About the Speaker's

Interactions between interfaces dictate stimuli-responsive emulsion behaviour

Marcel Ray, University of Münster

Marcel Rey is a Junior Professor in Physical Chemistry at the University of Münster. He received his PhD in 2019 from the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Following postdoctoral positions at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Gothenburg, he was appointed to his current position at the University of Münster in 2024. His research focuses on colloidal soft matter systems and liquid interfaces. He is particularly interested in understanding and modifying the interactions between individual soft matter building blocks, which are crucial for advancing the knowledge and development of soft material systems such as emulsions, suspensions, and self-assembled materials.

Decoding the interplay between particle attributes, interfacial rheology, and Pickering foam performance

Sepideh Razavi, The University of Oklahoma, USA

Sepideh Razavi is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Prior to joining OU in 2018, she received postdoctoral training in Prof. Michael Solomon’s group at University of Michigan (2015-2017) and a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the City College of New York (2010-2015) under the supervision of Prof. Ilona Kretzschmar. She is a recipient of the ACS-PRF Doctoral New Investigator award (2020), the NSF CAREER award (2022), and the Susan Mallinson Early Career Professorship (2024). Her research efforts are focused on understanding and engineering the behaviour of multicomponent fluidic systems near surfaces and interfaces to address the basic research needs faced by the energy, environment, and human health.

Sustainable plant-derived particles at liquid-liquid interfaces

Anwesha Sarkar, University of Leeds, UK

Anwesha Sarkar is Professor of Colloids and Surfaces and director of Research and Innovation at the University of Leeds, UK. Prof. Sarkar received her PhD from Massey University, New Zealand and worked in Nestlé Research Centre and Nestlé Global Headquarters in Switzerland for 4 years before joining the University of Leeds in 2014. She focuses on understanding of the behavior of biodegradable particles at liquid-liquid interfaces structure and their structural transformation during biophysical processing for applications in food, healthcare, and allied soft materials. To date, Prof. Sarkar has published more than 120 international research articles and 10 edited book chapters (H-index: 51, Citations: +8000, Google Scholar) and is the co-inventor of 7 worldwide patents. Prof. Sarkar was awarded the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Food Group Junior Medal, UK (2019) and has been recognized by the 2021 Women of Achievement Awards at the University of Leeds for her recent contribution on food structuring that has led to scientific breakthroughs in the design of innovative colloidal structures, addressing global health challenges. She serves as an Editorial Board Member of journals Biotribology, Food Hydrocolloids, Food Hydrocolloids for Health, Food Structure, Journal of Texture Studies and Tribology Letters and is a regular keynote speaker in major national and international conferences.

Interactions between sterically stabilized particles at a water-oil interface

Job Thijssen, The University of Edinburgh, UK

My research focusses on the physics and applications of soft materials. My current research interests include colloidal crystals (for energy applications), droplets (including the coffee-ring effect), bijels, particles at liquid interfaces, and (interfacial) rheology. I also have an interest in particle and materials characterization including confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, image analysis, machine learning, spectroscopy and (light) scattering. Past collaborative projects include interfaces in energy materials (MISE) and equality, diversity and inclusion in STEM (Inclusion Matters eBase). Current collaborations include forensics (evaporation of blood droplets) and knowledge exchange with industry on formulation i.e. bespoke design of complex fluids (ECFP).

Elliptical particles at liquid interfaces: from self-assembly to drying behaviour

Nicolas Vogel, Friedrich Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

Nicolas Vogel studied chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz. In 2011, he received his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany. After a postdoctoral research stay at Harvard University, he was appointed associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg in 2014. His research interests gravitate around colloid and interface sciences. His group applies colloidal chemistry and self-organization to create hierarchically structured materials in two and three dimensions. The research combines a fundamental understanding of the physics of self-organization processes with an interest in the emergent properties of structured materials.