Under the leadership of Professor Zaikov, the Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences has become one of the world's leading centres for studies of polymeric materials - in use, during processing, and in harsh environments. The Institute's focus is on commercially available materials and their modifications to improve performance through advanced theoretical analysis and implementation of experimental results. The selected papers from the Institute collated here have been incorporated into five sections - stabilization and degradation, biochemistry, photochemistry, rheology, and flame retardency - and should provide valuable background to producers of polymeric materials.