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The recent development of highbrilliance synchrotron sources creates unprecedented potential for exploring the structure-properties relations of (bio)polymeric materials. Here it will be shown that further developments in polymers strongly depend on our understanding of the relations between polymer chain microstructures, over polymer processing and (nano)-structure formation, to the ultimate final macroscopic properties. In Part I we offer a schematic view of the art in structural polymer research involving scattering experiments; sychrotron radiation, neutron scattering and light scattering. In Part II, we focus on synchrotron radiation because of the unique ability to perform time-resolved studies. With synchrotron sources, data can now routinely be collected in a few seconds or even much less time (milliseconds), allowing for the time-resolved study of rapidly changing structures as they occur, e.g. during polymer crystallisation, processing or deformation. With the advent of highly defined synchrotron beams surfaces and local features can now be studied. It is possible to combine property-related techniques with X-ray scattering experiments, such as DSC, temperature-modulated DSC, tensile testing equipmet, the rheometer, AFM, light-scattering, all of which obviously allows for better elucidation of structure-property relations.