Hanno Holzinger, Austrian

Having studied Materials Science, I have always been intrigued with biological materials as they often exhibit a rather complex profile of properties even though they are only consisting of a relatively small spectrum of chemical elements. In the course of my master thesis I eventually got to work with biomaterials using advanced x-ray scattering techniques in a cooperation between KTH and my home university, the Montanuniversität Leoben in Austria. As I know now, this opportunity was a pivotal moment for me and led me back once more to KTH for my PhD as part of the Swedish Graduate School for Neutron Scattering.

In the scope of my PhD I am now working on the development of artificial plant cells. This encompasses on one hand the development of plant cell models themselves (from layer-by-layer fabrication to more complex synthesis protocols) as well as method development of neutron and x-ray scattering techniques for the characterization of the artificial plant cells. In the end, a combination of several techniques will enable us to improve our understanding of the molecular interactions that take place in plant cells.

University:         KTH Royal Institute of Technology/Division of Polymeric Materials Project Title:      Towards Improved Molecular Understanding of Artificial Plant Cells E-mail:               holzi@kth.se Webpage:          > External link