Soft Materials @ Liverpool

The Group

Postdoctoral Researchers

Gregor

Gregor Miklosic completed his BEng in Biomedical Engineering at Queen Mary University of London in 2018, before going on to pursue an MSc in Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London. He undertook his MSc research project within the Stevens group. He then undertook his doctoral studies between the AO Institute in Davos and ETH Zürich, within the group of Matteo D’Este. Since July 2025, Gregor has been a Postdoctoral Research Associate working across the Forth Group and the Soft Materials group at the University of Liverpool, where he works as part of the EU Horizon-funded GreenNanoBone project on AI-accelerated biomaterials design. His research sits at the intersection of digital chemistry, biomaterials, and mechanobiology, with a particular focus on exploiting fundamental mechanobiological principles in engineered hydrogel systems to advance musculoskeletal tissue engineering.

PhD Students

Joe

Joe Bathe completed his MChem at the University of Liverpool in 2023, undertaking his master’s research project in materials science with Dr Tom McDonald. Following a period in industry working in polymer materials science, he began his PhD at the University of Liverpool in January 2024, supervised by Dr Katarzyna Gurzawska-Comis with co-supervision from Dr Will Sharratt and Dr Joseph Forth. Working primarily across the Forth Group and the Soft Materials group, he also contributes to the EU Horizon-funded GreenNanoBone project, where he works as a Research Associate. His research centres on the chemical modification of biopolymers for injectable and dental applications, combining experimental materials chemistry with data-driven approaches to formulation design.

Mylo

Mylo Bishop completed their MEng in Bioengineering at the University of Sheffield in June 2023 Their masters project with Dr Chris Holland aimed to develop an open-source system to mimic physiological environments during tensile testing of biomaterials. They later started a PhD at the University of Liverpool in October 2024, Jointly supervised with Dr Esther García-Tuñón (Complex Fluids Group). Their current work focuses on characterisation of multi-material granular hydrogel bioinks for 3D printed tissue repair. Specifically, Mylo aims to characterise the relationship between granular hydrogel characteristics and their macroscale flow properties through the use of rheomicroscopy.

Arden

Arden Williams completed her MEng in Materials Science and Engineering at The University of Manchester in Summer 2025, where her Masters project with Dr Stephen Edmonson focused on Direct Ink Writing for soft robotics. She started her PhD at the University of Liverpool in October of the same year within the Complex Fluids and Soft Materials Groups. Her current research focuses on characterising and visualising the rheological and flow behaviour of yield‑stress fluids used in Direct Ink Writing. By advancing the fundamental understanding of these materials, her work aims to enhance printability and guide more effective ink selection across a broad range of DIW applications.

Shaurya

Shaurya Aneja completed a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry from the University of Delhi in 2023, followed by an M.Sc. in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore in 2025, where her research focused on hydrogels and she was selected to attend the 74th Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting in Chemistry. She joined the Complex Fluids and Soft Materials Groups in January 2026. Her current work explores lyotropic liquid crystals through combined experimental and computational approaches, with an emphasis on structure-flow relationships by connecting bulk and microscopic dynamic behaviours for advanced material processing and additive manufacturing.

Evanthe

Evanthe Arnold-Lockwood completed her MChem with a Years Research in Industry at the University of Liverpool in 2024. During her degree, master’s project with the Slater Group, and industrial work at Unilever, Pfizer and Avient Corporation, she has developed a strong interest in materials chemistry, particularly in flow chemistry, polymers and healthcare technologies. In October 2026, Evanthe began her PhD as part of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital and Automated Materials Chemistry at the University of Liverpool (primarily supervised by Dr Steven Street). Her current research focuses on developing an autonomous continuous-flow platform for the discovery, production, and optimisation of precision polymeric nanomaterials.

Minsun

Minsun Hwang completed her B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering at Dankook University and went on to work as a researcher at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT). She began her PhD at the University of Liverpool in October 2026, working with Dr. Anders Aufderhorst-Roberts and the Soft Materials group. By combining rheo-dialysis, SAXS, and machine learning, she aims to understand how the structure and flow behaviour of polymer-surfactant formulations (e.g., shampoo) respond to changing environments and to establish new design rules for these systems.

Anna-Léna

Anna-Léna completed a double degree in Summer 2026, earning an MEng in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from CPE Lyon alongside an M.Sc. in Chemistry and Formulation Engineering – Cosmetics and Fragrance from Centrale Lille. Her master’s project at L’Oréal focused on investigating the root causes of color and texture drifts in cosmetic products, where she combined microscopy with rheology and spectrocolorimetry protocols. In November 2026, she began her PhD at the University of Liverpool in partnership with Unilever, working within the Soft Materials and Forth Groups. Her current research focuses on understanding the molecular and structural mechanisms governing interactions between worm-like micelles (WLMs) and emulsified oil phases in isotropic liquid formulations. By combining formulation science, scattering techniques, advanced microscopy, rheology, and AI/ML approaches, her work aims to elucidate why certain systems exhibit oil tolerance while others destabilise, guiding the molecular design of next-generation, sustainable liquid formulations for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

Masters Students

  • Morgan Westbarton
  • Anna Fowewe-Holt

UG Students

  • Hassan Ahmed M A Al-Mohannadi
  • Oliver Bathurst
  • Finley Davies
  • Aidan Jones
  • Hassan Yousef
  • Onanefe Obodo
  • Kirtana Pillay
  • Elyn Soong

Alumni

Masters Students:
UG Students: