Prof. Karen De Clerck is a Full Professor at Ghent University, where she leads the Centre for Textile Science and Engineering (CTSE). She is an expert in advanced fibrous materials, with a strong track record in fiber characterization, production, and functional modification for applications such as sensing, filtration, separation, and composites.
Her group’s core expertise focuses on solution spinning of (nano)fibers. Through close collaborations with polymer synthesis and polymer processing teams, as well as groups developing end-use applications, she advances fiber-based solutions with significant societal and economic impact. These include materials for water purification and regeneration, novel composite systems, fibrous smart sensors, biomedical applications, and more sustainable fiber technologies.
As a summary of her scientific output, it is worthwhile to mention she is author of about 160 A1 publications in mainly first quartile ranked and mostly top 10% ranked journals and more than 150 conference contributions (H-index 42). Important to mention are publications in journals such as Nature Materials, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Science Advances.
