Postgraduate Certificate in Education

Active materials are a new class of soft materials maintained out of equilibrium by internal energysources. The key property that distinguishes active matter from more familiar non-equilibrium systems, such as a fluid under shear, is that the energy input that maintains the system out of equilibrium comes from the constituents, rather than the boundaries. Probably the most promising example of an active material (with a view to applications) is the cell cytoskeleton, responsible for movement (motility) in cells. It provides a fascinating prototype for the design of man-made biomimetic responsive materials. The stages of the cell’s life cycle show the formation of highly nonlinear structures. Previous work on active matter however has focused mainly on linearized problems. The implication of this is clear: before this promising framework can be used for quantitative modelling (e.g. of biological processes at the cellular scale), a fundamental and careful analysis of nonlinear phenomena in active materials is required. Providing such a framework is the purpose of my actual work, supervised by Prof. J. Eggers and Prof. T. Liverpool. The study of such phenomena also promises to enrich the field of free-surface flows, providing new classes of equations of motion and the possibility of entireley new free-surface singularities, which have been studied extensively for normal fluids.

Woodland Academy Project -Development of a range of curriculum materials in Mathematics, Science and Technology to be delivered outside the classroom in a outdoor learning environment, in collaboration with the Graduate School of Education and Urban Pursuit, a not-for-profit alternative education provider.

Master 2 Thesis on the Optimal kinematics of model cilia. On small scales below millimeters, a common mechanism devised by nature to transport fluids is to exploit the time-varying deformation of flagella or cilia. Many small organisms and cells swim in a viscous environment using the active motion of these hair-like appendages which undergo periodic motion and use hydrodynamic friction to induce cellular self-propulsion. Similarly, the transport of fluid along a stationary biological is often achieved through the collective beating of cilia. In this Master thesis we consider physical models for the dynamics of single or multiple cilia as well as ciliated microswimmers by focusing on the analytical and computational determination of their optimal kinematics.

Library of the Physics Department