Erik van der Giessen

Prof. Dr. Ir. Erik van der Giessen is a Professor at the University of Groningen, leading the Micromechanics group within the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials. His research spans multiple disciplines including mechanical engineering, materials science, biophysics, and computational modeling, with a focus on mechanical behavior at micro and nanoscales.

Van der Giessen's research primarily focuses on three interconnected areas: biophysics (particularly nuclear pore complex and cellular mechanics), discrete dislocation plasticity, and polymer blends and nano-composites. His work in biophysics, conducted in collaboration with the Onck group, investigates fundamental cellular processes including transport through the nuclear pore complex, cytoskeleton structure-property relations, protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases, and viral fusion mechanisms. His discrete dislocation plasticity research provides size-dependent descriptions of plastic deformation at microscales, studying phenomena in thin films, micro/nano pillars, surface contact and friction, and fracture processes. His polymer research examines deformation mechanisms and fracture processes in polymer composites with micrometer or nanometer fillers.

A common theme across all research areas is size dependence, with the principle that "smaller is harder" in mechanical behavior at reduced scales. The group employs computational techniques including molecular dynamics, dislocation dynamics, Monte Carlo methods, and finite element methods. Recent publications (2022-2025) show continued innovation in applying machine learning to materials science, investigating nuclear transport mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases, and advancing fundamental understanding of size effects in mechanical properties.

Van der Giessen has mentored numerous PhD students who have established successful academic careers, including L. Nicola (University of Padova), S.S. Shishvan (University of Tabriz), and H. Song (Johns Hopkins University). His research has been supported by various national and international collaborations, including significant work with Harvard University researchers on thin film mechanics.

The Van der Giessen group maintains strong interdisciplinary connections, creating a research environment that bridges engineering, physics, and biology. Their computational approaches have provided physical understanding for size effects observed in experiments and have generated predictive models for various mechanical phenomena at micro and nanoscales.