Brigitte Voit facts for kids

Brigitte Voit, born in 1963 in Bayreuth, Germany, is a very important chemist and professor. She teaches about the chemistry of polymers at the TU Dresden. She also leads the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research (IPF Dresden) in Dresden. For many years, from 2002 to 2022, she was also a key leader at the IPF Dresden.

Brigitte Voit's Journey in Science

Brigitte Voit started her science journey by studying chemistry at the University of Bayreuth from 1982 to 1987. She earned her PhD, which is a very high university degree, with special honors in 1990. During her PhD studies, she even got to visit and do research at the University of Arizona in the USA.

After her PhD, she worked as a researcher at the famous Eastman Kodak company's labs in New York. Later, in 1996, she completed another important academic step called "habilitation" at the Technical University of Munich. This allowed her to become a full professor.

In 1997, Brigitte Voit became a full professor at the TU Dresden. At the same time, she also became the head of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research in Dresden. This means she leads a big team of scientists who study polymers.

Leading Important Research Projects

Brigitte Voit is a main researcher in two special science groups called "Clusters of Excellence." These groups are recognized by the German government for their amazing research.

• One group is the "Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden" (CRTD). This center works on new ways to heal the body.
• The other is the "Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden" (CfAED). This group focuses on making new and better electronic devices.

From 2011 to 2017, she was a speaker for a big science group called the Leibniz Association. She helped guide research in math, natural sciences, and engineering. Since 2015, she has also been in charge of the Materials Research Network Dresden (MFD).

Helping Science Grow

Brigitte Voit is a member of important groups that decide which science projects get funding. She helps the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the European Research Council (ERC) choose promising new research.

She also helps guide many science magazines about chemistry, like Angewandte Chemie. She is part of the team that advises all the big journals about polymers published by Wiley.

Brigitte Voit is also on the boards of several foundations, like the Georg-Manecke foundation and the Karl Heinz Beckurts foundation. These foundations support science and research. She also helps guide important organizations like the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing and the DECHEMA, which is a German society for chemical engineering.

Awards and Honors

In 2017, Brigitte Voit received the "Sächsicher Verdienstorden." This is a special award from the German state of Saxony for her great contributions. In 2018, she was given the Hermann Staudinger Award by the German Chemical Society (GDCh). This award honors scientists who have done amazing work with polymers.

What Brigitte Voit Researches

Brigitte Voit's research focuses on many different areas of polymer science. Polymers are like long chains of small molecules linked together. Plastics are a common example of polymers.

She works on:

• Dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers: These are special types of polymers that look like tiny trees or branches.
• Optical and thermo-sensitive polymer materials: These are materials that can change when light or heat touches them.
• Graft and block copolymers: These are polymers made from different types of building blocks, creating unique structures.
• Nanostructure formation: She studies how to create tiny, organized structures using polymers.
• Responsive and bioactive polymers: These polymers can react to their environment or work with living things.
• Hydrogels: These are jelly-like materials that can hold a lot of water. They are used in things like contact lenses and even in medicine.
• Polymers for microelectronics and organic electronics: She also researches how to use polymers to make tiny electronic parts and flexible electronic devices.