Researchers discover geometric movement pattern of grain boundaries

27 March 2026 – Grain boundaries determine how strong a material is: the more grain boundaries, the stronger the material. Grain boundaries move through a material, but how this movement works had until now remained unclear. Publication in Nature Physics.

How simple geometry gives rise to complex materials

3 February 2026 – The usual assumption is that such order requires complex causes, like electric charges, chemical reactions and finely tuned interactions between particles. Rodolfo Subert and Marjolein Dijkstra show that it can sometimes be much simpler. Publication in Nature Communication.

Marjolein Dijkstra wins the 2025 Physica Prize

9 January 2025 – The Physica Prize is the most prestigious award for physicists active in the Netherlands.

Spheres are (almost) always packed most efficiently as sausages

11 December 2023 – Physical experiments and computer simulations show how to pack a finite quantity of spheres in the most efficient way. Publication in Nature Communication.

Evidence at last for long-awaited new liquid crystal phase

1 December 2022 – The new phase makes the materials suitable for the further development of screens, sensors and coatings. Publication in Nature Communication.

Artificial intelligence inverse designs smart materials

19 January 2022 – Utrecht researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that takes an important step towards designing new materials more efficiently. Based on the desired characteristics of a material, the AI system determines which building blocks are needed to make such a material. Publication in Science Advances.

Marjolein Dijkstra receives NWO-ENW-klein grant

7 October 2020 – Let’s twist again: why colloidal bananas bend and pears splay.

Packing, geometry & entropy: unexpected crystallization of mixtures of spheres of two sizes in spherical confinement

31 August 2020 – Publication in Nature Physics.

Researchers discover a novel liquid crystal phase of banana-shaped particles

21 August 2020 – The new liquid crystals can switch their orientation under electric fields at ultra-fast speeds. The results are published today in Science.

Marjolein Dijkstra appointed as KNAW member

30 April 2020 – The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has selected eighteen new members, among which Utrecht physics researcher Marjolein Dijkstra.

2.5 Million Euros for research on making passive nanomaterials alive

30 March 2020 – Prof. Marjolein Dijkstra (Physics) has been granted an ERC Advanced Grant, annually granted to exceptional senior researchers.

Self-assembly of highly-porous crystalline particles into novel photonic materials for sensing applications

24 October 2017 – Researchers from Barcelona, Madrid and Utrecht have managed to construct nanoparticles that spontaneously assemble into structures with special properties. Publication in Nature Chemistry.

Chirality in liquid crystals driven by particle shape

12 April 2016 – Publication by Marjolein Dijkstra and Simone Dussi in Nature Communication.