Katharina Landfester is a German chemist who is a professor at the

Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research The Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research () is a scientific center in the field of polymer science located in Mainz, Germany. The institute was founded in 1983 by Erhard W. Fischer and Gerhard Wegner. Belonging to the Chemistry, Physics and ...

. Her research considers the physical properties of droplets, polymerisation in emulsion and the synthesis of nanoparticles.

Early life and education

Landfester studied chemistry at the

Technical University of Darmstadt Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who ad ...

and graduated in 1993. During her undergraduate degree she was a research intern at the

École européenne de chimie, polymères et matériaux The ''École européenne de chimie, polymères et matériaux'' (ECPM; European School of Chemistry, Polymers and Materials Science) of Strasbourg is a public engineering school in the city of Strasbourg, in Alsace, France. It was founded in 1948 ...

(then Ecole d’Application des Hauts Polymères). She joined the

as a graduate student, where she worked with Hans W. Spiess on the characterisation of polymers using solid-state

nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...

. She moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as a postdoctoral researcher, where she joined

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

. She returned to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where she joined the

Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces The Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung'') is located in Potsdam-Golm Science Park in Golm, Potsdam, Germany. It was founded in 1990 as a successor of the Institu ...

and oversaw the emulsion group.

Research and career

Landfester joined the

University of Ulm Ulm University () is a public university in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University was founded in 1967 and focuses on natural sciences, medicine, engineering sciences, mathematics, economics and computer science. With 9,891 studen ...

as a full professor and head of the Department of Organic Chemistry. Whilst at the university, she started to explore materials for biomedical applications, with a focus on better understanding the interactions of nanoparticles with cellular compartments. By 2008 she had been appointed director of the

. Landfester has studied colloids with precisely controlled physical properties. Colloids are particles suspended in a liquid, and can permit the encapsulation of therapeutic and self-healing agents as well as the creation of specific nanostructures. She is interested in the creation of protocells – vesicular structures that are generally considered the minimal units of synthetic biology – from self-assembled block copolymers. These block copolymers contain permeable nanocontainers that can act as cell-like functions.

Awards and honours

* 2001 Reimund Stadler prize * 2002

University of Potsdam The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, northeastern Germany. The university is mainly situated across three campuses in the city. Some faculty buildings are part of the New Palace o ...

Habilitation in Physical Chemistry * 2002 Member of the

Junge Akademie The Junge Akademie at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina is supported by the two oldest scientific academies in Germany, and represents an interdisciplinary platf ...

* 2010 Elected to AcademiaNet * 2011 Elected member of

Acatech Acatech (styled ''acatech),'' founded in 2002 and established as the German Academy of Science and Engineering () on 1 January 2008, represents the interests of German technical sciences independently, in self-determination and guided by the commo ...

* 2024

Liebig Medal The Liebig Medal (German: ''Liebig-Denkmünze'') was established by the Society of German Chemists () in 1903 to celebrate the centenary of Justus von Liebig. Since 1946 it has been awarded by the Society of German Chemists (''Gesellschaft Deutsc ...

Selected publications

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landfester, Katharina German women chemists German women scientists Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research people Lehigh University people 1969 births Living people Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni Max Planck Institute directors Members of German Academy of Science and Engineering Acatech