The polymer competence of the Institute of Chemistry is represented by the groups of Polymer Chemistry, Physical Polymer Chemistry and the Professorship for Micro- and Nanostructure based Polymer Composites. Core activites include synthetic polymer chemistry in the field of living polymerization methods, characterization of polymers using modern NMR- and mass-spectrometric techniques, as well as physicochemical methods (static and dyanmic light scattering, interfacial properties of polymers).Research activities center around self asembly-phenomena of tailored macromolecules (interfaces, solution and solid) as well as the use of polymers for biological applications.