Soft Matter Blog

It is with great pleasure that we announce Prof. Tim White (University of Colorado Boulder, USA) as the recipient of the 2019 Soft Matter Lectureship.

Tim White completed his PhD at the University of Iowa.  Thereafter he went on to become a Senior Research Engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory in the US.  In July, Tim was appointed as the Gallogly Professor of Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder where he has founded the Responsive and Programmable Materials Group.

His current research activities are broadly focused on harnessing stimuli response in liquid crystalline materials to realize shape transformation or optical reconfiguration.

Tim will give his lecture and receive his certificate at the International Soft Matter Conference in Edinburgh in June.

To learn more about Tim’s research read some of his Soft Matter papers below

Polymer stabilization of cholesteric liquid crystals in the oblique helicoidal state
Mariacristina Rumi,  Timothy J. Bunning  and  Timothy J. White
Soft Matter, 2018,14, 8883-8894

Blue-shifting tuning of the selective reflection of polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals
Kyung Min Lee,  Vincent P. Tondiglia,  Nicholas P. Godman,  Claire M. Middleton  and  Timothy J. White
Soft Matter, 2017,13, 5842-5848

Voxel resolution in the directed self-assembly of liquid crystal polymer networks and elastomers
Benjamin A. Kowalski,  Vincent P. Tondiglia,  Tyler Guin  and  Timothy J. White
Soft Matter, 2017,13, 4335-4340

Photosensitivity of reflection notch tuning and broadening in polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals
Kyung Min Lee,  Vincent P. Tondiglia  and  Timothy J. White
Soft Matter, 2016,12, 1256-1261

Thank you to everyone who nominated a candidate for the Lectureship; we received many excellent nominations, and the Editorial Board had a difficult task in choosing between some outstanding candidates.

Please join us in congratulating Tim on his award!

Professor Susan Perkin (University of Oxford, UK) was presented the Soft Matter 2018 Lectureship award  at the Annual Meeting of the Statistical Mechanics & Thermodynamics Group by Dr Neil Hammond, Executive Editor for Soft Matter.

Professor Perkin (left) with Executive Editor Dr Hammond (right)

The meeting, which was held in Manchester on the 9th – 11th January, aimed to bring together experimental and modelling/theory groups to discuss industrial and academic challenges related to electrolytes solutions.

Please join us in congratulating Susan on winning this award!

Do you know an early-career researcher who deserves recognition for their contribution to the soft matter field?

Now is your chance to put them forward for the accolade they deserve!

Soft Matter is pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for its 2019 Lectureship award. This annual award was established in 2009 to honour an early-stage career scientist who has made a significant contribution to the soft matter field.

The recipient of the award will be asked to present a lecture in 2019, where they will also be presented with the award. The Soft Matter Editorial Office will provide financial support to the recipient for travel and accommodation costs.

The recipient will also be asked to contribute a lead article to the journal and will have their work showcased free of charge on the front cover of the issue in which their article is published.

Professor Perkin (left) being presented with the award by Dr Hammond, Executive Editor (right)

Previous winners

2018 – Susan Perkin, University of Oxford, UK

2017 – Daeyeon Lee, University of Pennsylvania, USA

2016 – Damien Baigl, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

2015 – Lucio Isa, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

2014 – Eric Dufresne, Yale Univeristy, USA

2013 – Eric Furst, University of Delaware, USA

2012 – Patrick Doyle, MIT, USA

2011 – Michael J. Solomon, University of Michigan, USA

2010 – Bartosz Grzybowski, UNIST, Republic of Korea

2009 – Emanuela Zaccarelli, University of Rome, Italy

Eligibility

To be eligible for the lectureship, candidates should meet the following criteria:

• Be an independent researcher, having completed PhD and postdoctoral studies
• Be actively pursuing research within the soft matter field, and have made a significant contribution to the field
• Be at an early stage of their independent career (this should be within 12 years of attaining their doctorate or equivalent degree, but appropriate consideration will be given to those who have taken a career break or followed an alternative study path)

Although the Soft Matter Lectureship doesn’t explicitly reward support of or contributions to the journal, candidates with no history of either publishing in or refereeing for the journal would typically not be considered.

