Dr Verena Görtz

Curriculum Vitae

Name: Dr Verena Görtz Dr. rer. nat. Position: Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow Address: Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK Telephone: +44 (0)1904 434530 Fax: +44 (0)1904 432592 Email: vg501@york.ac.uk

Executive Summary

Verena Görtz developed a strong background in polymer and organic chemistry at the University of Mainz, Germany. Ever since her first-time exposure to liquid-crystals as a post-doctoral researcher in the UK, she is fascinated by the self-organising properties of these materials and the analogies to other soft, self-organising systems, such as polymers, colloids, and biological systems. Her current research interests, which are described in more detail on her departmental webpage, include the design and investigation of nano- and micron-sized polymer particles with liquid-crystalline properties for sensor applications and of bent-core compounds for the development of biaxial nematic materials.