About Dr. Gačanin
Jasmina Gačanin, prize holder of Karl-von-Frisch-Preis (VBiO) and Scheffel-Preis (Literarische Gesellschaft), received her B.Sc. (2013) and M.Sc. (2015) degrees in Biochemistry, Ulm University, Germany, as a scholarship holder of the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”. Following her dissertation in the group of Prof. Dr. Tanja Weil (Organic Chemistry III) at Ulm University (summa cum laude, 2020), Jasmina Gačanin moved to the MPI-P in Mainz for her postdoctoral research in the group of Prof. Weil (Department Synthesis of Macromolecues), soon becoming project responsible at the MPI-P within the framework of two BMBF-funded industrial cooperations (Next generation injectable, adaptive hydrogels, and New bio-based rheology modifiers). She has been appointed as a “Peretti-Schmucker Fellow”, with the position donated by The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation (2023, research project Living biomaterials to treat skin dysbiosis).
In 2023, Dr. Gačanin was appointed as a group leader at MPI-P and in 2026 as independent group leader at MPI-P.
Recently, Jasmina Gačanin has been awarded a prestigious research grant - The Peretti-Schmucker Fellowship - donated by The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation in memory of Elsa Peretti, designer and philanthropist founder, as well as dermatologist and friend of the Foundation, Dr. Yvonne Schmucker - with funding for a three-year research project on skin biomaterials. The Gačanin Peretti-Schmucker Research Group was installed in 2026 and the team focuses on the development of environmentally friendly and self-healing soft material systems for dermatology. The project, at the MPI-P hosted in the Department for the Synthesis of Macromolecules led by Prof. Tanja Weil, is a collaboration with Ulm University, covering fundamental research and material engineering to medical applications.
Currently ongoing projects include
Peretti-Schmucker Project Skin Biomaterials (The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation) as cooperation between MPI-P and Ulm University.
“HEAL-X Bioink” (Self-healing, bio-inspired hydrogel platform for next generation 3D bioprinting, BMFTR) with project partners from academia (TUDa, NMI) and project mentors from industry. Her group is working on the sub-project “Synthesis of mammalian cell-compatible hydrogels for 3D printing” and is focusing on the development (design, synthesis, characterization) of hydrogels and their components, as well as the material/cell interactions, and finally their combination to functional, self-healing and printable hydrogels as HEAL-X Bioink.
Eco-Rheo NxG 2 (Development of sustainable rheology modifiers, Clariant AG).
Profile & Credentials
2026 - Present: Peretti-Schmucker Fellow and Peretti-Schmucker Research Group by The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, Inorganic Chemistry I, Ulm University
2026 - Present: Peretti-Schmucker Fellow and Peretti-Schmucker Research Group by The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
2023 - Present: Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
2023 - 2024: Peretti-Schmucker Fellow, by The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
2022: Postdoctoral Researcher - Research Stay (May-Aug), Clariant Innovation Center - Industrial & Consumer Specialties, Frankfurt, Germany.
2020 - 2023: Postdoctoral and Senior Postdoctoral researcher, Project Responsible for two BMBF-funded projects at the MPI-P, Dept. Prof. Weil, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Okt 2015 - Jun 2020: Dr. rer. nat. (summa cum laude), Ulm University, Germany; and jointly at the MPI-P, Mainz
2010 - 2015: B.Sc. and M.Sc., Biochemistry, Ulm University, Germany, as a scholarship holder of the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”.
2026: Peretti-Schmucker Fellowship and Research Group (The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation)
2023: Peretti-Schmucker Fellow (The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation)
2022: Nominated & selected for Sign up! Career Building Program 2023 "For Leadership"; Max Planck Society and cooperation partner EAF Berlin
2021: Nominated & selected for Sign up! Career Building Program 2022 "For Your Career"; Max Planck Society and cooperation partner EAF Berlin
2021: Award: best oral presentation "Supramolecular crosslinking: Advanced hydrogels for tissue engineering", SupraBio Konferenz (Online), May 2021.
2020: Poster award 3rd place “Crosslinking materials for responsive hydrogels designed for use in inflammatory joint disease treatment” – GDCh Online Ceremony for 100 years polymer science and twitter poster session (Online), September 2020.
2020: 10 % the most frequently downloaded works in 2018-2019, WILEY: i) Gačanin, J. et al. „Autonomous Ultrafast Self‐Healing Hydrogels by pH‐Responsive Functional Nanofiber Gelators as Cell Matrices“, Adv. Mater., 2019, 31, 1805044 and ii) Gačanin, J. et al. “Biomedical Applications of DNA‐Based Hydrogels“
Adv. Funct. Mater., 2019, 1906253.
2011 - 2015: Scholarship (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
2010: Karl-von-Frisch-Award (VBiO - Verband Biologie, Biowissenschaften & Biomedizin in Deutschland,(Association for Biology, Biosciences & Biomedicine in Germany)).
2010: Scheffel-Award (Deutsche Literarische Gesellschaft (German Literary Society)).
09/2025: Molecular innovation - supramolecular gelators unlock new functions for advanced 3D materials and applications, AmnioPrintCare workshop, Belgrade (Serbia)
12/2024: Introducing functions with supramolecular gelators: From molecules towards 3D materials and applications. SIIRI (SFB/Transregio 298) Implant Lecture Series; Hannover.
2025/2026: WiSe Allgemeine Chemie (“General Chemistry”) Seminar for Biochemists as part of for the bachelor's degree programs in Chemistry, Economic Chemistry, Chemistry Education, Biochemistry, and Molecular Medicine by M. Lindén, S.Krause, S. Rau at Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
10/2024: WiSe Biopolymers Lecture (Master Chemistry and Biochemistry) at Ulm University, Ulm, Germany, each. Together with Prof. Weil and Dr. Ng.
10/2022, WiSe Biopolymers Lecture (Master Chemistry and Biochemistry) at Ulm University, Ulm, Germany, each. Together with Prof. Weil and Dr. Ng.
10/2021, WiSe Biopolymers Lecture (Master Chemistry and Biochemistry) at Ulm University, Ulm, Germany. Together with Prof. Weil and Dr. Ng.