Selection

• Eligible nominated candidates will be notified of their nomination, and will be asked to provide 3 recent articles that they feel represent their current research.
• All eligible nominated candidates will be assessed by a shortlisting panel, made up of members of the Soft Matter Advisory Board and a previous lectureship winner.
• The shortlisting panel will consider the articles provided by the candidates as well as their CVs and letters of nomination.
• Shortlisted candidates will be further assessed by the Soft Matter Editorial Board, and a winner will be selected based on an anonymous poll.
• Selection is not based simply on quantitative measures. Consideration will be given to all information provided in the letter of recommendation and candidate CV, including research achievements and originality, contributions to the soft matter community, innovation, collaborations and teamwork, publication history, and engagement with Soft Matter.

Nominations

• Nominations must be made via email to softmatter-rsc@rsc.org, and should include a short CV and a brief letter of nomination.
• Self-nomination is not permitted.
• Nominators do not need to be senior researchers, and we encourage nominations from people at all career levels.
• As part of the Royal Society of Chemistry, we believe we have a responsibility to promote inclusivity and accessibility in order to improve diversity. Where possible, we encourage each nominator to consider nominating candidates of all genders, races, and backgrounds.
• Candidates outside of the stated eligibility criteria may still be considered.
• Nomination letters should be up to 1 page in length. They should particularly highlight contributions that the nominee has made to the field as an independent researcher, and any career breaks or alternative career paths that should be taken into consideration by the judging panel. Nomination of one candidate by multiple people in the same letter is accepted.

Nominations should be submitted no later than 15^th December 2018.

It is with great pleasure that we announce Prof. Susan Perkin (University of Oxford, UK) as the recipient of the 2018 Soft Matter Lectureship.

Susan Perkin graduated with a First in Chemistry from St. John’s College, Oxford (with a St. John’s College Academic Scholarship), then received her DPhil in 2006 studying with Jacob Klein. She moved to UCL in London in 2007 where she set up a laboratory and research group to work on ionic liquids and liquid interfaces. In 2012 she returned to the Faculty of Chemistry at Oxford and she is currently an Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry and Fellow of Trinity College, University of Oxford.

Her current interests include electrostatics in concentrated electrolytes and ionic liquids, molecular mechanisms of friction and lubrication, field effects on confined liquids, graphene surface forces, and controlling surface properties through the design of switchable thin films.

In the past few years Susan has been awarded a Starting Grant from the ERC, the Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a Philip Leverhulme Prize from The Leverhulme Trust.

To learn more about Susan’s research read some of her publications in our sister journals:

Underscreening in concentrated electrolytes
Alpha A. Lee,  Carla S. Perez-Martinez,  Alexander M. Smith  and  Susan Perkin
Faraday Discuss., 2017, 119, 239-259

Ionic liquids in confined geometries
Susan Perkin
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012,14, 5052-5062

Long range electrostatic forces in ionic liquids
Matthew A. Gebbie,  Alexander M. Smith,  Howard A. Dobbs,  Alpha A. Lee,  Gregory G. Warr,  Xavier Banquy,  Markus Valtiner,  Mark W. Rutland,  Jacob N. Israelachvili,  Susan Perkin  and  Rob Atkin
Chem. Commun., 2017,53, 1214-1224

Thank you to everyone who nominated a candidate for the Lectureship; we received many excellent nominations, and the Editorial Board had a difficult task in choosing between some outstanding candidates.

Please join us in congratulating Susan on her award!

Do you know an early-career researcher who deserves recognition for their contribution to the soft matter field?

Now is your chance to put them forward for the accolade they deserve.

Soft Matter is pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for its 2018 Lectureship award. This annual award was established in 2009 to honour an early-stage career scientist who has made a significant contribution to the soft matter field.

2017 winner Daeyeon Lee gives his talk at the Colloid and Interface Symposium

Previous winners

2017 – Daeyeon Lee, University of Pennsylvania, USA

2016 – Damien Baigl, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

2015 – Lucio Isa, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

2014 – Eric Dufresne, Yale Univeristy, USA

2013 – Eric Furst, University of Delaware, USA

2012 – Patrick Doyle, MIT, USA

2011 – Michael J. Solomon, University of Michigan, USA

2010 – Bartosz Grzybowski, UNIST, Republic of Korea

2009 – Emanuela Zaccarelli, University of Rome, Italy

Qualification

To be eligible for the Soft Matter Lectureship, the candidate should be in the earlier stages of their scientific career, typically within 12 years of attaining their doctorate or equivalent degree, and will have made a significant contribution to the field.

