On January 12 and 14, 2021, Professor Harm-Anton Klok was invited to give a short-term lecture on “Polymerization & Engineering of Living Matter” through online web seminar. This short-term lecture has two parts, “Engineering surfaces via surface-initiated polymerization” and “Engineering living matter-surface modification and characterization of living cells for nanomedicine”, respectively.

In the first lecture, Professor Harm-Anton Klok talked about the conceptions of polymers, surface-induced controlled free radical polymerization, and polymers with biological functions and responsiveness, sharing the latest research results of surface-induced polymerization engineering. In the second lecture, the latest developments in surface modification and characterization of living cells in engineering biological nanomedicine were explained in detail with the conceptions of nanomedicine and targeted drug delivery by living cells.

Harm-Anton Klok is Full Professor at the Institutes of Materials and Chemical Sciences and Engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland), currently serving as the director and supervisor of the EPFL’s Molecular and Hybrid Materials Characterization Center. He dedicates himself into the synthesis of precise polymer, biomaterials, bio-functional surface and its applications in optical, electronics, medicine, etc.

After the lecture, PIs and students from AISMST discussed academic issues on polymer brush interfaces, etc with Professor Klok. (Photo & Text / School of Molecular Science and Engineering, South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology)