Poly-char 2020

POLY-CHAR 2020 [Venice] is an International Polymer Characterization Conference, under the auspices of the Scientific Committee of POLY-CHAR and International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). This event was originally scheduled in May 2020 and it was held, for the first time in virtual format, from 12th to 14th April 2021. This conference was hosted by University of Padova, Italy. A total of 8 plenary speakers, 27 invited speakers, 57 oral speakers, 8 poster presenters and 100 participants from 27 countries attended POLY-CHAR 2020 [Venice]. Due to the travel restriction worldwide, it was not possible to be physically together next to the posters, exchange ideas in front of a coffee or experience lecturing in a real conference hall. However, despite difficulties related to different time zones, attendance was surprisingly high and active, with many questions asked and with a remarkable interaction between participants. The conference spanned a wide spectrum of themes, among which polymers and the environment, food, forensics, adhesives, coatings, preservation of cultural heritage, 3D printing, nanomaterials and smart materials, mechanics of polymers and nanoindentation, in addition to the more traditional themes of polymer chemistry, physics and characterization. As a tradition in POLY-CHAR, young researchers and students were rewarded for their excellent work. In particular, the POLY-CHAR prizes for the Best Oral Presentations were awarded to Veronika Gajdosova, Anna Liguori and Zhiqiang Zeng. Two IUPAC Awards for Best Student Posters were presented to Zrinka Buhin Šturlić and to Yu Jeong Bae and the POLY-CHAR Prize for the Best Student Poster went to Laura Dehondt. This special issue of Macromolecular Symposia is the last act of an exciting conference, a token of appreciation for the efforts of the attendees. In it, the reader will find a glimpse of the interdisciplinarity of this event and the contributions of several authors coming from different parts of the world, sharing their research findings from theoretical to applicative aspects of polymers, for the advancement of knowledge. On our part, as guest editors of this journal and as chairs of the organizing committee, we wish to thank all the researchers who made this event a success and to invite all the readers to participate to the upcoming editions and submit their papers to the corresponding special issue of Macromolecular Symposia. Finally, we would like to dedicate this issue to the memory of Melissa Chan, Dusan Berek and R.P. Singh, who passed away in 2022. They were more than colleagues, but rather members of the POLY-CHAR family, and they will be deeply missed. Valerio Causin, Università di Padova, Italy Carla Marega, Università di Padova, Italy