chemistry

Nathalie Katsonis

Nathalie Katsonis is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nathalie Katsonis rather than just read about it. In short: Nathalie Helene Katsonis (born 22 February 1978 in Vienna, Austria) is a Professor of Active Molecular Systems at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen. In 2016 she was awarded the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society Gold Medal.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Nathalie Helene Katsonis (born 22 February 1978 in Vienna, Austria) is a Professor of Active Molecular Systems at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen. In 2016 she was awarded the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society Gold Medal.

Early life and education Katsonis was born in Vienna. She grew up in Orsay, in Paris Region. She is half French and half Greek. She studied chemical engineering at the Chimie ParisTech, before moving to Ecole Normal Superieure for her graduate studies with Ludovic Jullien. Katsonis earned her doctoral degree at the Pierre and Marie Curie University. She worked on nanoscale probes of two dimensional molecular self-assemblies with Denis Fichou. She joined the research group of Ben Feringa at the University of Groningen, where she worked on self-assembly of motors and switches. Whilst at Groningen Katsonis developed scanning probe microscopy for the determination of molecular chirality.

Research and career Katsonis joined the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in 2007 and started to work on light-responsive chiral liquid crystals. She was made a Group Leader at the University of Groningen and held a visiting position at KU Leuven. In 2012 she was awarded a Royal Society International Exchange grant to work with Steve Fletcher on light responsive polymers. Katsonis proposed the materials could be used for microfluidics or soft robotics. Her research is inspired by nature, where helical structures are often created for movement. She moved to the University of Twente in 2013, and was promoted to Professor in 2016. She returned to the University of Groningen as Professor of Active Molecular Systems in 2020. Katsonis has worked on squishy light responsive materials, which can convert light energy into mechanical work. She demonstrated that it is possible to switch between left and right-handed helixes in cholesteric liquid crystals using light. She has also showed that it is possible to use twisted liquid crystals as organising templates to design self-assemblies of superparamagnetic nanoparticles. In 2017 she was awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Grant in nanotechnology. Her recent work has been concerned with unravelling the molecular origin of purposeful motion, both in space and time at the nanoscale.

Awards and honours Her awards and honours include;

2012 European Research Council Starting Grant 2012 University of Twente De Winter Prize 2014 Elected to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Young Academy 2016 Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research Athena Award 2016 Elected a member of the Global Young Academy 2016 Elected to the Council for Physics and Chemistry 2017 Royal Netherlands Chemical Society Gold Medal 2018 European Research Council Consolidator Grant 2021 Elected member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) 2022 Professor Werdelmann Lectureship of the University of Duisburg-Essen 2024 Sauvage-Stoddart-Feringa Senior Prize for Molecular Machines 2025 The Ammodo Science Award

Selected publications Her publications include;

Eelkema, Rienk; Katsonis, Nathalie; Feringa, Ben (2006). "Molecular machines: nanomotor rotates microscale objects" (PDF). Nature. 440 (7081): 163. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..163E. doi:10.1038/440163a. PMID 16525460. S2CID 4384254. Kudernac, Tibor; Katsonis, Nathalie; Feringa, Ben (2011). "Electrically driven directional motion of a four-wheeled molecule on a metal surface". Nature. 479 (7372): 208–11. Bibcode:2011Natur.479..208K. doi:10.1038/nature10587. hdl:11370/9fad779e-2a93-4927-8750-7a197ecea952. PMID 22071765. S2CID 6175720. Katsonis, Nathalie; Kudernac, Tibor; Feringa, Ben (2006). "Reversible conductance switching of single diarylethenes on a gold surface". Advanced Materials. 18 (11): 1397–1400. Bibcode:2006AdM....18.1397K. doi:10.1002/adma.200600210. S2CID 94100738. Iamsaard, Supitchaya; Fletcher, Stephen; Katsonis, Nathalie (2014). "Conversion of light into macroscopic helical motion". Nature Chemistry. 6 (3): 229–35. Bibcode:2014NatCh...6..229I. doi:10.1038/nchem.1859. hdl:11370/dbe14fb1-8781-4ea6-b37a-db0e9aab0863. PMID 24557138. S2CID 205292584. Alexander Ryabchun, Federico Lancia, Nathalie Katsonis (2023). "Light‐Responsive Springs from Electropatterned Liquid Crystal Polymer Networks" Advanced Optical Materials. 11: 2300358. https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202300358

Academic service Katsonis serves on the Nature Travel Grants panel. She is an Editor of the journals Communications Chemistry and ChemPhotoChem.

Personal life Katsonis is in partnership with Tibor Kudernac and has three children.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nathalie Katsonis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nathalie Katsonis claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nathalie Katsonis before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nathalie Katsonis ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nathalie Katsonis

In research: Nathalie Katsonis appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nathalie Katsonis in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nathalie Katsonis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1978 births, Academic staff of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Academic staff of the University of Groningen, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nathalie Katsonis outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nathalie Katsonis in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nathalie Katsonis means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nathalie Katsonis out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nathalie Katsonis in simple terms?

Why does Nathalie Katsonis matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nathalie Katsonis?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nathalie Katsonis.