Research Overview

The PHYS-Bio Group is driven by curiosity and a deep interest in uncovering the fundamental physical principles that underlie life. Living systems operate far from equilibrium, continuously consuming energy to maintain order to perform work, which can defy the simpler, passive laws of traditional equilibrium physics. This complexity is further compounded by the need to understand phenomena spanning vast scales, from nanometer-scale molecular machines, to micron-scale genome organisation, to the large-scale collective behavior of cells, tissues, organisms, and populations.

Our research seeks to bridge these scales and uncover the unifying principles that govern the emergence of structure, function, and organisation in living matter. We approach these questions through a combination of analytical theory and computational modeling, and in close collaboration with experimental partners. Drawing upon the tools of statistical mechanics, nonlinear dynamics, and condensed matter physics, our goal is to build minimal yet predictive theoretical frameworks that capture the essential physics of living systems.