The RACI Polymer Division is pleased to announce that the 2025 recipient of the David Sangster Polymer Science and Technology Award is Associate Professor Kristian Kempe from Monash University. The Sangster Award is the premier award for mid-career researchers offered by the Polymer Division.

Kristian is an internationally recognised leader in polymer science and biomaterials. He is an Associate Professor at Monash University, jointly appointed in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Drug Delivery, Disposition and Dynamics (D4) Theme at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS). He currently serves as Deputy Theme Leader of D4 and as a Director of the Australian Chapter of the Controlled Release Society (AUS-CRS). Kristian is an Editor of the European Polymer Journal and on the Advisory Boards of Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, and RSC Applied Polymers.

He completed his PhD at the Friedrich-Schiller University Jena in Germany, followed by postdoctoral work at The University of Melbourne, and a senior research fellow position at the University of Warwick (UK). Since joining Monash in 2016, Kristian has built an internationally regarded research program focused on the development of biocompatible, biodegradable, and sustainable polymeric materials for advanced drug delivery and biomedical applications.

To date, he has co-authored over 170 publications with more than 9,100 citations and an H-index of 52. His research has been recognised with several prestigious fellowships and awards, including an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship(2012–2014), an NHMRC–ARC Dementia Research Development Fellowship (2016–2020), an ARC Future Fellowship(2020–2024), the Mid-Career European Polymer Journal Award (2024) and the MIPS Future Research Leader Award (2021).

Congratulations Kristian!