Ilja Voets

Ilja Voets leads an interdisciplinary team of chemists, physicists, biologists, and engineers, studying self-assembly processes in (biological) soft matter. The goal of the Voets research group is to gain fundamental insights in these processes and translate them into rational design strategies for novel functional soft materials. Voets is interested in colloidal self-organization, polymer assembly and folding, and protein biophysics. She studies how to control intra- and intermolecular copolymer assembly to reveal key structure-property relations, to package fragile biomolecules, to develop artificial enzymes, to enhance colloidal stability and to tailor smart materials. She has a particular fascination for ice-binding proteins (IBPs) that help fish, insects, and plants survive in extreme environments at subzero temperatures. Another key research challenge is to orchestrate colloidal self-assembly with remote cues such as light and temperature.

To most organisms crystallization of water into ice is lethal. I am fascinated by the way antifreeze proteins protect against damage and want to develop new macromolecular antifreezes for sensitive soft materials.