Christopher Barner-Kowollik, Editor-in-Chief
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Christopher Barner-Kowollik is Professor of Materials Science and head of the Soft Matter Materials Laboratory at the Queensland University of Technology. He has published over 510 peer-reviewed studies and won several awards for his research, most recently the coveted Erwin-Schrödinger Award of the Helmholtz association (2016) and a Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research Council (2017). His main research interests are situated at the interface of organic, polymer and biochemistry and focus on a wide range of polymer-related research fields, such as the (photochemical) synthesis of complex macromolecular architectures with highly-defined functionality and composition, advanced synthesis via polymer ligation techniques and macromolecular transformations at ambient temperature in solution and on surfaces, with a strong focus on light-induced methodologies, advanced photolithographic processes, fundamental investigations into polymerization mechanisms and kinetics, as well as high resolution imaging and characterization of macromolecular chain structures via mass spectrometric methods in solution and on surfaces.
Athina Anastasaki
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Athina Anastasaki completed her PhD studies at the University of Warwick under the supervision of Professor Dave Haddleton and received the Jon Weaver Award for the best PhD thesis in Polymer Chemistry in the United Kingdom. She then commenced a Monash-Warwick post-doctoral appointment between Monash University (with Professor Tom Davis) and the University of Warwick (with Professor Haddleton). In 2016, she was awarded an Elings fellowship and a Global Marie Curie Fellowship to conduct research at the University of California in Santa Barbara working alongside Professor Craig Hawker. She is now an Assistant Professor at the Materials Department of ETH Zurich and has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles. Her research focuses on controlled radical polymerization, self-assembly of polymeric materials, polymerization mechanisms and complex materials of different architectures.
Filip Du Prez, Associate editor
Ghent University, Belgium
Filip graduated from his postgraduate studies in macromolecular chemistry from Ghent (Belgium) and Lehigh (USA) University in 1996, after which he carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Montpellier and at Ghent University (UGent). In 1999, he ultimately became research leader of the Polymer Chemistry Research group (PCR) within the Centre of Macromolecular Chemistry (CMaC) at Ghent University, where he now leads a research group of 25 researchers and the UGent valorization consortium Chemtech as full professor. Filip’s current research focuses on the development of new polymer structures, the exploration of powerful polymer functionalization methods and the design of polymer materials for high-value applications. His team uses a highly interdisciplinary approach to develop in some cases industrially applicable polymer materials. The main research themes of his research are on 1) polymer functionalization to absolute control, 2) dynamic and self-healing polymeric materials such as vitrimers and 3) increasing the functionality of renewable polymers.
Holger Frey, Associate editor
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
Holger Frey is a Professor at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the author of 330 peer-reviewed original publications and reviews in different areas of current Polymer Science. His scope of interests is broad and comprises hyperbranched materials (polyethers, polyesters, polycarbonates), silicon-based polymers, multifunctional poly(ethylene glycol)s, block copolymers in general and polymer nanostructures for drug transport. The current research interest of his group is centered on new functional polymers prepared via oxyanionic ring-opening polymerization, new approaches utilizing CO2 as a monomer, and non-conventional approaches in carbanionic polymer synthesis.
Rongrong Hu, Associate editor
South China University of Technology, China
Rongrong Hu received her B.S. degree from Peking University and her PhD degree from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She is currently a Professor of the State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices at South China University of Technology. She has published over 110 peer-reviewed articles and reviews. Her research interests include (1) the development of alkyne or isocyanide-based multicomponent polymerization methodology through the combination of organic and polymer synthesis, and (2) luminescent polymers with diverse structures and applications. Her current research focuses on the development of multicomponent polymerizations of elemental sulfur and sulfur-containing functional polymers.
