Alessandro Magazzù and David Bronte Ciriza are visiting the Soft Matter Lab from 2 to 9 November 2020.
Alessandro is currently Post Doc at the IPCF-CNR Messina, Italy, and David is a PhD student at the same institution, and he is one of the ESRs (Early Stage Researchers) of the ActiveMatter MSCA-ITN-ETN.
They will be working on a neural network approach to the calculation of optical forces and torques on dielectric particles in the geometrical optics approximation.
(Foto by Aykut Argun)
Optical Tweezers Go Smart
Giovanni Volpe
28 October 2020, 15:00
Invited Talk (Online) at OSA-EPN Student Chapter, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ecuador
Active Matter Meets Machine Learning: Opportunities and Challenges
Giovanni Volpe
26 October 2020, 13:45 CEST
Keynote talk (Online) at the Online Conference Motile Active Matter, Jülich Förschungszentrum, 26 October 2020
Abstract: Machine-learning methods are starting to shape active-matter research. Which new trends will this start? Which new groundbreaking insight and applications can we expect? More fundamentally, what can this contribute to our understanding of active matter? Can this help us to identify unifying principles and systematise active matter? This presentation addresses some of these questions with some concrete examples, exploring how machine learning is steering active matter towards new directions, offering unprecedented opportunities and posing practical and fundamental challenges. I will illustrate some most successful recent applications of machine learning to active matter with a slight bias towards work done in my research group: enhancing data acquisition and analysis [1, 2]; providing new data-driven models; improving navigation and search strategies [3, 4]; offering insight into the emergent dynamics of active matter in crowded and complex environments. I will discuss the opportunities and challenges that are emerging: implementing feedback control; uncovering underlying principles to systematise active matter; understanding the behaviour, organisation and evolution of biological active matter; realising active matter with embodied intelligence. Finally, I will highlight how active matter and machine learning can work together for mutual benefit.
References
[1] S. Helgadottir, A. Argun, G. Volpe, Digital video microscopy enhanced by deep learning. Optica 6, 506–513 (2019)
[2] S. Bo, F. Schmidt, R. Eichhorn, G. Volpe, Measurement of anomalous diffusion using recurrent neural networks. Phys. Rev. E 100, 010102(R) (2019)
[3] G. Volpe, G. Volpe, The topography of the environment alters the optimal search strategy for active particles. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 114, 11350–11355 (2017)
[4] S. Colabrese, K. Gustavsson, A. Celani, L. Biferale, Flow navigation by smart microswimmers via reinforcement learning. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 158004 (2017).
Quantitative Digital Microscopy with Deep Learning
Giovanni Volpe
22 October 2020, 14:00 CEST
Invited Seminar (Online) at Disruptive & Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP), Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre, Singapore & Boston (MA)
Abstract: Video microscopy has a long history of providing insights and breakthroughs for a broad range of disciplines, from physics to biology. Image analysis to extract quantitative information from video microscopy data has traditionally relied on algorithmic approaches, which are often difficult to implement, time consuming, and computationally expensive. Recently, alternative data-driven approaches using deep learning have greatly improved quantitative digital microscopy, potentially offering automatized, accurate, and fast image analysis. However, the combination of deep learning and video microscopy remains underutilized primarily due to the steep learning curve involved in developing custom deep-learning solutions. To overcome this issue, we introduce a software, DeepTrack 2.0, to design, train and validate deep-learning solutions for digital microscopy. We use it to exemplify how deep learning can be employed for a broad range of applications, from particle localization, tracking and characterization to cell counting and classification. Thanks to its user-friendly graphical interface, DeepTrack 2.0 can be easily customized for user-specific applications, and, thanks to its open-source object-oriented programming, it can be easily expanded to add features and functionalities, potentially introducing deep-learning-enhanced video microscopy to a far wider audience.
References:
Benjamin Midtvedt, Saga Helgadottir, Aykut Argun, Jesús Pineda, Daniel Midtvedt, Giovanni Volpe, “Quantitative Digital Microscopy with Deep Learning”, arXiv:2010.08260 (2020)
Gan Wang starts his PhD at the Physics Department of the University of Gothenburg on 9th October 2020.
Gan has a Master degree in Chemical Engineering from Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
In his PhD, he will focus on smart particles and machine learning.
Giovanni Volpe will give an online invited presentation at the First Global Symposium on Janus Particles (GSJP) 2020.
GSJP will bring together a collection of experts who are in the vanguard of scientific and engineering investigations on Janus particles all around the globe.
The contribution of Giovanni Volpe will be presented according to the following schedule:
Giovanni Volpe
Light-controlled Assembly of Active Colloidal Molecules
Activity and life have emerged from a primordial broth of simple building blocks when the presence of energy flows made these blocks come together and interact in non-trivial ways. Here, we use experiments and simulations demonstrating that active molecules can be created and controlled by light. Shining light on a primordial broth containing passive particles of two different species, we create active colloidal molecules of increasing complexity, which behave as migrators, spinners and rotators. This demonstrates a powerful new route for nonequilibrium self-assembly, which may help explaining the emergence of complex systems in living matter and may also proof useful as a design principle for the construction of flexible micromotors and cargo transport in health care applications.
Date: 1 October 2020
Time: 10:10 (EST)
Place: Online
Giovanni Volpe will give an online invited presentation at the Student Conference on Optics and Photonics (SCOP), organized by the OSA student chapter of Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India.
The conference addresses various topics in optics with an emphasis on non linear optics and quantum optics, will be held during 23-25 September, 2020 at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, India.
The conference includes invited talks by eminent scientists from India and abroad, as well as posters and oral presentations by student participants and research fellows.
The contribution of Giovanni Volpe will be presented according to the following schedule:
Giovanni Volpe
Deep Learning for microscopy and optical trapping
Date: 25 September 2020
Time: 15:10 IST (GMT+5:30)
Place: Online
Jesús Pineda starts his PhD at the Physics Department of the University of Gothenburg on 16th September 2020.
Jesús has a Master degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Cartagena, Colombia.
In his PhD, he will focus on Microscopy and Deep Learning.
Yu-Wei Chang on 14 September 2020.
Yu-Wei has a Master degree in Computational Electromagnetics at the National Taiwan University of Taipei, Taiwan.
In his PhD, he will focus on the detection of neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases using MRI data and machine learning.
The School of Nano Science, IPM, Tehran, Iran, with the support of IASBS, Zanjan, Iran, is organizing a one-day e-workshop on
Novel Features and Applications of Optical Manipulation
on September 8th, 2020.
The workshop will address the latest features of optical manipulation. Distinguished lecturers in the field will present exciting aspects and applications of optical manipulation along with providing educational outreach to students.
The workshop is open to all and it is free, but pre-registration is required. Registration dates: between 10 and 25 August.
Invited lecturers:
Prof. Kishan Dolakia
Prof. Giovanni Volpe
Prof. Onofrio Maragò
Dr. Valentina Emiliani
Dr. Samaneh Rezvani
Dr. Fatemeh Kalandarifard
Organizers:
Dr. Alireza Moradi
Prof. Reza Asgari
Date: 8 September 2020
Link: Workshop Homepage, Registration
