History of the Institute

The history of Czech macromolecular chemistry began in the early 1940s; however, no institution pursuing systematic basic research in polymer science existed in the former Czechoslovakia, even in the 1950s. The implementation of the industrial production of polycaprolactam and the great success of the IUPAC International Symposium on Macromolecules, which took place in Prague in 1957, helped to attract the support of the Government; as a consequence, the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry was founded within the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1959, and a new building accommodating all the departments of the by then substantial Institute was erected in 1963.

The first director of the Institute was Professor Otto Wichterle. His name is inseparably associated with macromolecular chemistry in Czechoslovakia; he established and developed the Institute, and was the principal architect of its achievements.

From the very beginning, the Institute has attached equal importance to polymer chemistry and polymer physics, it has held a balance between theoretical, basic and applied research, and it has pursued the implementation of its research results into commercial practice. The most significant practical results were the alkaline polymerization of caprolactam and the development of hydrophilic polymers based on poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate). The latter, in particular, developed under the personal guidance of Professor Wichterle; it led to the production of soft contact lenses in the 1960s and to intraocular lenses in the 1980s, bringing both fame and financial benefit to the Institute.

Research at the Institute has never been confined within national limits. From the very beginning, the Institute engaged in international cooperation and international activities. As a result, Prague is the only city that has played host to the important IUPAC International Symposia on Macromolecules no less than three times. The symposia in 1957, 1965, and 1992 were all notable from both the scientific and organizational points of view. Also, the Prague Meetings on Macromolecules, organized by the Institute every year since 1967, totalling fifty-six by 1998, are well known in the world polymer community. Virtually all the leaders in the field of polymer science have attended at least one, but more often, several of them.

Last but not least, since its foundation, the Institute has organized Ph.D. programmes and postdoctoral studies for both Czech and foreign students over the entire span of polymer science.

In spite of the unfavourable political situation after the events of 1968, new research fields, such as bio-medicinal polymers and polymer networks, continued to become established, and the Institute's achievements in these fields have been rewarded with international recognition.

The political changes in the former Czechoslovakia in 1989 brought a favourable and long-desired revival of fortune; new horizons opened, and international contacts and access to foreign sources became easier. To meet new challenges, the Institute reformed its structure, streamlined its operation, reassigned research priorities, and switched to a grant system for financing its research.

last update: 2001-06-06

The law 341/2005 Sb. has changed the legal form to "Public research institution" for Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry AS CR, v. v. i., from 1st January 2007. New management established according this law took charge on 16th May 2007.