Wilson group philosophy

The Wilson group investigates smart functional materials and their application in non-equilibrium systems obtained from the self-assembly of simple synthetic building blocks with unique properties with the aim to create dynamic, responsive and adaptive nanosystems able to control their motion, directionality, speed and behaviour. The function and properties emerging from non-equilibrium systems open up new applications in multiple areas ranging from biomedicine to nanotechnology.
The group focuses on three areas of research: the design of new polymeric materials utilising controlled polymerisation techniques, the utilisation of functional polymers to design synthetic motile systems and the translation of motile systems into the clinic. With these systems, we are tackling one of the most fundamental unresolved challenges in nanomotor research: “The Fantastic Voyage” – application of nanomotors for targeted drug delivery and diagnostics where nanomotors are able to actively seek and precisely locate tumour tissues by following a concentration gradient provided by the tumour signalling molecules.