Robert Holyst (born 1963, MSc Physics 1986, Ph.D. Chemistry 1989, full professor 1998) is a principal investigator of the Soft Condensed Matter Group (since 1993) after a postdoc at the University of Washington (physics) (1989-1992), with extensive experience in leadership and management. He spent 2,5 years in Ecole Normale Superieure Lyon (as a visiting researcher/professor) and 0,5 years in Max Planck Institute for Polymer Science Mainz. He was the v-Director (2007-2011) and Director (2011-2015) of the IPC PAS.