Self-organized dynamics in living materials
- đ¤ Speaker: Jorn Dunkel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- đ Date & Time: Thursday 21 August 2025, 14:45 - 15:30
- đ Venue: Seminar Room 1, Newton Institute
Abstract
Living systems—from cellular assemblies to animal groups—exhibit remarkable self-organization driven by internal activity and physical interactions. In this talk, we explore how active forces shape large-scale behaviors in living materials, focusing on three representative systems: bacterial elastica, living chiral crystals, and worm collectives. By integrating theory, simulations, and experiments, we show how synthetically designed as well as natural interactions can lead to interesting emergent properties such as programmable pattern formation, collective oscillations, and ultra-fast response dynamics.
Series This talk is part of the Isaac Newton Institute Seminar Series series.
Included in Lists
- All CMS events
- bld31
- dh539
- Featured lists
- INI info aggregator
- Isaac Newton Institute Seminar Series
- School of Physical Sciences
- Seminar Room 1, Newton Institute
Note: Ex-directory lists are not shown.
![[Talks.cam]](/static/images/talkslogosmall.gif)

Jorn Dunkel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Thursday 21 August 2025, 14:45-15:30