We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Jean-Michel Guenet has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Gel Analysis and Characterization” in Gels (ISSN: 2310-2861). Prof. Dr. Jean-Michel Guenet is an emeritus director of research at the CNRS and former director of the Institut Charles Sadron, a CNRS laboratory associated with the University of Strasbourg, devoted to the study and development of polymers and self-assembled systems. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Strasbourg (formerly Louis Pasteur University) and a degree in materials engineering from the University of Paris. He completed a post-doctoral stay with Prof. A. Keller in Bristol, was a visiting scientist at the NIST in Washington, D.C., and was a visiting professor at Mons University (Belgium) and at the Shizuoka University (Japan).
His research interests span from the study of polymer thermoreversible gelation, polymer-solvent molecular compounds, self-assembled systems, and organogels to hybrid polymer gel/organogel functional materials. He is a specialist in calorimetry (phase diagrams), radiation scattering techniques (neutrons and X-rays), and rheology. He has published about 180 peer-reviewed papers, 3 books (Thermoreversible Gelation of Polymers and Biopolyers, Acad. Press, 1992, Polymer-Solvent Molecular Compounds, Elsevier, 2008, and Organogels: Thermodynamics, Structure, Solvent Role and Properties, Springer, 2016). He has mentored about 30 Ph.D. students and post-doctoral fellows. In 1990 he was awarded the John H. Dillon Medal of the American Physical Society for “distinguished research on polymer chain conformation in semi-crystalline polymers and for major contributions to the understanding of the nature of the gel state”.
The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Jean-Michel Guenet, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views of the research area and open access publishing:
1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?
I am a specialist in polymer thermoreversible gels and organogels. I have written two books on this topic: Thermoreversible Gelation of Polymers and Biopolymers, published in 1992 by the Academic Press, and Organogels: Thermodynamics, Structure, Solvent Role and Properties, published in 2016 by Springer, so it was quite natural for me to become an editor in a journal devoted to gels.
2. What is your vision for the Section?
A Section that will attract more physicists and physical chemists. Indeed, organogels are chiefly studied by chemists, so the deeper physical aspect is often discarded.
3. What does the future of this field of research look like, in your view?
In relation to my answer to question 2, deeper studying and investigation of the physical aspects of the phenomenon.
4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?
I have the feeling that it gradually catches up as traditional journals are now also playing in this field.
5. Who should contribute to this Section?
As suggested by my answers to questions 2 and 3, physicists and physical chemists.
We wish Prof. Dr. Jean-Michel Guenet every success in his new position, and we look forward to his contributions to the journal.
