The NSI group focuses on the fundamental and applied aspects of various Soft Matter interfaces with special emphasis on nanomedicine and biosensors.

• The research activities include development and characterization of various functional structures with interesting properties aimed towards biosensors and nanomedicine (bioimaging, drug delivery, contrast agents and theranostics). The group addresses fundamental and applied research questions employing concepts in biophysical chemistry and engineering.
• The group has expertise on the development of functionalized nanoparticles that are sensitive to single or multiple stimuli (exogenous such as light, temperature and endogenous triggers such as pH, enzymes, ROS, GSH etc.,). Responsive nanocarriers designed to sense the local environment offer an elegant route to sense the complex biological microenvironments and allow for detection and targeted therapy at the same time.
• The research interests includes also the study of structure-property relations of soft matter mixtures in confined geometry in the nanoscale with emphasis on the interfaces between the blend materials (e.g. active layer of a solar cell or polymer-drug/active ingredient).
• The interdisciplinary group has expertise in bottom-up (self-assembly, colloidal techniques) and top-down approaches, various surface engineering routes, molecularly imprinted polymers, electronic read-out techniques for sensing, and employs state-of-the art characterization tools to address the above-mentioned fields.

Within the nanomedicine research domain, the following topics are addressed:

• Nanoparticles/nanocapsules based therapies in the field of cancer, central nervous system, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
• Hybrid nanoparticles containing lipid structures
• Nano-bio interfaces focusing on nanoparticle-cell interactions
• Theranostics agents based on nanoparticles
• Conjugated polymer based nanoparticles for bioimaging
• Contrast agents for multi imaging modalities and therapy (microbubbles)

Within the biosensors research domain, the following topics are addressed:

• Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) based sensors for the detection of target molecules relevant to food, health, and environmental safety
• Intracellular sensors