The Soft Matter Editorial Board have chosen Professor Eric M. Furst as the recipient of this year’s Soft Matter Lectureship. This annual Lectureship was established by the journal in 2009 to honour a younger scientist who has made a significant contribution to the soft matter field. We would like to thank everyone who nominated someone – as always there was an excellent group of candidates – and congratulate Professor Furst.
Eric M. Furst is a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Director of the Center for Molecular Engineering and Thermodynamics at the University of Delaware. Furst received his BS with University Honors in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, his PhD from Stanford University, and afterwards studied biophysics as a Chateaubriand postdoctoral fellow at Institut Curie, Paris. His interests span a wide range of topics in soft matter science and engineering, but focus in particular on the physics and chemistry of the colloidal domain. Furst’s research group is recognized for their contributions to active and passive microrheology, biomaterial rheology, interfacial phenomena, directed self-assembly of colloids and nanoparticles, and colloid electrokinetics.