These materials are so cool!

Tim Hogervorst is a postdoctoral researcher in the Self-Organizing Soft Matter (SSM) Group at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His research is all about manipulating ice. Leveraging his expertise in organic-synthesis, Tim develops well-defined glycopeptides, peptides, proteins, polymers, and nanoparticles to explore their interaction with ice. These insights guide the development of ice-interactive materials that can control the formation, size, and shape of ice crystals. His ultimate goal is to minimize ice-related damage during cryopreservation, which could revolutionize long term storage of sensitive materials and significantly reduce the costs and increase the availability of life-saving treatments.

Tim Hogervorst studied Chemistry at Leiden University where he obtained his PhD in 2020 under supervision of Jeroen Codée and Gijs van der Marel in the Bio-organic Synthesis group. His PhD research focused on development of mannosylated conjugates to study and target antigen-presenting cells. Following his PhD, Tim worked as a technology scout for a small startup. In 2021 Tim joined the labs of Tom Wennekes (Utrecht University) and Ilja Voets (TU/e) as a postdoctoral researcher, contributing to the “freezing heart” project, which attempted the cryopreservation of heart cells with ice-binding glycopetides. Since then, his research at TU/e has expanded to include other ice-interactive materials such as peptides, proteins, polymers, and nanoparticles.