My recent major research activities can be condensed into four axes:
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Mechano-chemical coupling in dynamic elastic filament networks:
application of homogenization techniques to active and passive
semiflexible filament networks; investigation of their macroscale
mechanical properties depending on their microscopic properties;
stress induced morphological instabilities.
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Mechanical and dynamical properties of microtubules:
application of kinetic Monte Carlo models to the lattice dynamics
of microtubules; investigation of the origins of lattice
plasticity (i.e. creation of defects and their dynamics) and the
role of microtubule associated proteins therein (e.g. molecular
motors).
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Dynamics of thin films and droplets of passive and active fluids on
solid substrates: chemical systems (i.e. chemically driven droplets), ratchet driven thin-film flows, droplets transport by substrate vibrations, but also biological systems (biofilm spreading phenomena, symmetry-breaking and motion in living cells modeled via diffuse-interface models).
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Structure formation in reaction diffusion systems with molecular interaction: systems where passive self-assembly processes (i.e. phase separation) are in competition with active self-organization processes driven by chemical reactions and diffusive transport; such processes are very relevant in living cells. |