Gijs Wuite PhD

Gijs Wuite teaches Physical Biology of the Cell at AUC. He also is a professor of physics of life processes at the department of physics and astronomy and Program Director of Physics at the VU University Amsterdam, where he teaches several courses at bachelor and master level. He obtained his PhD in biophysics under supervision of Prof. C. Bustamante (UC Berkeley, USA) in 2000. In his dissertation work he pioneered single-molecule biophysics on molecular motors moving on DNA. Since 2001 he leads a successful group that focuses on applying physics tool and methods to quantify biological phenomena.

His Areas of research include DNA mechanics, DNA-proteins interactions and biophysical/biomechanical properties of viral capsids. His work has appeared in journals such as Nature, Science, PNAS and Physical Review Letters. But probably the clearest signs of recognition of his scientific standing are his election as member of the Young Academy (2009), an independent platform of young top scientists within the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), his VICI award for which he was ranked first among physicist in 2008 and the award of a prestigious ERC-starting grant in 2010.