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Poly(2-oxazoline) networks with varying swelling degrees and varying hydrophilicity can be synthesized from 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline, 2-nonyl-2-oxazoline, 2-9’-decenyl-2-oxazoline and 2,2’-tetramethylene-bis-2-oxazoline in one-pot/one-step strategies. These gels can be loaded with organic molecules, such as fluorescein isothiocyanate, either during the polymerization (covalent attachment of the dye) or according to post-synthetic swelling/deswelling strategies (physical inclusion of the dye). Surface functionalization of ground gels by thiol-ene reactions with cysteine-bearing peptides exhibiting the arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) motif yields microparticles with enhanced recognition of human cancer cells compared to healthy endothelial cells.