Projects per year
Personal profile
Research profile
Nicholas Kurniawan is an Associate Professor in the Soft Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology group. His research focuses on understanding why and how cells behave the way they do in different physical environments. To answer this question, he creates biomimetic cellular environments at multiple scales—from 2D micropatterns to 3D extracellular matrices and bioreactors—where every physical and mechanical cues to the cells can be precisely controlled. These in vitro platforms enable him to systematically break down the origins of basic cellular behavior, such as orientation, migration, and differentiation. The overarching goal is to use the obtained insights to direct cell response in vivo, for example to promote tissue regeneration or to slow down disease progression. Nicholas’s research is highly interdisciplinary, encompassing biophysics, cell biology, protein polymers, biomechanics, and soft matter.
Academic background
Nicholas Kurniawan received his PhD in 2012 from the National University of Singapore (Singapore), studying the role of matrix viscoelasticity in cancer metastasis. He then carried out postdoctoral research as a Marie Curie Fellow at AMOLF (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), investigating the hierarchical structure-property relation in the cytoskeleton and extracellular matrices. In 2015, he joined Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in the research group Soft Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology (department of Biomedical Engineering). He is also a member of the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS).
Quote
The cell is a physical entity that interacts with its surrounding objects. By smartly designing the cellular environment, we essentially can have a remote control for steering cell behavior.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Finished
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Advaessel: Ad vanced materials processing and design for regenerating blodd vessels
Kurniawan, N. A. (Project Manager) & Castilho, M. (Project member)
1/11/20 → 30/11/21
Project: Research direct
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Dynamic substrate topographies drive actin- and vimentin-mediated nuclear mechanoprotection events in human fibroblasts
Bril, M., Boesveld, J. N., Coelho-Rato, L. S., Sahlgren, C. M., Bouten, C. V. C. & Kurniawan, N. A. (Corresponding author), 7 Apr 2025, In: BMC Biology. 23, 1, 16 p., 94.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Downloads (Pure) -
Digital Photoinduced Topographical Microsculpting of Hydrogels
Bril, M., D'Urso, M., Prejanò, M., Costantini, M., Angeloni, L. & Kurniawan, N. A. (Corresponding author), 2 Dec 2024, In: Advanced Materials Technologies. 9, 23, 11 p., 2400721.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile16 Downloads (Pure) -
Dimensionality Matters: Exploiting UV-Photopatterned 2D and Two-Photon-Printed 2.5D Contact Guidance Cues to Control Corneal Fibroblast Behavior and Collagen Deposition
van der Putten, C., Sahin, G., Grant, R., D'Urso, M., Giselbrecht, S., Bouten, C. V. C. & Kurniawan, N. A. (Corresponding author), Apr 2024, In: Bioengineering. 11, 4, 18 p., 402.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus)40 Downloads (Pure) -
Spatial regulation of substrate adhesion directs fibroblast morphotype and phenotype
D'Urso, M., Jorba, I., van der Pol, A., Bouten, C. V. C. & Kurniawan, N. A. (Corresponding author), Aug 2024, In: PNAS Nexus. 3, 8, 11 p., pgae289.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Citations (Scopus)34 Downloads (Pure) -
Steering cell orientation through light-based spatiotemporal modulation of the mechanical environment
Jorba, I. (Corresponding author), Gussenhoven, S., van der Pol, A., Groenen, B. G. W., van Zon, M., Goumans, M. J., Kurniawan, N. A., Ristori, T. & Bouten, C. V. C., 1 Jul 2024, In: Biofabrication. 16, 3, 19 p., 035011.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Citations (Scopus)65 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Data underlying the publication: Computationally guided in-vitro vascular growth model reveals causal link between flow oscillations and disorganized neotissue
van Haaften, E. E. (Contributor), Kurniawan, N. A. (Contributor), Bouten, C. V. C. (Contributor), Quicken, S. (Contributor) & Huberts, W. (Contributor), 4TU.Centre for Research Data, 29 Mar 2021
DOI: 10.4121/14292383
Dataset
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Supplementary material from "Mesoscale substrate curvature overrules nanoscale contact guidance to direct bone marrow stromal cell migration"
Werner, M. (Creator), Kurniawan, N. A. (Creator), Korus, G. (Creator), Bouten, C. V. C. (Creator) & Petersen, A. (Creator), Figshare, 23 Jul 2018
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4174829, https://figshare.com/collections/Supplementary_material_from_Mesoscale_substrate_curvature_overrules_nanoscale_contact_guidance_to_direct_bone_marrow_stromal_cell_migration_/4174829 and one more link, https://figshare.com/collections/Supplementary_material_from_Mesoscale_substrate_curvature_overrules_nanoscale_contact_guidance_to_direct_bone_marrow_stromal_cell_migration_/4174829/1 (show fewer)
Dataset
Prizes
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Control cell communication and tissue regeneration
Kurniawan, N. (Recipient), 2019
Prize: ERC › Starting › Scientific
Courses
Press/Media
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Research from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Area of Smart Materials in Medicine Described (Stimuli-responsive materials: A smart way to study dynamic cell responses)
16/02/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment