Katja Loos is professor at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands holding the chair of Macromolecular Chemistry and New Polymeric Materials.[1][2]

Katja Loos
Born1971 (age 52–53)
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Alma materJohannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Germany
Known forEnzymatic Polymerizations, Block Copolymers, Supramolecular Chemistry
Scientific career
FieldsPolymer chemistry, material science, applied chemistry
ThesisHybridmaterialien mit Amylose durch enzymatische grafting from Polymerisation (2001)
Doctoral advisorAxel H. E. Müller, Reimund Stadler
Websitewww.rug.nl/research/polymer-chemistry

She currently serves as the President of the European Polymer Federation (EPF).[3]

Biography edit

Katja Loos studied chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg Universität in Mainz, Germany and graduated in 1996. During her graduate studies she focused her studies on Organic Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry. In 1992 and 1993 she was an international exchange student at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, USA.[4]

In 2001, she received her PhD in Macromolecular Chemistry from the University of Bayreuth, Germany. Her thesis was focused on hybrid materials bearing amylose using enzymatic polymerizations.[5] During her PhD research she worked in 1997 as an international exchange researcher at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.[4]

In 2001, she received a Feodor Lynen research fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to conduct postdoctoral research at the Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, NY, USA, where she worked on fundamentals of self-assembled monolayers and immobilization supports for biocatalysts.[6][7]

In 2003, she started an independent research group at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.[4]

Katja Loos worked as guest professor at the Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain in 2006 and at the Technical University Dresden, Germany in 2016.

Research edit

The research of Loos is focused on enzymatic polymerization,[8][9] especially the biocatalytic synthesis of saccharides,[10] polyamides[11] and furan based polymers,[12] as well as the synthesis and self-assembly of block copolymers[13][14] using supramolecular motifs[15] and containing ferroelectric blocks.[16]

Loos published over 270 scholarly peer-reviewed publications, various patents and book chapters.[17][18] Her publications frequently get included in special themed collections of scientific journals like “Women in Polymer Science” from Wiley[19] en “Women at the Forefront of Chemistry” of the American Chemical Society[20]

She is the editor of the only currently available textbook in the field of Enzymatic Polymerizations.[21]

She is editor of the scientific journal Polymer[22] and guest-edited special issues of various scientific journals.[23][24][25]

Since 2017 she is a member of the board of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials of the University of Groningen.[26] She serves as the vice-chair of the program council Chemistry of Advanced Materials of ChemistryNL,[27] a member of the board of the MaterialenNL Platform[28] and is a member of the board of the Dutch national postgraduate research school Polymer Technology Netherlands (PTN).[29]

Katja Loos is the national representative of the Netherlands to the European Polymer Federation (EPF).[30]

In addition to her research, Katja Loos advocates for diversity in science[31] and open access publishing[32]

Awards and honours edit

Katja Loos was awarded two travel scholarships of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for research stays at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, USA, in 1992 and 1993 and at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil, in 1997.

In 2001, she received a Feodor Lynen Fellowship award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to conduct her postdoctoral research.[33]

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded her a VIDI innovational research grant in 2009[34] and a VICI innovational research grant in 2014[35]

In 2016 the Technical University Dresden and the German Research Council (DFG) within the scope of its excellency initiative awarded her the Eleonore Trefftz guest professorship.[36][37]

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awarded Katja Loos in 2019 the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award.[38][39]

In 2019, she was named "Topper of the year" by Science Guide.[40]

She is one of the recipients of the IUPAC 2021 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering award.[41]

In 2022 she won the Team Science Award of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) with her research group HyBRit.[42]

In 2023 she received the title of Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, the prestigious Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I in 1815.[43]

Katja Loos is a Fellow of the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI)[44] and the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)[45]

