Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Valley
Napa Valley
San Francisco
From Molecular Design to Stimuli-Responsive Materials
Mimicking Nature
San Francisco
Responsive Surfaces and Interfaces
Sonoma Harvest
SF Ferry and Market Place
America's Cup
The San Francisco Bay

The International Symposium on Stimuli-Responsive Materials is held annually in Windsor, California, USA. For over two decades, this successful event has gathered scientists from all around the World, bringing to the forefront recent advances in developing new generations of materials with embedded multi-stimulus-responsive functions, which remain the focal point of many, often nature-inspired, studies. On behalf of the organizing committee, speakers, and discussion leaders, we look forward to seeing you in Windsor, CA.

Symposium Co-Chairs

Marek W. Urban, Clemson University
Brent S. Sumerlin, University of Florida
Ying Yang, University of Nevada, Reno

About the Symposium

The International Symposium on Stimuli-Responsive Materials (ISSRM) is a non-profit professional consortium that brings together scientists and engineers interested in the design, synthesis, characterization, processing, and understanding of the physical, chemical, and applied principles of stimuli-responsive materials and biomaterials, as well as the development of related devices. This annual event offers presentation themes ranging from ‘smart’ materials, polymer synthesis, responsive biological materials, biomimicry, engineered shape-adaptive objects, shape-memory applications, nanomaterial design, composites, and theoretical predictions/simulations. Placed in the casual settings of rolling miles of rugged Pacific coastline, towering redwood forests, and its proximity to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the Symposium invites graduate students and postdocs from around the world to present their findings at the Graduate Research Poster Session, partially supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry and other sponsors. Despite interruptions (the 2018 California wildfires and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic), the Symposium offers an outstanding program – thanks to the outstanding speakers, poster presenters, and attendees.

Brief History

Having begun in 2003 as a graduate research poster session with a couple of invited speakers and significant support from the National Science Foundation through the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), headed by Marek, the Symposium is now co-chaired by Marek, Brent, and Ying. It has become one of the most scientifically acclaimed annual professional opportunities for scientific exchange among academic, industrial, and government researchers at all levels and across all generations. The symposium brings together the most active scientists in the field at various stages of their research. It focuses on recent advances in the continually growing field of responsive, adaptive, dynamic, sustainable, and ‘smart’ materials, biomaterials, composites, and associated technologies. Set against the scenic backdrop of Sonoma Wine Country, the symposium has established itself as a distinctive annual forum for all generation scientific exchange, highlighting emerging developments across a broad range of material forms, including solutions, gels, films, coatings, fibers, and composites. The symposium also highlights emerging technological opportunities enabled by advances in stimuli-responsive materials.