• © 2017–2026 Jan Lagerwall and the ESMP Group 0

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Welcome to the ESMP Group!

We focus on nano- and microscale self-assembly processes in colloids, liquid crystals, and polymers, along with their applications in innovative contexts like in wearable technology and soft robotics. The ESMP group is led by Prof. Jan Lagerwall in the Department of Physics and Materials Science at the University of Luxembourg. We are interested in all fascinating aspects of soft matter (indeed, there are many!), but most of our research activities deal with liquid crystal formation in one way or another. This is the reason for our group's name and our website domain: lcsoftmatter.


Recent Publications

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Oligomer-Derived Photoresponsive Liquid Crystal Elastomers with Biocompatible Operating Temperature
Najiya & Jan P. F. Lagerwall, Advanced Optical Materials (2025)
DOI: 10.1002/adom.202500160
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Circularly Polarized Structural Color Pigments Tunable Across the Full Visible Spectrum
Deniz Işınsu Avşar & Jan P. F. Lagerwall, Advanced Optical Materials (2026)
DOI: 10.1002/adom.202503818
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Orientational ordering benefits nanorod sonication
Zornitza P. Tosheva & Jan P. F. Lagerwall, Physical Review Materials (2026)
DOI: 10.1103/9rny-g949
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Electrospun fibers with axially polarized ferroelectric nematic core
Tom Ott, Pierre Nacke, Betül Küçüköz, George Zograf, Timur Shegai, Frank Giesselmann, Jan P. F. Lagerwall, & Per Rudquist, npj Soft Matter (2026)
DOI: 10.1038/s44431-026-00030-z

Recent News

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New Ph.D. position open
in the ALCEMIST project!
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New Publication in
npj Soft Matter!
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ESMP goes to the 30th International Liquid Crystal Conference!
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ESMP at the 2026 Fiber Society Conference
From September 2010 to February 2014, the group was called the Soft Nano- & Microstructures Group and it was located at the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, part of Seoul National University, in Suwon, South Korea. The group started out as the Liquid Crystals and Nanocomposites Group in Halle, Germany, at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Chemistry - Physical Chemistry, its home from September 2007 to August 2010. So technically this means the group (after a few iterations) is almost two decades old. :-)


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ESMP Group, December 2025




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