Description

The recipient of the award will be asked to present a lecture at a meeting in 2018, where they will also be presented with the award. The Soft Matter Editorial Office will provide financial support to the recipient for travel and accommodation costs.

The recipient will also be asked to contribute a lead article to the journal and will have their work showcased free of charge on the front cover of the issue in which their article is published.

Selection

The recipient of the award will be selected and endorsed by the Soft Matter Editorial Board.

Nominations

Those wishing to make a nomination should send details of the nominee, including a brief C.V. and a letter supporting the nomination, to the Soft Matter Editorial Office by 28^th February 2018. Self-nomination is not permitted.

It is with great pleasure that we announce Prof. Daeyeon Lee (University of Pennsylvania, USA) as the recipient of the 2017 Soft Matter Lectureship.

The Soft Matter Lectureship is an annual award that honours an early-career researcher for their significant contribution to the soft matter field. The recipient is selected by the Soft Matter Editorial Board from a list of candidates nominated by the community.

Read on to find out more about Daeyeon…

Professor Daeyeon Lee

Daeyeon Lee obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2007 after completing a Bachelor’s Degree at Seoul National University in 2001. He then moved to Harvard University for a postdoctoral fellowship, before becoming a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 2009.

His current research interests focus on developing a deep understanding of the interactions between soft materials (e.g., polymers, colloids and biologicals, etc.) near or at interfaces. The major research efforts of his group include understanding the behaviour of Janus particles at fluid interfaces, improving the assembly and mechanical properties of nanoparticle films, generating hierarchical structures using emulsions and bubbles as templates, and developing catalytic systems for biomass conversion.

Since 2005, Prof. Lee has received 14 honours and awards and published 117 peer-reviewed articles. He received the Gold Award in Materials Research Society (MRS) in 2006, the AIChE NSEF Young Investigator Award in 2013, and the S. Reid Warren, Jr. Award in 2017, in recognition of outstanding service in stimulating and guiding the intellectual and professional development of undergraduate students.

To learn more about Daeyeon’s research, have a look at his recent publications in Soft Matter:

Capillarity-induced directed self-assembly of patchy hexagram particles at the air–water interface
Sung-Min Kang, Chang-Hyung Choi, Jongmin Kim, Su-Jin Yeom, Daeyeon Lee, Bum Jun Park and Chang-Soo Lee
Soft Matter, 2016,12, 5847-5853

Nanomechanics of layer-by-layer polyelectrolyte complexes: a manifestation of ionic cross-links and fixed charges
Biao Han, Daphney R. Chery, Jie Yin, X. Lucas Lu, Daeyeon Lee and Lin Han
Soft Matter, 2016,12, 1158-1169

Enzymatically triggered rupture of polymersomes
Woo-Sik Jang, Seung Chul Park, Ellen H. Reed, Kevin P. Dooley, Samuel F. Wheeler, Daeyeon Lee and Daniel A. Hammer
Soft Matter, 2016,12, 1014-1020

We would like to thank everybody who nominated a candidate for the Lectureship; we received many excellent nominations, and the Editorial Board had a difficult task in choosing between some outstanding candidates.

Please join us in congratulating Daeyeon on his award!

Do you know an early-career researcher who deserves recognition for their contribution to the soft matter field?

Now is your chance to put them forward for the accolade they deserve.

Soft Matter is pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for its 2017 Lectureship award. This annual award was established in 2009 to honour an early-stage career scientist who has made a significant contribution to the soft matter field.

Previous winners

2016 – Damien Baigl, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

2015 – Lucio Isa, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

2014 – Eric Dufresne, Yale Univeristy, USA

2013 – Eric Furst, University of Delaware, USA

2012 – Patrick Doyle, MIT, USA

2011 – Michael J. Solomon, University of Michigan, USA

2010 – Bartosz Grzybowski, UNIST, Republic of Korea

2009 – Emanuela Zaccarelli, University of Rome, Italy

Qualification

To be eligible for the Soft Matter Lectureship, the candidate should be in the earlier stages of their scientific career, typically within 12 years of attaining their doctorate or equivalent degree, and will have made a significant contribution to the field.

