Giulia Magnabosco

PostDoctoral Fellow & Science Communicator

Giulia Magnabosco

I’m a postdoctoral researcher with a background in the design of bioinspired inorganic materials for functional applications. My main research interest is applying the strategies found in Nature to obtain novel materials with potential impact on everyday life problems.
I am also passionate about sharing science with the young public using digital media, as well developing new activities to raise interest on STEM disciplines. I do that leading a project that answers the question "what is color and why should you care?". Read more here.

Current Research Interests

Science Communication

Disseminating scientific results to a diverse audience is itself a part of doing science.
I communicate scientific content using digital media appealing to a young audience, such as short video productions and digital art. I also enjoy taking part in scientific outreach events for students, and developing new experiments and outreach concepts to help them understand science and become excited about STEM disciplines.

Bioinspired colloidal-templated materials

Nanostructured materials are widespread in nature and are an invaluable source of inspiration for scientists. Among them, periodic porous materials are often responsible for structural coloration, as observed in butterfly wings and beetle shells. An approach to mimic such structures is to exploit colloidal templating to generate ordered, interconnected porous materials, named inverse opals. In my research, I focus on using inverse opals for applications much beyond pigments to create new materials that exploit both coloration and the interconnected periodicity.

Resume

Science Communicator

Work Experience

2024 - Current

Friedrich–Alexander University Erlangen–Nürnberg

Project Leader

Project Ö: Science dissemination of CRC1411

2020 - Current

Friedrich–Alexander University Erlangen–Nürnberg

PostDoctoral Fellow

Advisor: Prof. Nicolas Vogel

2018-2019

University of Bologna

PostDoctoral Fellow

Advisor: Prof. Giuseppe Falini

Teaching Experience

2020 - Current

Friedrich–Alexander University Erlangen–Nürnberg

Lecturer

Lecturer for the module on "Molecular Self Organization", course "Self Organisation Processes", and for "Molecular and Particles Thin Films", course "Thin-Film Processing"

2018-2019

University of Bologna

Teaching Assistant

Teaching Assistant for the “Chemistry laboratory” course, bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and chemistry of materials

Education

2015-2019

University of Bologna

PhD Fellow in Chemistry

PhD Fellow in Chemistry (curriculum Advanced materials for functional and structural applications). Thesis title: “Design of bioinspired inorganic materials for advanced functional applications”.
Advisor: Prof. Giuseppe Falini

2017

Harvard University

Visiting Graduate Student

Project: “Design of bioinspired platforms for photoactivated biocatalysis based on inverse opals”.
Advisor: Prof. Joanna Aizenberg

2013-2015

University of Bologna

Master’s degree in Photochemistry and molecular materials

Thesis title: “In vivo study of interaction between carbon nanoparticles and photosynthetic systems”.
Advisor: Prof. Matteo Calvaresi

2010-2013

University of Bologna

Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Chemistry of Materials

Thesis title: “Doxorubicin/Calcium carbonate hybrid crystals: a new method for controlled release of anticancer drugs”.
Advisor: Prof. Matteo Calvaresi

Technical skills and competences

Solid state characterization

independent user of FTIR, XRPD, SEM, optical microscopy and confocal microscopy, thermal analysis. Assisted use of TEM.

Spectroscopy

UV-Vis spectroscopy, emission spectroscopy, DLS, design of customized setup with optical fibers, detectors and lamps.

Nanofabrication

photolithography, wet and dry etching processes, thin film deposition, self-assembly based techniques, with a focus on opals and inverse opals.

Crystallization techniques

Colloid assembly in monolayer and opals, and in confinements. Carbonates crystallization.

Coding

Handling of large amount of experimental data, analysis with self-developed Matlab and Python codes. Web development with HTML.

Scientific visual representation

3D rendering with Autodesk and Blender.

Custom design of experimental setups

Conceptualization, 3D design of components and analysis codes writing.

Academic activities

Review and representative activities

I have been reviewing for Adv. Health. Mat. (Wiley), ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. (ACS) and Sci. Rep. (Nature). I was involved in the CLINTiRTG Management as a PostDoc representative. I am currently a member of the advisory board of CRC1411.

