Organization
Announcement
The Gumference is an international conference that is organized in a virtual manner to make it as accessible as possible to interested parties from academia and industry over the world.
Papers presented at the Gumference will be published in a permanent Topical Collection of the scientific journal Polymer Bulletin (Publisher: Springer) dedicated to novel and advanced testing methods that make connections to fundamental scientific principles, even showing how test results from simple pieces of uncured/cured elastomers or other soft polymers relate to real geometry and loading conditions, creating new opportunities to link laboratory test data to real product properties.
Organizing Team: Radek Stoček and Eric Euchler
Important dates
Next event is GUMFERENCE 2026
| Registration closes | 04.02.2026 |
| Access to the conference will be active on | 05.02.2026 |
| Conference date | 05.02.2026 |
| Talk confirmation | 19.12.2025 |
| Final Program | 30.01.2026 |
| Full paper submission | 16.03.2026 |
Scientific committee
- Assoc. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Radek Stoček
- Dr.-Ing. Eric Euchler
- Ing. Ondřej Kratina, Ph.D.
- Ing. Martin Stěnička, Ph.D.
- Ing. Marek Pöschl, Ph.D.
- Evghenii Harea, Ph.D.
- Sanjoy Datta, Ph.D.
Registration fee
Register for the Gumference via the online registration page.
The amount of the registration fee is as follows:
| Speaker | 0 EUR |
| Audience | 0 EUR |
| Students | 0 EUR |
Preliminary scientific programme for 2026
All times listed are in CET time zone.
| 8:00-8:15 | Radek Stoček (Tomas Bata University Zlin/PRL, Czechia), Eric Euchler (Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Germany) | Welcome |
| 8:15-8:50 | Seiichi Kawahara (Nagaoka University of Technology, Japan) | Sustainable vulcanization of natural rubber |
| 8:50-9:25 | Delia B. Senoro (Mapua University, Philippines) | Emanation of tire-road particles, its potential pathways, and toxicological impacts to Philippine tropical ecology |
| 9:25-9:55 | Pratik Sarkar (Birla Carbons, India) | Integrated experimental–numerical study of chip and cut resistance: Effects of compound stiffness, carbon black morphology, and friction |
| 9:55-10:15 | BREAK | |
| 10:15-10:50 | Bo Persson (Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany) | Rubber wear: multiscale theory and experimental results for tire tread rubber |
| 10:50-11:25 | Ondřej Kratina (Centre of Polymer Systems, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czechia) | Influence of material formulation on thermal runaway and blowout in rubber materials |
| 11:25-12:00 | Qizhi Jiang (FH Aachen - University of Applied Sciences, Germany) | Silica-based tracing system for tire wear particle detection and environmental tracking |
| 12:00-12:30 | Jean Comtet (ESPCI Paris, France) | A continuous damage accumulation scenario for elastomeric frictional wear |
| 12:30-13:15 | BREAK | |
| 13:15-13:50 | Anke Blume (University of Twente, The Netherlands) | Lignin in natural rubber: Challenges and opportunities with in-iitu silane modification |
| 13:50-14:25 | Salim Yagoub (FE TECH, Turkey) | Innovative approach to material selection for enhanced durability of elastomeric battery mounts in electric vehicles |
| 14:25-14:55 | Konrad Friedrichs (TU Dresden, Germany) | Data-driven modelling of crystallizing elastomers based on physics-augmented neural networks |
| 14:55-15:15 | BREAK | |
| 15:15-15:50 | Cristian OVALLE (MINES Paris - Université PSL - MAT, France) | Unveiling deformation mechanisms via in situ microtomography during confined compression |
| 15:50-16:25 | Miguel Ángel Moreno-Mateos (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany) | The secrets of cutting soft mater: how material differences shape the response |
| 16:25-17:00 | Mauro Cesar De Avila (Institute of Innovation in Polymer Engineering, SENAI, Brasil) | Evaluation of the influence of cobalt and resorcinol content on rubber-metal adhesion |
| 17:00-17:05 | Radek Stoček (Tomas Bata University Zlin/PRL, Czechia), Eric Euchler (Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Germany) | Closing |
Contact
GUMFERENCE Secretariat
Centre of polymer systems Tomas Bata University in Zlin tr. Tomase Bati 5678 76001, Zlin Czech republic Phone: +420 576 031 723
Responsible person: Ing. Ondřej Kratina, Ph.D. For direct contact, send mail to: okratina@utb.cz
