In the last week of June 2026, a delegation from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki representing both the SPECTRA project and the sister GRECO project travelled to China for a week of scientific exchange, publishing partnerships and international conference participation that underlined the growing global reach of SPECTRA’s research community.
Hong Kong: Strengthening Ties with MDPI
The trip began in Hong Kong, where Prof. Dimitra Lambropoulou, Prof. Dimitrios Bikiaris, PhD student Androniki Rapti and postdoctoral researcher Dr Nikos Bikiaris visited the offices of MDPI, one of the world’s leading open-access scientific publishers and a key dissemination partner for the project. The visit provided an opportunity for substantive discussion with the MDPI editorial team on scientific publishing, research dissemination and future perspectives for collaboration, with particular warmth extended by Dr Weronika Gorka-Kumik, whose organisational work in support of the team’s publishing activities has been greatly valued.
The exchange was more than a courtesy call. For a project like SPECTRA, whose results in environmental monitoring, food safety and nanoplastics analysis need to reach the widest possible scientific audience, the relationship with a major open-access publisher is a strategic one. The Hong Kong visit deepened that relationship and created a shared foundation for the publishing and dissemination work that lies ahead as the project moves into its next phase.
Shanghai: Meeting Professor Sixun Zheng at Shanghai Jiao Tong University
From Hong Kong the team travelled to Shanghai, where they met with Prof. Sixun Zheng, Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), one of China’s most distinguished research universities. The meeting covered the final organisational details of the forthcoming Polymers2026 conference in Nanjing, prospects for research collaboration between AUTH and SJTU, and a presentation of the SPECTRA and GRECO projects coordinated by Prof. Lambropoulou.
The discussion reflected genuine mutual interest in advancing polymer science research and in exploring what collaboration between the two institutions might look like in practice. Prof. Zheng and his group have built a strong international reputation in polymer science and engineering, and the meeting opened up promising avenues for scientific exchange that extend well beyond the conference itself.
Nanjing: Polymers2026
The week culminated in Nanjing, where the AUTH team participated in Polymers2026 (25 to 28 June 2026), one of the most significant international conferences in polymer science, technology and engineering, organised in partnership with Polymers MDPI. Building on previous editions held in Barcelona, Turin and Athens, the 2026 conference brought together leading polymer scientists from across the world for four days of keynote lectures, presentations and discussion spanning the full breadth of the field.
Prof. Lambropoulou, Prof. Bikiaris, and early-stage researchers Nikos Bikiaris and Androniki Rapti participated in sessions and presentations focused on micro- and nanoplastics, contributing SPECTRA’s analytical perspectives to a community whose work on polymer science and polymer degradation is directly relevant to understanding how nanoplastics form, behave and persist in environmental and biological systems.
The scientific programme was widely praised for its quality and range. Across the four days, keynote contributions and sessions covered green and sustainable chemistry, bio-based and biodegradable materials, smart functional polymers, precision polymer synthesis, sustainable materials, functional composites and the emerging frontier of AI and machine learning applied to polymer design. Distinguished colleagues whose work intersects with SPECTRA’s own research agenda were present throughout, including Prof. Katja Loos, Prof. Amadeo Rodriguez Fernandez-Alba, Prof. Leonard Ionut Atanase, Prof. Yen Wei, Prof. Marco Zanetti, Dr Maria Nerantzaki and visiting Prof. Jean-Francois Lutz.
The conference was organised with exceptional professionalism by the Polymers MDPI team, with particular thanks due to Weronika Gorka-Kumik and Hannah Guo for their meticulous attention to both logistics and scientific programme.
Polymers2026 was, by any measure, a landmark event: a reminder that science at its best is a genuinely global endeavour, and that the questions SPECTRA is asking about nanoplastics sit at the intersection of polymer science, environmental chemistry and analytical innovation in ways that make international collaboration not a luxury but a necessity.
