Prof Christopher Barner-Kowollik

International Scientific Advisory Committee

A graduate in chemistry from Göttingen University, Germany, Christopher joined the University of New South Wales in early 2000 rising to lead the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design in 2006 as one of its directors. He returned to Germany to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2008, where he established and led a German Research Council-funded Centre of Excellence in soft matter synthesis and served as the Head of School of the School of Chemical Technology and Polymer Chemistry at the KIT. Following a period as an adjunct professor and collaborator with QUT, he moved to QUT in early 2017 and established QUT’s Soft Matter Materials Laboratory, now one of the world’s premier macromolecular laboratories. Over this 24-year career to date, he attracted over $50M in funding from the German Research Council, the Helmholtz Association, the Australian Research Council and the private sector. He has developed and supported highly collaborative large teams, often across continents. He authored over 780 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals (cited over 46 000 times) and was plenary and invited speaker at over 260 conferences. Christopher’s research achievements have been recognised by an array of national and international awards including the coveted Centenary Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Belgian Polymer Medal, the United Kingdom Macro Medal as well as national awards by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, the Royal Society of New South Wales, an ARC Professorial Fellowship and an Laureate Fellowship. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.