Theory and Simulation of Soft Matter, Hydrodynamics, and Biophysics Joost de Graaf

Soft Matter and Biophysics

The physics of everyday phenomena turns out to be surpringly rich and challenging. For example, how do bacteria move around in our bodily fluids and how do they grow on surfaces? How are food products, paints, creams and other household items stabilized such that they can sometimes flow like a liquid, yet at other times behave like a solid? How does this relate to the behavior of cells in our skin? In many cases, answering these questions tests the limits of our current analytic and numerical ability and touches upon fundamental problems in physics.

Analytics and Numerics A Wide Range of Options

My group has expertise in computational fluid dynamics using the lattice-Boltzmann method, FFTW-based spectral solvers, the finite-element and finite-volume method, and analytic theory. This is complemented by the modeling of electrokinetic transport, phase-field approaches for pattern formation, density functional theory, Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics simulations, etc., with specific focus on the description of active and out-of-equilibrium processes in soft matter and biophysics.

We are always looking for new collaborations and would be keen to discuss possible B.Sc.'s and M.Sc.'s projects. Currently, we do not have an opening for a PhD or Postdoc position.