Polymer chemist Alex Plajer talks about his analysis journey, transitioning right into a group-leader function, and his imaginative and prescient for the sphere.
Dr. Alex J. Plajer didn’t start his profession desiring to develop into a polymer scientist.
His doctoral work at Cambridge beneath Dominic Wright was characterised by the weird diploma of educational freedom he was given. The openness of his supervisor and the scholarship he obtained allowed him to discover unconventional concepts and comply with his scientific instinct. “It gave me an area to go loopy with creativity,” he remembers. That freedom educated him early to suppose independently, take mental dangers, and develop confidence in his personal decision-making.
Alex’s transfer into polymer analysis unfolded virtually by coincidence. He first encountered polymer science throughout his postdoctoral years: he had utilized to a number of teams for postdoctoral positions, and landed in a bunch rooted in polymer science. What started as a sensible match shortly sparked a deeper fascination. In contrast to classical artificial chemistry, Alex explains, polymer science doesn’t finish with the synthesis of a compound; it’s truly one thing the place you’ll be able to discover and take a look at for materials properties and functions.
Making polymer science tangible is certainly one of his new duties as a Junior Professor. The shift from being a postdoctoral researcher to changing into a Principal Investigator (PI), Alex emphasizes, was a lot greater than the transition from PhD scholar to postdoc. “The talents you want as a bunch chief are fairly totally different from those you utilize within the lab,” he admits. Managing individuals, budgeting, mentoring younger scientists, and organizing a workforce requires a brand new set of competencies — ones which might be hardly ever taught throughout scientific coaching. When he encounters conditions he feels unprepared for, he turns to trusted senior colleagues and to managing recommendation from exterior academia.
These days, Alex spends far more time writing papers, getting ready grants, studying literature, and supporting his workforce than working on the bench. Though Alex beloved “making an attempt a brand new thought I had simply that day” within the lab, he now finds that means in main and mentoring college students by means of the phases of massive private improvement that usually overlap with a PhD or postdoc.
Alex’s group combines uncommon monomers into useful polymers to method sustainability from a basic analysis angle: “How can extra unique parts change catalysis and [the] properties of polymers?” What occurs once we exchange this factor with that factor within the chain? Can this alteration the way in which polymers behave? How can we catalyze ring-opening to be able to unleash extra functionalities of the polymer spine? Can we tune their properties akin to degradability? The workforce’s final imaginative and prescient is to know how such hybrid techniques will be engineered to unlock properties inaccessible with typical polymer buildings.
When requested what steering he would give early profession researchers, Alex solutions modestly. He doesn’t prefer to intrude on college students’ private lives, which differ profoundly, particularly figuring out how difficult the PhD years will be. As a substitute, he retains his recommendation easy: pursue your desires with ardour. He believes that real curiosity stays an important driver of excellent science.
Alex’s personal scientific journey might have been influenced by probability, however his profession has been formed by creativity, openness, and a dedication to understanding each polymers and folks; in the long run, “we’re all fabricated from (bio)polymers!” His work demonstrates that impactful analysis thrives not solely on sturdy scientific foundations, but additionally on supportive management, mental freedom, and the braveness to discover unconventional concepts.
So does the unintentional polymer scientist have a favourite polymer? “Any new polymer we simply made: our newest creation is at all times probably the most thrilling one!” he says, decisively.
Dr. Alex Pajer is a recipient of the 2026 Macromolecular Rapid Communications Junior Researcher Award.
