Rudolf Mößbauer Tenure Track Professor Job Boekhoven (Supramolecular Chemistry, TUM) is among the three TUM scientists who won ERC Consolidator Grants in 2023. This is already Job’s second ERC Grant after already securing an ERC Starting Grant for his proposal ActiDrops in 2019.
In his project SynLife, Job Boekhoven wants to create synthetic life by researching so-called active droplets. These tiny droplets made of insoluble molecules exhibit life-like behavior: they only form when external energy is supplied and can multiply by dividing with sufficient energy. NASA defines life as a self-sustaining system capable of Darwinian evolution. In order to fulfill these criteria, Job Boekhoven wants to develop molecules that form a kind of genetic material. They are intended to influence properties such as the lifespan of the droplets, are passed on when a droplet divides, and can, in new ways, mutate and lead to new properties. Such artificial evolution could not only help to provide insights into the origins of life but also make Darwinian evolution usable as a tool for the design of new materials.
More information on the new Consolidator Grants can be found here.
At IAS, we are particularly pleased to be able to say that Job’s Consolidator Grant SynLife was facilitated by the preliminary data obtained through RISE, the TUM Innovation Network that Job co-leads.