Prof. Karine Glinel is a Senior Research Associate from Belgian FNRS. She received her PhD degree in Polymer Chemistry in 1999 from the University of Rouen (France). From 1999 to 2002, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at UCLouvain (Belgium) then at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Potsdam, Germany). In 2002, she was awarded a full time CNRS Researcher position in Rouen (France). In 2009, she moved to UCLouvain first as FNRS MIS-ULYSSE fellow then she became permanent FNRS researcher. In 2007 and 2016, she spent one year in the Chemistry Department of the University of Cambridge (UK) and one year in the Langer Lab in MIT (USA), respectively, as visiting scholar. She is currently group leader in the Bio and Soft Matter division of the Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences (UCLouvain) where she develops  biofunctional surfaces and cell encapsulation approaches to control bacterial and mammalian cell processes such as proliferation, secreting activity, cell differentiation, etc.

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Prof. Pascal Hols, established as Research Director of the FNRS within UCLouvain, is an expert in the field of lactic acid bacteria (Gram-positive bacteria) with more than a hundred scientific articles published in top-ranked journals. His laboratory is part of the research group of Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms (BGM) within the LIBST institute, which brings together several renowned researchers with whom he collaborates for their complementary expertise in (bio)chemistry, microscopy, and mass spectrometry. Its various research themes focus on obtaining a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern natural transformation (horizontal gene transfer) and its associated production of bacteriocins (antibacterial peptides) in streptococci, lactococci and lactobacilli, three bacterial genera of general interest for human health. In parallel, Prof. Hols conducts cutting-edge research on the structure and activation mechanisms of atypical proteins as well as on the biosynthesis/degradation of the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria. 

Alain Jonas is full professor of polymer science at UCLouvain. His core expertise is in the physics and physical chemistry of macromolecules and organic coatings, with a focus on self-assembly processes.
This includes the study of the crystallization, structure and properties of long chain molecules for structural and functional applications, including catalysis; the study of the physical chemistry of surfaces, interfaces and thin films; the study of interactions between materials and living organisms; and the use of controlled assembly at the sub-micrometer scale. Recent applications of his research are functional precision polymers capable of catalysis and self-assembly, stimuli-responsive polymer layers, bacterial entrapment, self-cleaning and/or superhydrophobic surfaces, and nanopatterned ferroelectric and magnetoelectric devices.

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