Nathalie Katsonis

Nathalie Katsonis received her MSc (2001) and PhD (2004) degrees from the University Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris, France). Her investigations of the interplay between motion, light and molecular machines started in the group of Ludovic Jullien, where she researched the chromophore that initiates the flagellar movement of purple bacteria. For her postdoctoral research she moved to the group of Ben Feringa to investigate chirality and order in supramolecular assemblies.

Her independent career started in 2007 as Associate Researcher for the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). In 2008 she was invited back to Groningen to work with Ben Feringa on artificial molecular motors and switches. In 2011 she took up a tenure-track position at the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Twente (the Netherlands), where she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014 and to Professor in 'Bio-inspired and Smart Materials' in 2017. In March 2020 she became Professor of chemistry at the Stratingh Institute of Chemistry of the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), leading a research group dedicated to 'Active Molecular Systems and Materials'.

Katsonis has led the way in transmitting directed molecular motion across length scales, with a special focus on the role of chirality and on the effects of mechanically-relevant motion of molecular machines. Her achievements have provided the underpinnings for increasingly complex functionalities in dynamic and ultimately life-like supramolecular materials.