His work promoted cross-disciplinary discussions and collaborations in the field of polymer chemistry, biology, physics and medicine.
Ringsdorf's major research works deal with the self-assembly of polymers into functional aggregates, where 'the whole is more than the sum of its parts'.
[4] Ringsdorf took undergraduate studies in Chemistry, Politics and Geology at the universities at Frankfurt, Darmstadt and Freiburg.
Dye containing and photoreactive liquid crystalline polymers for reversible information storage and non linear optic materials.
Attempts to Mimic Biomembrane Processes: Synthetic and natural receptors in molecular assemblies; molecular recognition, 2D-crystallization and function of proteins on monolayers and liposomes, e.g. lectins, streptavidin, monoclonal antibodies, phospholipase A2 and acetylcholinesterase, tailoring of bioreactive surfaces; mixed protein multilayers.