There will be 5 rounds of discussion sessions of 60 minutes each, split across three days of the workshop. At the time of the abstract submission, the participants must select 5 topics which are of interest to them (see the list of topics below) and they will be split up into groups accordingly, where each group will have one expert and approximately up to 6 participants. Experts will give a short introduction to the topic (e.g. 3 - 6 slides) to get the conversation started and will lead the participants through discussions based on the topic at hand.

Topics

• Analysis and impacts of plastic chemicals
• Analysis of particles and leachables
• Biodegradability of plastics in the environment
• Careers outside academia: the industry option
• Ecotoxicity of microplastics
• Fate of microplastics in rivers - spatial and temporal dynamics
• Freshwater microplastics- how and why bother?
• Human health risk assessment: exposure and effects
• Macroplasic research in the era of microplastic
• Marine systems: fate and cleanup
• Modeling environmental exposure and risks
• Nanoplastics
• Sampling strategies and particle analysis with spectroscopy
• Science to Policy and Regulations