Job Boekhoven

Short CV

Boekhoven holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Groningen, where he majored in organic chemistry, and a PhD degree (2012) in chemistry from Delft University of Technology, both in the Netherlands. Before his appointment at TUM, he was a Rubicon postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University in Chicago. In January 2016, Boekhoven was appointed as Rudolf Mößbauer Professor at TUM, heading a research group in supramolecular chemistry. 

Selected Awards

• 2021, Speaker of the TUM Innovation Networks: RISE
• 2020, Volkswagenstiftung “Life?” fellowship
• 2019, ERC starting grant
• 2019, Member of the Origins cluster of Excellence
• 2018, Max Planck Fellow in the school "Matter to Life”

Research Interests

It amazes me how biology creates structures like the cell using the molecular toolboxes that we also have at our dispense. Inspired by biology’s complexity and beauty, the aim of my work is to create artificial cells and set steps towards the first synthetic life. To do so, we create molecular assemblies driven by simple chemical reaction cycles, just like biology does. The motivation is to better understand biology, create materials with life-like properties, and get a better understanding of the events that led to the origin of life. 

Selected Publications

• C. Donau, F. Späth, M. Sosson, B.. Kriebisch, F. Schnitter, M. Tena-Solsona,  H.-S. Kang, E. Salibi,  M. Sattler, H. Mutschler, J. Boekhoven, Nature Commun. 2020, 11 (1), 5167.
  We found the first example of coacervate-based droplets based on polymers that are “active”, i.e., they are regulated through energy-consuming chemical reactions.
• M. Tena-Solsona, B. Rieß, C. Wanzke, A. Bausch, J. Boekhoven, Nature Commun. 2018, 9, 2044.
  My team found the first synthetic active droplets based on prebiotic relevant chemistry.
• M. Tena-Solsona,* B. Rieß,* R. Grötsch, F. Löhrer, C. Wanzke, B. Käsdorf, A. Bausch, P. Mueller-Buschbaum, O. Lieleg, J. Boekhoven Nature Commun. 2017, 8, 15895.
  We describe a simple, yet versatile chemical reaction cycle based on dicarboxylate-anhydride chemistry that induces dissipative self-assembly.