Dr. Minghan Hu

Dr. Minghan Hu started his own research group within the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich in January 2024 after receiving an SNSF Ambizione grant. Its research focuses on the understanding and advancement of soft colloidal systems and intelligent micromachines and is in close collaboration with the lab of Prof. Bradley Nelson and Prof. Salvador Pané.

Minghan was born in Nanning (China) in 1988. He earned distinctions in both his bachelor and master studies in materials science at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology in 2014. Following his studies, he moved to Mainz (Germany) where he obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry with magna cum laude in Jan. 2019 under the joint supervision of Prof. Katharina Landfester, Prof. Héloïse Thérien-Aubin, and Dr. Markus Bannwarth at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. After a short-term postdoc position in Mainz, he continued his academic journey in Zurich (Switzerland), where he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Laboratory for Soft Materials and Interfaces at ETH Zurich (headed by Prof. Lucio Isa) before starting his current position as senior scientist and Ambizione group leader in the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich.

Minghan lives with his wife in Zurich. When not immersed in work, he enjoys hiking and skiing in the Alps, playing basketball, and assembling Lego bricks.