From the Editor's Desk – Polymer Chemistry 2018

The past year has been a year of change for Polymer Chemistry. Our founding Editor-in-Chief, Prof. David Haddleton from the University of Warwick, left the journal after leading it for 8 years and two terms as Editor-in-Chief, the maximum allowed under Royal Society of Chemistry terms. I have been on the editorial board of the journal since its inception in 2010 and I have served as an Associate Editor since 2013, and was thus able to follow Dave's highly successful leadership of the journal very closely. The entire polymer community as well as the editorial and advisory boards highly appreciate Dave's energy, passion and leadership for establishing a premier journal that focuses on all aspects of polymer chemistry. Since the first issue, Polymer Chemistry has established itself as a venue for the most innovative and high quality chemistry in the realm of polymer science.

Whilst I was honoured to take over the leadership of the journal as its Editor-in-Chief, last year also saw two additional colleagues take on leadership roles within the journal. Editorial board member Prof. Sebastien Perrier (University of Warwick) was appointed as Associate Editor for the journal. His appointment will critically strengthen our expertise in the fields of precision polymer synthesis and polymer self-assembly processes as well as polymer chemistry at the interface with nanomedicine.

At the same time, Prof. Holger Frey from the University of Mainz in Germany joined the editorial board, bringing rich experience and scientific excellence in complex macromolecular architecture design via a wide host of polymerization protocols to the journal. I am convinced that these two appointments will further strengthen the outreach of the journal as well as ensuring the high quality standards that we have set.

Polymer Chemistry is a strong supporter of emerging talent in the field of polymer science and our Polymer Chemistry Lectureship award has become a highly coveted prize for the next-generation leaders in polymer chemistry. From 2018 onwards, we have decided to move to a regular pattern for awarding the lectureship, with calls for nominations in November of each year, a decision in January, and the award lecture of the recipient held during a major conference in the northern hemisphere summer.

Scientifically, Polymer Chemistry will continue to uphold its emphasis on only publishing the highest quality and most innovative chemistry in our field. The challenges that are upon us, whether meeting sustainable energy targets, the establishment of e-mobility and its need for advanced materials, the switch from an oil-based economy to one based on renewable resources, or providing cures for the most devastating diseases, require critical contributions from polymer chemists, and Polymer Chemistry will be a forum for introducing the required chemical innovations. We will continue to contribute to these aims by publishing a vibrant fusion of primary data research papers, reviews and perspective articles as well as compilations of themed articles. In this context, I am particularly pleased to see our upcoming Emerging Investigator issue for 2018, where we will showcase the latest developments in advanced polymer chemistry coming from the best young group leaders in our field.

Under my stewardship, Polymer Chemistry will strive to bring the highest quality research to our readers and we will continue to be an open and approachable venue for the best work in our field. For the up-coming year, we plan to extend our reviewer deadlines in order to give our reviewers more time to carefully consider the increasingly complex nature of the chemistries that shape our field. Our advisory and editorial boards continue to serve as a valuable sounding board and I encourage our authors, readers and reviewers to continue to provide us with feedback about our service to the chemical community.

I hope that the first issue of Polymer Chemistry, filled with exciting science and inspiring examples of contemporary macromolecular chemistry, will resonate with our readership, as will the forthcoming issues of 2018.

Christopher Barner-Kowollik, Editor-in-Chief.

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