Description

The recipient of the award will be asked to present a lecture three times, one of which will be located in the home country of the recipient. The Soft Matter Editorial Office will provide the sum of £1000 to the recipient for travel and accommodation costs.

The recipient will be presented with the award at one of the three award lectures. They will also be asked to contribute a lead article to the journal and will have their work showcased on the back cover of the issue in which their article is published.

Selection

The recipient of the award will be selected and endorsed by the Soft Matter Editorial Board.

Nominations

Those wishing to make a nomination should send details of the nominee, including a brief C.V. (no longer than 2 pages A4) together with a letter (no longer than 2 pages A4) supporting the nomination, to the Soft Matter Editorial Office by 27^th January 2017. Self-nomination is not permitted.

The Soft Matter Lectureship, now in its seventh year, is an annual award that honours an early-stage career researcher for their significant contribution to the soft matter field. The recipient is selected by the Soft Matter Editorial Board from a list of candidates nominated by the community.

This month during the 4th International Soft Matter Conference (ISMC 2016) in Grenoble, France, we were delighted to present Professor Damien Baigl with his Soft Matter Lectureship.

Damien Baigl (second from the right in the photo) receiving his Soft Matter Lectureship

Professors Christos Likos (first from left in the photo), Dimitris Vlassopoulos (second from left) and Jan Dhont (first from right), Associate Editors of Soft Matter, presented the award to Damien in the presence of Executive Editor Dr Neil Hammond (third from right).

We would like to thank the organisers of ISMC 2016 for their collaboration with the award ceremony.

Please join us in congratulating Damien in his fantastic achievement!

We are delighted to announce Professor Damien Baigl (ENS/UPMC/CNRS) as the 2016 Soft Matter Lectureship winner.

The Soft Matter Lectureship, now in its seventh year, is an annual award that honours an early-stage career researcher for their significant contribution to the soft matter field. The recipient is selected by the Soft Matter Editorial Board from a list of candidates nominated by the community.

Read on to find out more about Damien…

Damien did a PhD on soft matter physics with Claudine Williams in the laboratory of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes at College de France in Paris before a post-doc in biophysics at Kyoto University with Kenichi Yoshikawa. Since 2005, he has been working at the UMR PASTEUR (ENS/CNRS/UPMC) laboratory located at the Department of Chemistry of Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS, PSL Research University) in Paris (France). He was appointed ENS assistant professor in 2005 before becoming full professor (2nd class) at University Pierre and Marie Curie (UPMC, Sorbonne Universités) in 2010 and 1st class UPMC professor in 2013. Former member of the Institut Universtaire de France (IUF), he got an ERC starting grant in 2010. Damien has made numerous, interdisciplinary and highly original contributions to the soft matter field in topics ranging from DNA compaction, gene expression photocontrol, synthetic biology and artificial cell systems to evaporative assembly, coffee-ring effect manipulations and light-driven microfluidics.

Damien’s website can be found at http://www.baigllab.com/

To learn more about Damien’s research, please see the following for his recent work in Soft Matter:

Preparation of one- to four-branch silver nanostructures of various sizes by metallization of hybrid DNA–protein assemblies
Sergii Rudiuk, Anna Venancio-Marques, Géraldine Hallais and Damien Baigl
Soft Matter, 2013, 9, 9146-9152

Theory of DNA–cationic micelle complexation
Helmut Schiessel, María D. Correa-Rodríguez, Sergii Rudiuk, Damien Baigl and Kenichi Yoshikawa
Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 9406-9411

DNA compaction: fundamentals and applications
André Estévez-Torres and Damien Baigl
Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 6746-6756

Keep your eyes peeled for Damien’s upcoming Soft Matter article in honour of the Lectureship award.

We would like to thank everybody who nominated a candidate for the Lectureship; we received many excellent nominations, and the Editorial Board had a difficult task in choosing between some outstanding candidates.

Please join us in congratulating Damien in his fantastic achievements by adding your comments below!