Dr Yuanyuan Chen is a Principal Investigator in the Polymer, Recycling, Industrial, Sustainability and Manufacturing (PRISM) at the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest, and a Funded Investigator at the BiOrbic, a national research centre in Bioeconomy. She also serves as a proposal evaluator for the Polish National Science Centre. Dr Chen leads a research team of 5 PhD candidates and 3 postdoctoral researchers, with a principal focus on biopolymer synthesis, processing, modification, biodegradation and recycling. She has a strong track record in attracting competitive research funding from Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, Irish Research Council, European Space Agency (ESA), the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and European Commission. She is currently coordinating a Horizon Europe project MAGICBIOMAT in programmed biodegradability of biopolymers, and an EIC pathfinder project Bio2PEs in synthesizing bio-based and biodegradable polyester and polyethylene from agricultural and food waste.