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The Institute of Polymer Mechanics (IPM) was established in 1963 as an independent scientific unit of the Academy of Sciences of Latvian SSR on the basis of the Institute of Architecture and Constructions, the Institute of Automation and Mechanics, and the Plasticity Research Laboratory of the Riga Polytechnic Institute. The founder and the first director of the Institute of Polymer Mechanics was corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, doctor of technical sciences, professor Aleksandrs Malmeisters.
The research programme of the Institute of Polymer Mechanics was defined as developing a scientific basis of resistance of polymer materials; establishing engineering methods for design of polymer constructions; developing theories of deformation and failure of high-modulusand high-strength composite materials, such as fibreglass-, carbon-, organic plastics, etc. under severe loading and operation conditions; working out comprehensive methods for diagnostics of mechanical properties and for prediction of the lifetime of polymers and their composites.

Till the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Institute was the leading scientific institution in USSR in research on advanced polymer and composite materials, which worked mainly for the Soviet military and space exploration complex.

The names of the Institute in different time periods

Since 1965, the Institute issues a periodic internationally reviewed journal “Механика композитных материалов / Mechanics of Composite Materials” published in Russian and English, which is indexed by Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch), SCOPUS, Material Science Citation Index, Reaction Citation Index, Chemical Abstracts, Chemical Titles, ISMEC, Applied Mechanics Reviews, INSPECTION – Physics Abstracts, PRA Report.

Since 1965, the Institute has organized 18 conferences on the mechanics of composite materials (in 1965, 1971, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014), which usually bring together scientists from many of Western and Eastern countries. The aim of the conferences is to discuss the latest research results of mechanics of composites, as well as exchanging views on possible future joint research and cooperation.

The Institute has organized also a lot other international scientific conferences, symposiums and seminars, such as:

In 1967, the Special Designing Bureau for Scientific Instrumentation with Experimental Production (about 300 employees) has been established at the Institute, which main task was to implement in practice research results of the Institute. The main production of the Bureau was scientific and non-destructive testing instruments for polymer and composite materials. Till to its dissolution in 1992, the scientific production manufactured by the Bureau has been widely applied in different research and manufacturing enterprises in nearly 100 cities of USSR. The Bureau has exposed its instruments at International exhibitions and fairs in Bulgaria, German, Spain, Poland, Finland, and Japan. The high technical level of equipment manufactured by the Bureau has been certified by numerous patents and author’s certificates, as well as by 2 gold, 12 silver, and 27 bronze medals and by numerous diplomas of exhibitions.

In 1969, the Council of Granting the Degrees of Candidate of Science (Ph. D. in Western countries) has been formed at the Institute, which has awarded 50 scientists of the degrees of Candidate of Science till to 1976, including 42 degrees in technical sciences, 1 degree in chemistry and 7 degrees in physics and mathematics.

In 1977, powers of the Council of Granting the Degrees of Candidate of Science were increased and it has been transformed into the Specialized Doctoral Thesis Presentation Council. From 1977 – 1991, 88 thesis have been defended in the Council, included 14 doctoral ones and 74 thesis of the degree of Candidate of Science.  

In 1992, the Habilitation and Promotion Council has been established at the Institute, where 53 thesis have been nostrificated and 8 doctoral thesis have been defended, included one of habilitated doctor. 

In 1998, Laboratory of Mechanical Testing of Structural Materials has been organized at the Institute, which in 2000 was accredited by the Latvian National Accreditation Bureau (LATAK) according to the requirements of the standard EN ISO/IEC 17025.

In 2006, a long-term strategy plan “Development Strategy” has been elaborated for the Institute and adopted by the Scientific Council of the Institute.

In 2011, according to the Development Strategy, the Institute became a member of the Research Centre of National Importance for Nanostructured and Multifunctional Materials, Constructions and Technologies, which has been established together with the University of Latvia, the Riga Technical University, the Institute of Solid State Physics of University of Latvia, the Institute of Physics of University of Latvia, the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Riga Technical University.

Most Important Dates