ERC Starting Grant for Gosia Wlodarczyk-Biegun

Gosia Wlodarczyk-Biegun has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant . The European Research Council's (ERC) Starting Grants consist of €1.5 million, for a period of five years. The grants are meant for outstanding researchers with the aim of stimulating cutting-edge research in Europe.

Gosia Wlodarczyk-Biegun - Jam with the flow: Microgel-based (bio)inks that assemble during printing

Many materials found in nature, such as spider silk to mention the best-known example, have remarkable properties due to their unique structure achieved via the precise processing of material precursors. Inspired by this phenomenon, Gosia Wlodarczyk-Biegun will apply a similar principle in extrusion-based 3D printing to obtain new materials with interesting properties for medical applications. Extrusion 3D printing is a booming approach in tissue engineering allowing to build patient-specific constructs, including artificial tissues or organ mimics. However, a portfolio of advanced printable biomaterials is limited and new approaches are still needed.

In her project, Wlodarczyk-Biegun will develop a new type of material composed of gel microspheres that can change dimensions and interact together (jam) during printing. The printed constructs will closely resemble real tissues and will be used to study breast cancer progression.

Wlodarzcyk-Biegun is Rosalind Franklin Fellow. She was appointed to the RUG with funding from the sector plans: a structural strategic investment program in the Netherlands aimed at strengthening higher education and scientific research. The sector plans are designed to improve the quality of education and research and to promote cooperation between universities.

About ERC

The ERC wants to encourage promising young researchers in Europe to set up a research team and start an independent research project to facilitate possible cutting-edge research. An ERC grant allows the researchers to start their research project confidently.