Prof. Dr. Arnold Boersma

Dr. Arnold J. Boersma studied chemistry at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands) where he also pursued his graduate studies in the group of Prof. Ben L. Feringa (Nobel Laureate, 2016) and Prof. Gerard Roelfes. Here, he developed a new concept in catalysis by using DNA as an asymmetric catalyst. For this research, he was awarded the KNCV Catalysis prize for the best PhD thesis on catalysis in the Netherlands. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University in the group of Prof. Hagan Bayley, funded by an NWO Rubicon grant. Here, he became an expert in protein engineering and lipid membranes. In 2012, he returned to the University of Groningen to become an independent researcher with an NWO Veni fellowship. Here, he developed novel probes to detect the physicochemical properties in various types of cells. Based on these research achievements he was awarded an NWO Vidi fellowship in 2016 to become a group leader. He joined the DWI-Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials in August 2018.

Selected professional functions, honors and awards

• 2021 Fellow Max Planck School "Matter to Life"
• 2020 ACS Sensors selected "Rising stars in sensing"
• 2020 Consolidator Grant of the ERC
• 2016 Vidi grant der Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
• 2012 Veni grant of the NOW
• 2011 KNCV Catalysis prize for the best doctoral thesis in the field of catalysis in the Netherlands in 2009-2010
• 2009 Presentation of the "Cum Laude" award (top 5%) for the doctoral thesis
• 2009 Rubicon grant of the NOW