Supervising and managing activities

I supervised 2 mini project students, 3 Bachelor students and 4 Master students during their internships participating in the research design, training on instrumentation and procedures, mentoring during experiment planning, data collection and analysis, thesis writing and defense.
I am responsible for the lab management in the Vogel group.
I am the webmaster of Prof. Vogel website www.vogellab.de.

Awards and fundings

CRC1411 (project Ö) financing by DFG, including expenses for outreach activities and funding a position for 4 years
CLINT Outreach Award
Best presentation at the CLINT iRTG workshop 2022
"Promotion of Equal Opportunities for Women in Research and Teaching" scholarship for 1 year research position (full position)
“Marco Polo” scholarship for research abroad in 2017
COST travel grant in 2016
Incentive for scientific degrees in 2010.

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles

Graziani, G.; Triunfo, C.; Magnabosco, G.; Fermani, S.; Montroni, D.; Ghezzi, G.; Cappelletti, M.; Baldini N.; Falini, G.
A natural multifunction and multiscale hierarchical matrix as a drug-eluting scaffold for biomedical applications
Journal of Materials Chemistry B 2024, in press
Magnabosco, G,: Ochs, M.; Bonakdar, N.; Czerwenka, L.; Andrieu-Brunsen, A.; Vogel, N.
Inverse opals with reactive surface chemistry as sensors for aqueous pollutants
Chemical Communications 2024, 60, 7594 – 7597
Carr, A.D.; Ruppert, C.; Samusev, A.K.; Magnabosco,G.; Vogel, N.; Linnik,T.L.; Rushforth, A.W.; Bayer, M.; Scherbakov, A.V.; Akimov, A.V.
Enhanced Photon–Phonon Interaction in WSe2 Acoustic Nanocavities
ACS Photonics 2024, 11, 1147–1155
Ruiz M, C.V.; Terlinden, M.; Engelhardt, M.; Magnabosco, G.; Papastavrou, G.; Vogel, N.; Thommes, M.; Bachmann, J.
Preparation and Surface Functionalization of a Tunable Porous System Featuring Stacked Spheres in Cylindrical Pores
Advanced Materials Interfaces 2023, 10, 2300436
Papiano, I.; De Zio, S.; Hofer, A.; Malferrari, M.; Mínguez Bacho, M.; Bachmann, J.; Rapino, S.; Vogel, N.; Magnabosco, G.*
Bioinspired functional porous materials for low-concentration biomarkers detection
Materials Horizons 2023, 10, 4380-4388
Cang, Y.; Sainidou, R.; Rembert, P.; Magnabosco, G.; Still, T.; Vogel, N.; Graczykowski, B.; Fytas, G.
On the origin of the acoustic bandgaps in hypersonic colloidal phononics: The role of the elastic impedance
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2022, 126(34), 6575–6584
Magnabosco, G.*; Giuri, D.; Di Bisceglie, A.P.; Scarpino, F.; Fermani, S.; Tomasini, C.; Falini, G.
New Material Perspective for Waste Seashells by Covalent Functionalization
ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9(18), 6203–6208
Magnabosco, G.; Pantano, F.; Rapino, S.; Taxis, L.; Sparla, F.; Pugno, N.M.; Falini, G.; Calvaresi, M.
A Bionic Cellulose-Carbon Nanotube Composite Synthesized by a Biogenic Approach
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. 2020. DOI:10.3389/fbioe.2020.560349
Magnabosco, G.*; Papiano, I.; Aizenberg, M.; Aizenberg, J.; Falini, G.
Beyond Biotemplating: Multiscale Porous Inorganic Materials with High Catalytic Efficiency
Chemical Communications 2020, 56(23), 3389-3392.
Magnabosco, G.; Ianiro, A.; Stefani, D.; Soldà, A.; Rapino, S.; Falini, G.; Calvaresi,
M. Doxorubicin-Loaded Squid Pen Plaster for Drug Delivery to Cancer Cells
ACS Applied Bio Materials. 2020, 3(3), 1514–1519.
Magnabosco, G.; Condorelli, A.M.M.; Rosenberg, R.; Polishchuk, I.; Pokroy, B.; Gebauer, D.; Cölfen, H.; Falini, G.
Non stoichiometric hydrated magnesium-doped calcium carbonate precipitation in trace water environments
Chemical Communications 2019, 55(86), 12944-12947.
Barbalinardo, M.; Polishchuk, I.; Magnabosco, G.; Di Giosia, M.; Fermani, S.; Biscarini, F.; Falini, G.; Calvaresi, M.; Zerbetto, F.; Pokroy, B.; Valle, F.
Retinoic Acid/Calcite Micro-Carriers Into Fibrin Scaffolds Modulate Neuronal Cell Differentiation
Journal Of Material Chemistry B 2019, 7(38), 5808-5813.
Magnabosco, G.; Polishchuk, I.; Palomba, F.; Rampazzo, E.; Prodi, L.; Aizenberg, J.; Pokroy, B.; Falini, G.
Role of Surface Chemistry on Incorporation of Nanoparticles Within Calcite Single Crystals
Crystal Growth and Design 2019, 19(8), 4429-4435.
Magnabosco, G.; Hauzer, H.; Fermani, S.; Calvaresi, M.; Corticelli, F.; Christian, M.; Albonetti, C.; Morandi, V.; Erez, J.; Falini, G.
Bionics Synthesis of Magnetic Calcite Skeletal Structure through Living Foraminifera.
Materials Horizons 2019, 6(9), 1862-1867.
Matijaković, N.; Magnabosco, G.; Scarpino, F.; Fermani, S.; Falini, G.; Kralj, D.
Synthesis and Adsorbing Properties of Tabular {001} Calcite Crystals Crystals 2019, 9(1), 16-28.
Magnabosco, G.*; Polishchuk, I.; Erez, J.; Fermani, S.; Pokroy, B.; Falini, G.
Insights on the Interaction of Calcein with Calcium Carbonate and Its Implications in Biomineralization Studies.
CrystEngComm 2018, 20(30), 4221– 4224.
Magnabosco, G.; Polishchuk, I.; Pokroy, B.; Rosenberg, R.; Cölfen, H.; Falini, G.
Synthesis of Calcium Carbonate in Trace Water Environments
Chem. Commun. 2017, 53(35), 4811–4814.
Magnabosco, G.; Giosia, M. Di; Polishchuk, I.; Weber, E.; Fermani, S.; Bottoni, A.; Zerbetto, F.; Pelicci, P. G.; Pokroy, B.; Rapino, S.; Falini, G.; Calvaresi, M.
Calcite Single Crystals as Hosts for Atomic-Scale Entrapment and Slow Release of Drugs.
Advanced Healthcare Materials 2015, 4(10), 1510–1516.

