiadis holds a Diploma in Chemical Engineering (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1983) and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering (Princeton University, 1988).  His research interests are in the areas of polymer surfaces/interfaces and thin films, polymer blends, organic/inorganic nanohybrid materials and responsive polymer systems.  He was awarded the John H. Dillon Medal of the American Physical Societyin 1998 and was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2000.  He has served as an Editor of the Journal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics (2006-2010) and as a Consulting Editor for AIChE Journal (2012-2016).  He is appointed as a Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Macromolecules (1/2015-).  He has been the Chairman of the Hellenic Polymer Society since 2012.

Prof. Anastasiadis was elected President of EPF by the General Assembly of national representatives and succeeds Prof. Jean-François Gérard of INSA Lyon, who is the President of EPF for 2016-2017.  It is the second time that a Greek polymer scientist is voted in the EPF leadership following Prof. Nikos Hadjichristidis, who was the President during 1996-1997.

The election of Prof. Anastasiadis as EPF President is one more confirmation of the leading role of FORTH and the University of Crete in the research on polymer materials science and engineering within Europe and the world.  The impact of this research is especially important now that science and innovation are critical factors for the development of the Country.