Rate My Professor Nicolas Voelcker

Professor Nicolas Voelcker is a Professor (Research) in the Drug Delivery, Disposition and Dynamics theme at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences within the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash University. He concurrently serves as Scientific Director of the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, Science Leader at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Theme Leader at the ARC Training Centre for Cell and Tissue Engineering Technologies, and Deputy Director (Translation) and Monash Node Leader at the ARC Centre for Personalised Therapeutics Technologies. Voelcker obtained his BSc from the University of Saarland in 1993, MSc from RWTH Aachen in 1995, and PhD in polymer surface chemistry from the DWI Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials in 1999. He conducted postdoctoral research in bio-organic chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. His academic career began as Lecturer at Flinders University in 2001, progressing to Associate Professor in 2006 and Full Professor in 2008, during which he was Associate Head of the Faculty of Science and Engineering from 2008 to 2011. In 2012, he joined the Mawson Institute at the University of South Australia as Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science, serving as Deputy Director from 2013 to 2015. He also led the Program for the Cooperative Research Centre for Cell Therapy Manufacturing from 2013 to 2015 and was Node Leader for the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology from 2014 to 2017. Since February 2017, he has held his current leadership roles at Monash University and CSIRO.

Voelcker's research focuses on the fabrication and surface modification of porous semiconductor materials, particularly silicon-based nanostructures, and their applications in biosensors, biochips, biomaterials, drug delivery, and regenerative medicine. He has authored over 470 peer-reviewed journal articles, garnering more than 18,000 citations with an h-index of 62, and holds over 40 patents, several leading to licensing deals and the establishment of five start-up companies in cell therapy, drug delivery, and diagnostics. His contributions have been recognized with the Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship in 2022, Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, Humboldt Research Award, Tall Poppy Science Award, and fellowships from the German Research Foundation, CSIRO, and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He has served on the College of Experts of the Australian Research Council.