Victoria G. Muir
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Interview: Fall 2025
CRISP Interviewer (CI): Where did you grow up?
Victoria G. Muir (VM): I grew up in Wilmington DE, and I’ve lived within an hour of Philadelphia, PA my whole life. I’m a Delaware girl through and through!
CI: Where did you get your PhD?
VM: I did my Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in Bioengineering. I worked with Prof. Jason Burdick (who is now at University of Colorado – Boulder) on designing squishy gel-based materials for 3D printing living materials and repair of damaged musculoskeletal tissues, like the spinal disc.
CI: How did you become interested in soft matter and polymers?
VM: When I was a high school student, I participated in a program called ACS Project SEED at University of Delaware. The program provided opportunities for students from lower income homes to experience chemistry research at a university, and I was paired with a graduate student mentor from the lab of Prof. Thomas H. Epps, III. As a high school student in the Epps Group, I got to learn all about polymers and soft materials, and I was hooked! Prof. Epps has been a mentor to me every since, and it’s awesome to be back to UD with him as a colleague.
CI: What is your research focus?
VM: My lab designs hydrogel biomaterials and biofabrication platforms to study cell behavior and create functional living materials. We integrate approaches from soft materials, 3D printing, microbiology, and biophysics to tackle interdisciplinary biomedical and environmental challenges.
CI: What made you choose academic research? Why did you choose the University of Delaware?
VM: I come from a family of K-12 educators, and I’ve wanted to follow in their footsteps and become a teacher for as long as I can remember. As a high school student in the Epps Group, I first learned that professors not only teach but also do research, and ever since then, I’ve been hooked. One year into being an Assistant Professor, I’m really enjoying the chance to integrate impactful research with education. It’s a great balance of what I love to do, with variety and lots of opportunities for growth. UD has been a wonderful place to start this journey. It combines research excellence with a strong sense of community. As a lifelong Delawarean, I think part of that comes from the “small state, First State” spirit that carries into the culture of Delaware, UD, and the Department of Chemical Engineering. It’s a community-based mentality, and I’m grateful to be part of it as I build my research career.
CI: Was there a faculty member from your undergraduate/graduate experience that inspired you? How?
VM: In addition to the mentorship from Prof. Epps, I’m very grateful that I got to know Prof. Millie Sullivan as an undergraduate student, and she’s continued to be a mentor to me into my faculty career. As an undergrad, I worked on a project that was co-advised between Prof. Epps and Prof. Sullivan, which allowed me to see how my interests in polymers could blend with biomedical applications. Seeing Prof. Epps and Prof. Sullivan not only excel at research, but also be engaged in the classroom as instructors, and be involved mentors, even to me as an undergraduate, was so influential in setting the standards that I strive to live by now as an Assistant Professor.
CI: Outside of work and research, how do you like to spend your time?
VM: I like to do local Zumba classes (sometimes with Prof. Kevin Solomon), spend time with family, and volunteer at the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science (DelMNS). You can find me at DelMNS, sometimes with members of the Muir Lab, doing fun science demos about once a month! We actually just made an interactive exhibit for DelMNS called “Can You Move Like a Microbe?”, where museum guests use a magnetic wand to guide “microbes” through environments that mimic their natural habitats. We wrote up a short post about the exhibit on our lab’s website: https://www.themuirlab.com/education
CI: What is the most valuable piece of advice you received when you were just getting started in science?
VM: Learn how to communicate! I’ve been fortunate to have mentors at every step of my career that emphasized the importance of taking science communication very seriously, whether it be talking to a room of experts of engaging with public communities. I make effort to put best scientific communication practices into all aspects of my work, and am working with the students in my lab to build those skills. I also seek to grow in the area myself, reading papers on the topic and attending talks in diverse areas to get fresh perspectives on communication techniques. And, in K-12 engagement efforts, I make it a priority to talk with educators about best communication practices for a target audience and connecting outreach activities to learning objectives. Many thanks to my family members who have spent decades as K-12 educators in the local school system.