Nynke Dekker

Nynke Hester Dekker (; born 2 April 1971) is a Dutch biophysicist who since 2024 has been Professor of Biophysics at the Department of Physics, University of Oxford. Before this she was Professor of Molecular Biophysics at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology. Dekker studies individual DNA and RNA molecules and how they interact with proteins in bacteria, viruses and eukaryotes. She described how virus proteins build errors into the virus RNA of viruses. In 2020, she was awarded the Spinoza Prize.

Early life and education Dekker, daughter of a United Nations staff member, was born in Amsterdam. She studied physics and applied mathematics in the United States. In 1993, she received her bachelor's degree from Yale University where she worked alongside Mark A. Reed in applied physics.

Dekker has developed a broad range of single-molecule techniques and nanoanalytical probes, including magnetic and optical tweezers and nanopores. In particular, she developed new capabilities for optical tweezers, including the ability to measure torque.

Dekker spent 2015 on sabbatical at the Francis Crick Institute,

Awards and honours 2006 Elected to the Young Academy of Europe 2007 European Young Investigators Award 2013 European Physical Society Emmy Noether Award 2013 European Research Council Consolidator Grant 2018 NWO TOP grant 2020 NWO Spinoza Prize 2023 Physica Prize

Selected publications