Tanja Junkers, Associate editor
Monash University, Australia
Professor Tanja Junkers studied chemistry and graduated with a PhD in physical chemistry from Göttingen University, Germany, in 2006 and subsequently worked at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, at the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design as research associate. In 2008 she moved to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. In early 2010 she was appointed professor at Hasselt University, Belgium, where she founded the Polymer Reaction Design research group within the Institute for Materials Research. In January 2018 she moved back to Australia where she became full professor at Monash University in Melbourne, and since then continues activities there. She remains guest professor at Hasselt University and her group is currently active at both locations. Her main research interests are precision polymer synthesis, use of continuous flow chemistry approaches, light-induced chemistries, polymer surface modification and investigations on kinetics and mechanisms of radical reactions.
Rebekka Klausen, Associate editor
Johns Hopkins University, USA
Prof. Rebekka S. Klausen carried out graduate studies in organic synthesis with Prof. Eric N. Jacobsen (Ph.D. 2011, Harvard University) and postdoctoral research in single molecule electronics with Prof. Colin Nuckolls (2011-2013, Columbia University). In 2013, she joined the Johns Hopkins University Department of Chemistry as an Assistant Professor and is now the Second Decade Society Associate Professor. Her research program has been recognized with awards including the ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (2021) and the ACS Macro Letters / Biomacromolecules / Macromolecules Young Investigator Award (2022). Rebekka’s research interests broadly encompass polymer synthesis, with unique contributions in the areas of the development of organometallic polymers of the main group, control of polymer tacticity, and the synthesis of functional materials inaccessible from traditional feedstocks.
Dominik Konkolewicz, Associate Editor
Miami University, USA
Dominik Konkolewicz is currently a Professor of Chemistry at Miami University in Oxford Ohio (USA). He earned a PhD from the University of Sydney in 2011, advised by Prof. Sébastien Perrier, and completed postdoctoral work at Carnegie Mellon University, in the group of Prof. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski. Dr. Konkolewicz has led a team of 10-15 polymer chemists and materials scientists at Miami University since 2014. His research interests lie at the intersection of polymerization kinetics, macromolecular engineering, biohybrids, and responsive materials. The Konkolewicz group designs polymer materials from a mechanistic perspective, with research efforts across dynamic covalent and non-covalent chemistry, biomaterials and bioconjugates, and light-driven polymerization and degradation reactions. Particular focus areas are at the intersection of polymer science and sustainability, and polymers interacting with biomolecules.
Zhibo Li, Associate editor
Qingdao University of Science and Technology, China
Zhibo Li obtained his B.S. (1998) and Master (2001) degree from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). He then obtained his Ph.D. working on self-assembly of triblock copolymer in the Chemistry Department, University of Minnesota 2006. After that, he spent two and half years in UCLA as a postdoctoral scholar. In 2009, he became a professor in the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and moved to the Qingdao University of Science and Technology in 2015. He was winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2012), and became the Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (2018). His research interests include design and synthesis of stimuli-responsive polypeptides, preparation of biodegradable polyesters from biobased monomers, developing organocatalysts and phosphazene superbase for ring opening (co)polymerization of cyclic esters and epoxides, and studying the self-assembly of copolymers with multi-hydrogen bonding interactions.
Zi-Chen Li, Associate editor
Peking University, China
Zi-Chen Li received his B.A. degree from Shandong University in 1987 and his M.Sci. degree from the Institute of Chemistry, CAS, in 1990. In 1995, he completed his PhD in Polymer Chemistry under the direction of Professor Fu-Mian Li at Peking University (PKU). During his doctoral studies, he stayed at Waseda University, Japan, for one year as an exchanging student. After a two-year (1995-1996) postdoctoral research stint at PKU and Waseda University, he became a faculty member at PKU in 1997, and was promoted to professor in 2002. His primary research interests currently include new polymerization methods, stimuli-responsive polymers and their biomedical applications, and the controlled degradation of polymers.
Emily Pentzer, Associate editor
Texas A&M University, USA
Emily Pentzer is Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Case Western Reserve University. Her research focuses on using organic synthesis to prepare carbon-based materials with tailored, novel properties for specific applications in the areas of solar energy harvesting and storage. She uses synthetic chemistry to tailor molecular design and control self-assembly for the preparation and study of novel conductive materials with controlled domain sizes and interfaces. Emily was the recipient of the Northwestern University PLU Gelewitz Award for outstanding senior graduate student in 2009.
