The Polymer laboratory established by Dr. Milan Lazar at the end of 1962 created the conditions for founding the Polymer Institute in 1967.

The Institute initiated the focused research in polymer chemistry as a part of the chemical research at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Currently Polymer Institute SAS represents an important research and training center for basic and applied research in the contemporary topics of polymer chemistry. The Institute activities cover four areas: synthesis and characterization, composite polymeric materials, polymeric biomaterials and molecular simulation of polymers.