Daniela Kraft elected Fellow of the American Physical Society
Daniela Kraft, Professor of Experimental Physics at Leiden University, has been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in recognition of her groundbreaking research at the interface of physics and biology.
Kraft receives the award for her creative experiments with tiny, micrometre-sized particles. She uses these particles as simple model systems to investigate physical principles that play a role in biological systems. This approach allows her to study processes that are difficult to observe directly in more complex biological systems.
The jury particularly highlights her pioneering research into how tiny particles interact when they deform a cell membrane. These membrane deformations can cause the particles to attract one another or arrange themselves in unexpected ways.
Kraft: ‘I am truly delighted and honoured to receive this recognition. While my research on soft materials and robots tends to attract more attention, this more biological side of my work is just as close to my heart. It continues to yield fascinating new insights, and there are still many open questions that we are eager to explore.’
About the APS Fellowship
Election as an APS Fellow is an honor reserved for only half a percent of the membership. The APS Fellowship is a prestigious distinction that recognizes excellence in physics and exceptional contributions to the physics community. Daniela Kraft was elected a Fellow by the Division of Biological Physics of the American Physical Society (APS).
Previous physicists from Leiden appointed as APS Fellows in recent decades include Wim van Saarloos (2007), Carlo Beenakker (2020), Jan Aarts (2020), and Martin van Hecke (2021).