Popular press

My research has been featured on the outreach website “Chemistry World”, on the university website “Unibo Magazine” and on “Le Scienze”, the Italian edition of “Scientific American”. It has also been presented on social media.

Outreach

Qualifications

During my time in academia, I participated and initiated a variety of outreach activities in various countries, with a focus on initiatives to attract the young audience to STEM disciplines.
I attended several relevant workshops at my institutions- i.e. Making Science Visible, Navigating Social Media - and was awarded the Outreach Prize of the SFB1452 CLINT in 2021.

Event participation and organization

At FAU, I participated in the organization of Girl's Day and I coordinated the participation of SFB1411 to the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2023.
I contributed to the European Researchers night organized by the University of Bologna, leading an interactive experiment initiative entitled “Nano-World”, during which I introduced nanotechnology to a general audience of children of different ages.
I participated to the organization of “Nano Days” at Boston Science Museum, at the DayCon conference and at Eighth Grade Science & Engineering Showcase at Harvard University.

Video Production

I filmed and edited several videos for outreach as well as for scientific purposes. I collaborate to the realization of outreach videos for “the Vogel Lab” YouTube channel. I was involved in the CLINT project outreach video for the "G' scheid schlau" in Nuremberg.

Scientific Digital Art

I produced several scientific digital art pieces to simply explain the concepts involved in my research as well as in the one of my colleagues. Some of these contributions have been featured on the cover page of prestigious scientific journals.

Online Presence Management

I share news that I find scientifically stimulating on Twitter under my handle @g_magnabosco. I also manage the Twitter account of the lab of Prof. Nicolas Vogel-@VogelLab-that presently has more than 1K followers. I am the webmaster of Prof. Nicolas Vogel Website and the SFB1411 website.

All
Events
Digital Art
Videos

Cover for Journal of Physical Chemistry C