-University of Groningen

Katja Loos

Katja Loos is Professor at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials at the University of Groningen, where she holds the chair of Macromolecular Chemistry and New Polymeric Materials. She served as President of the European Polymer Federation from 2023 to 2025.She studied Organic and Polymer Chemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA. During her doctoral research at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, she moved into enzymatic polymerizations. After a postdoctoral stay at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, USA, she established her independent research group in Groningen.Katja Loos pioneered enzymatic polymerization, particularly the biocatalytic synthesis of polysaccharides and polyamides, and contributed to the development of PVDF-containing block copolymers. Her work combines advanced polymer synthesis with molecular self-assembly. She received DAAD scholarships and the Feodor Lynen Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.Her research has been recognized with major grants, including NWO VIDI (2009) and VICI (2014), and the DFG Eleonore Trefftz Professorship. She has received the Humboldt Research Award, IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry Award, NWO Team Science Award, and in 2023 was named Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. She is a Fellow of DPI and the RSC.