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Biographical sketch of Raffaele Mezzenga

Raffaele Mezzenga received his master degree (Summa Cum Laude) from Perugia University, Italy, in Materials Science and Engineering, while actively working for the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) and NASA on elementary particle-polymer interactions (NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS91). In 2001 he obtained a PhD in the field of Polymer Physics from EPFL Lausanne, focusing on the thermodynamics of reactive polymer blends. He then spent 2001-2002 as a postdoctoral scientist at University of California, Santa Barbara, working on the self-assembly of polymer colloids. In 2003 he moved to the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne as research scientist, working on the self-assembly of surfactants, natural amphiphiles and lyotropic liquid crystals. In 2005 he was hired as Associate Professor in the Physics Department of the University of Fribourg, and he then joined ETH Zurich in 2009 as Full Professor.

His research focuses on the fundamental understanding of self-assembly processes in polymers, lyotropic liquid crystals, food and biological colloidal systems. He has made seminal contributions to several fields of soft condensed matter such as in protein aggregation, biopolymers and surfactants self-organisation and he has pioneered the use of protein-based materials in the establishment of new technologies for environmental remediation, health and advanced materials design. Prof. Mezzenga has been a visiting Professor from Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University), RMIT And Monash University (Melbourne), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), University of Cagliari and La Sapienza University. He has been recipient of several international distinctions such as the 2011 AOCS Young Scientist Research Award [citation: "For his pioneering work on polymers, colloids and liquid crystals"], the 2011 John H. Dillon Medal and the 2017 Fellowship of the American Physical Society [citation: "For exceptional contributions to the understanding of self-assembly principles and their use to design and control materials with targeted functionalities"], and the Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules 2013 Young Investigator Award of the American Chemical Society [citation: “In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the fundamental understanding of self-assembly processes in polymers and biological colloidal systems”].
 

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