References edit

  1. ^ "Research Groups". University of Groningen. 2014-11-26. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  2. ^ "NARCIS – National Academic Research and Collaborations Information System".
  3. ^ "epfwebsite - Home". www.epfwebsite.org (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  4. ^ a b c "Prof. Dr. Katja Loos – AcademiaNet". www.academia-net.org. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  5. ^ Loos, Katja (2001). Hybridmaterialien mit Amylose durch enzymatische grafting from Polymerisation (Doctoral thesis thesis). Berlin: Tenea.
  6. ^ "Humboldt Foundation". www.humboldt-foundation.de. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  7. ^ "Laboratory of Biocatalysis & Bioprocessing – RPI". homepages.rpi.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  8. ^ Reinshagen, Paul (2011-12-15). "Enzymatic polymerisation. New!". Bio Based Press. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  9. ^ "'Zeuren op hoog niveau' – VPRO Tegenlicht". VPRO (in Dutch). 9 November 2011. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  10. ^ Adharis, Azis; Loos, Katja (2019). "Green Synthesis of Glycopolymers Using an Enzymatic Approach". Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics. 220 (20): 1900219. doi:10.1002/macp.201900219. ISSN 1022-1352.
  11. ^ Maniar, Dina; Hohmann, Katharina F.; Jiang, Yi; Woortman, Albert J. J.; van Dijken, Jur; Loos, Katja (2018-06-30). "Enzymatic Polymerization of Dimethyl 2,5-Furandicarboxylate and Heteroatom Diamines". ACS Omega. 3 (6): 7077–7085. doi:10.1021/acsomega.8b01106. ISSN 2470-1343. PMC 6150640. PMID 30259005.
  12. ^ "Green alternative to PET could be even greener". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  13. ^ "Polymeren organiseren zichzelf | C2W". www.c2w.nl. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  14. ^ "Experiment NL. Wetenschap in Nederland (2014)". www.nwo.nl. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  15. ^ Hofman, Anton H.; Reza, Mehedi; Ruokolainen, Janne; ten Brinke, Gerrit; Loos, Katja (2016-10-10). "Hierarchical Layer Engineering Using Supramolecular Double-Comb Diblock Copolymers". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 55 (42): 13081–13085. doi:10.1002/anie.201606890. PMC 5113798. PMID 27633842.
  16. ^ "Ferroelectric polymers made more versatile". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  17. ^ "Publications". Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  18. ^ ORCID. "Katja Loos (0000-0002-4613-1159)". orcid.org. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  19. ^ "Women in Polymer Science". Journal of Polymer Science.
  20. ^ "Women at the Forefront of Chemistry". pubs.acs.org. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  21. ^ "Biocatalysis in Polymer Chemistry | Wiley". Wiley.com. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  22. ^ Polymer Editorial Board.
  23. ^ "In Honor of Reimund Stadler: Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics: Vol 220, No 20". Wiley Online Library. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  24. ^ "Polymer | Self-Assembly | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  25. ^ "Polymers". www.mdpi.com. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  26. ^ "Zernike Board". University of Groningen. 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  27. ^ "Programme councils". ChemistryNL. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  28. ^ "Stakeholders". materialennl-platform.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  29. ^ "Board | Polymer Technology Netherlands". www.ptn.nu. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  30. ^ "epfwebsite – Members". www.epfwebsite.org (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  31. ^ "'Diversiteit is een vereiste' | C2W". www.c2w.nl. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  32. ^ "ACS Omega Celebrates Open Access Week 2019". ACS Axial. 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  33. ^ "Prof. Dr. Katja Loos – AcademiaNet".
  34. ^ "Toekenningen Vidi 2009".
  35. ^ "Toekenningen Vici 2013".
  36. ^ "New Eleonore-Trefftz-Visiting-Professor at the chair".
  37. ^ "Previous Trefftz Professors".
  38. ^ "Humboldt Foundation". www.humboldt-foundation.de. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  39. ^ "Professor Katja Loos wint Research Award van de Alexander von Humboldt Foundation". Groningen – City of Talent (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  40. ^ "Dit zijn de toppers van het collegejaar '18|'19". ScienceGuide (in Dutch). 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  41. ^ "Awardees of the IUPAC 2021 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering". IUPAC | International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  42. ^ "Katja Loos wins NWO Team Science Award with HyBRit research group". University of Groningen. 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  43. ^ Orden, Kanselarij der Nederlandse (2023-04-26). "Lintjesregen 2023 - Uitreikingen - Koninklijke onderscheidingen". www.lintjes.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  44. ^ "DPI Fellow Katja Loos: Polymers go "green"".
  45. ^ "Katja Loos has been admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)". 2018-03-26.

External links edit

External links edit