Hang Zhao, supervised by Giovanni Volpe and Joana Pereira, will present his halftime seminar under the topic “Brain connectome revealed neuro-degenerative disease” on 9-10 am, 22nd Jan. 2026 in Nexus and through Zoom (https://gu-se.zoom.us/j/7726618257). The seminar starts from his presentation about the past and planned project, followed by a discussion and questions by his opponent, Professor Mattias Göksor.
News
Presentation by S. K. Manikandan at The Arctic Meeting for Adaptive Mechanisms in Biological Systems, Abisko, Sweden, January 21, 2026
Sreekanth Manikandan
Date: 21 Jan 2026
Time: 10:00 CEST
Place: STF Abisko, Sweden
The Arctic Meeting for Adaptive Mechanisms in Biological Systems
Quantifying the spatiotemporal forces, affinities, and dissipative costs of cellular-scale non-equilibrium processes from experimental data and localizing it in space and time remain a significant open challenge. Here, I explore how principles from stochastic thermodynamics, combined with machine learning techniques, offer a promising approach to addressing this issue. I will present preliminary results from experiments on fluctuating cell membranes and simulations of non-equilibrium systems in stationary and time-dependently driven states. These studies reveal potential strategies for localizing entropy production in experimental biophysical contexts while also highlighting key challenges and limitations that must be addressed.
Lydia Armini joins the Soft Matter Lab
Lydia Armini joined the Soft Matter Lab on January 20 2025.
Lydia is a master student in Physics at Gothenburg University.
During her time at the Soft Matter Lab, she will be working on developing deep learning methods for analyzing yeast cell datasets.
Eduard Andrei Duta Costache joins the Soft Matter Lab
Eduard Andrei Duta Costache started his PhD at the Physics Department of the University of Gothenburg on the 19th of January 2026.
Eduard has a double Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Alicante (Spain) and in Machine Learning & Data Mining from Jean Monnet University (France).
During the course of his PhD, as part of the GREENS MSCA Doctoral Network, he will focus on developing AI frameworks to model and optimize the lifecycle of micro-robotic platforms.
Steven Smith visits the Soft Matter Lab
Steven brings years of expertise from the laboratory of Professor Carlos Bustamante, where they pioneered the use and development of optical tweezers. As the main developer of the widely used ‘minitweezers’ instrument, which today is used by dozens of research groups, he has helped shape the field of single-molecule biophysics on a global scale. We look forward to his visit, during which he will work on refining cutting-edge single-molecule measurement techniques.
Yu-Wei Chang nailed his PhD thesis on January 7th, 2026. Congrats!
The nailing took place in Universitetsbyggnaden i Vasaparken, Universitetsplatsen 1, Göteborg, at 13:30.
In Swedish academia, “nailing” (spikning) is the formal public announcement and publication of a doctoral thesis. It happens weeks before the defence so that the public has time to read the thesis in advance and prepare questions for the defence. In addition to the physical nailing, the thesis is also published electronically (e-spikning) via GUPEA.
Yu-Wei will defend his thesis on 23 January at 13:00 in SB-H7 lecture hall, SB-Building, Institutionen för fysik, Johanneberg Campus, Göteborg.
Thesis (GUPEA handle): http://hdl.handle.net/2077/90289
Thesis Nailing by B. García Rodríguez, 7 January 2026. Congrats!
Family and friends were present to mark this milestone.
Berenice will defend her thesis on 28 January at 09:00 in PJ-salen, Institutionen för fysik, Origovägen 6, Göteborg.
Thesis Nailing by F. Skärberg, 7 January 2026. Congrats!
Fredrik will defend his thesis on 29 January at 09:00 in FB-salen, Institutionen för fysik, Origovägen 6, Göteborg.
Directional flows using capillary assembly of photo-deformable colloidal particles at water-air interfaces published in Nature Communications
David Urban, Marcel Rey, Antonio Ciarlo, Marie Friederike Schulte, Emiliano Descrovi & Giovanni Volpe
Nature Communications 17, 1004 (2026)
doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-67739-9
Colloidal particles at liquid interfaces experience long-ranged capillary interactions, whose magnitude and directionality depend on the particle shapes. When particle shapes are determined by fabrication or synthesis, the resulting shape-mediated interactions are predefined and often lead to the formation of persistent interfacial structures. Here, we introduce polymer particles at water-air interfaces whose shape and, therefore, interactions can be altered by illumination with polarized light. Specifically, we selectively trigger capillary self-assembly by anisotropically deforming the particles at the interface. Intriguingly, further deformation of already assembled particles induces sustained interfacial flows with velocities of up to 90 μm/s. Benefitting from polarization-defined deformation directions, we create flow-patterns that do not simply follow the illumination intensity pattern, such as shear flows along a single rectangular illumination stripe. We anticipate that this interplay between photo-deformation and capillary interactions of particles will enable various forms of mixing, manipulation, and assembly of soft matter at liquid interfaces.
Inchworm-Inspired Soft Robot with Groove-Guided Locomotion on ArXiv
flexible PET sheet. (Image by H. P. Thanabalan.)
Hari Prakash Thanabalan, Lars Bengtsson, Ugo Lafont, Giovanni Volpe
arXiv: 2512.07813
Soft robots require directional control to navigate complex terrains. However, achieving such control often requires multiple actuators, which increases mechanical complexity, complicates control systems, and raises energy consumption. Here, we introduce an inchworm-inspired soft robot whose locomotion direction is controlled passively by patterned substrates. The robot employs a single rolled dielectric elastomer actuator, while groove patterns on a 3D-printed substrate guide its alignment and trajectory. Through systematic experiments, we demonstrate that varying groove angles enables precise control of locomotion direction without the need for complex actuation strategies. This groove-guided approach reduces energy consumption, simplifies robot design, and expands the applicability of bio-inspired soft robots in fields such as search and rescue, pipe inspection, and planetary exploration.