Peter Zijlstra will coordinate H2020 Marie Curie Innovative Training Network

Peter Zijlstra (MBx) was awarded and will coordinate a H2020 Marie Curie Innovative Training Network. The aim of SuperCol is to further develop super-resolution optical microscopy (Nobel prize in chemistry in 2014) to image nanoparticles for the next generation of biomedical sensors. To achieve this SuperCol unites 6 academic groups and 11 companies throughout Europe and will train 15 PhD students starting in January 2020.

Nanoparticles are widely used as biosensors, or as carriers to deliver drugs to diseased cells. The performance of particles in such applications relies on a tight control over the number and distribution of chemical groups on the surface of the particle. SuperCol will develop super-resolution microscopy to count and image the biomolecules on colloidal particles one-by-one. In combination with modelling this will provide a much needed approach to rationally optimize the particle’s surface and will open the window to designing new and superior particle-based sensors. SuperCol will cover the whole workflow starting from particle synthesis and functionalization, via characterization using super-resolution microscopy and modelling, all the way to applications in molecular sensing and drug delivery. This will lay the cornerstones for a new field within colloidal sciences – rational colloid design – to harness the full potential of particle-based materials towards sensors with functionalities we cannot yet imagine.