Welcome to our Meet the Researchers blog series, where each post features one of the DarChemDN researchers sharing insights into their personal journey and professional life.
Today we introduce DC2 – Kalliopi Fourli!
Where are you from?
My hometown Kavala in north-eastern Greece is famous for its tobacco, ouzo, wine, and fresh fish. It offers mountains for hiking, the sea for swimming, and taverns for recovering from both. Life is beautifully simple: a table by the water with friends, great food, a bit of ouzo, and the quiet realization that this might just be enough.
How did you adapt your new environment?
Adapting to Groningen was not very challenging, as I met friendly and fun people early on, which made it easy to call it ‘home.’ While Groningen may be small, there is always something happening – events, workshops etc – which makes living here enjoyable. However, coming from a place where both the food and the weather are quite the opposite, this is something I am still getting used to (!)
Work experience & research
During my BSc studies I focused on electrochemistry, while throughout my MSc studies I worked in different labs, mainly on Systems and Supramolecular Chemistry, including coacervates, photochemistry and constitutional dynamic networks.
Future professional plans
In the future I would like to also work in industry to figure out what suits me the best.
Hobbies
I love trying new hobbies, so now I can confidently say that my hobbies range from gym and basketball to knitting and pottery.
Short project summary
During my PhD in Sijbren Otto lab, my project focuses on enhancing the evolvability of self-replicating systems. This goal includes finding a way to estimate both experimentally and computationally the fidelity of any two-building-block system. By quantifying the fidelity, we get the opportunity to tune it and change the evolvability of a self-replicating system. The hybrid nature of this project makes it particularly engaging, as integrating data from both approaches enhances the overall understanding of the system, with each approach complementing the other.
A day in my life
My day usually starts early with going to the gym. The workout is, of course, followed by a good breakfast and some coffee. As soon as I step into the lab, I inevitably hear the word ‘café?’ – and I can never resist, so I end up having a second coffee with colleagues/friends. After this, I spend the morning working on my computer, followed by lab work in the afternoon. After a long day, I like to go home, cook, and watch a movie – or, occasionally, enjoy an evening beer with friends.
My take on synthetic biology
What excites me about the de novo synthesis of life is how it puts life itself and its complexity into perspective, both scientifically and beyond. This field pushes scientists to question what truly defines life and raises profound philosophical questions – from ‘What is life?’ to ‘What would it mean if we were able to create it synthetically?’
This blog series is set up by Kalliopi Fourli and Lukas Herold the DarChemDN outreach team.
Follow DarChemDN on LinkedIn and stay tuned for more updates on our journey in exploring the origins of life and the development of synthetic life forms!