Patrick Onck

Patrick Onck is a Full Professor of Micromechanics at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen. His research focuses on understanding the mechanical and functional behavior of biological materials using computational techniques like molecular dynamics and finite element modeling. He leads a team studying transport through the nuclear pore complex, protein phase separation in neurodegenerative diseases, and bio-inspired soft robotics.

Onck holds a PhD in Applied Mechanics from Delft University of Technology (1998) and completed postdoctoral research at Harvard University. He has held positions at TU Delft and the University of Groningen since 2001, advancing to Full Professor in 2012. His work bridges atomistic and macroscopic scales, with applications in medicine and materials science.

Key research areas include:

• Biophysical mechanisms of cellular transport
• Mechanics of disordered proteins in ALS and Huntington’s disease
• Magneto-responsive soft materials for microfluidics and robotics

His recent articles explore magnetic soft robotics, artificial cilia, and nuclear pore dynamics. He serves on editorial boards of Extreme Mechanics Letters and International Journal of Molecular Sciences, and is an active member of IUTAM. Awards include KNAW Research Fellowships (1998–2000 and 2001–2002).

Labs/Groups: Onck Research Group at the Zernike Institute focuses on multiscale modeling and bio-inspired design. Collaborations include the UMCG in Groningen for neurodegenerative disease studies.