Tine Curk

Tine Curk is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He is also a member of the Institute for NanoBio Technology (INBT), Data Science and AI institute (DSAI) and holds a courtesy appointment in the department Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins. Tine earned a BS and MS in physics from the University of Maribor in 2012 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Cambridge (advised by Daan Frenkel) in 2016. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (advised by Jure Dobnikar) and Northwestern University (advised by Erik Luijten), before moving to Johns Hopkins in 2023. His academic awards include the Herchel Smith scholarship, CAS President’s postdoctoral fellowship, and Marie Curie fellowship.

Research projects: Our research focuses on the theory and computational modeling of soft materials. We enjoy applying the tools of statistical mechanics and molecular simulations to understand intriguing phenomena emerging from many interacting components. Practical applications include designing functional soft materials and biomaterials and exploring charge–structure relationships at the nanoscale. Current projects focus on the self-assembly of lipid nanoparticles for RNA delivery, understanding multivalent interactions, and designing soft actuators (“artificial muscles”) and intelligent soft materials that can process information (“artificial brain”). More info about the research projects can be found on the lab webpage.