Welcome to Living Fluids@ICTS

Our research is driven by the curiosity to explore problems in biological fluid dynamics and non-equilibrium physics across scales. At the heart of our work lies the challenge of modeling living fluids: systems where the large-scale flows are orchestrated by ensembles of active particles, giving rise to complex collective behavior. In such problems, complexity emerges from multiscale (nanometers to millimeters) and multiphysics (hydrodynamic, elastic, and chemical) phenomena. Guided by experiments done in collaboration, relevant biological questions, or engineering applications, we combine modeling, theoretical analysis, and large-scale computations to approach these problems. Current areas of focus include (but are not limited to):

• Ciliary carpets: Synchronization physics, physiological transport and collective hydrodynamics in complex geometries, reduced order models

• Intracellular Flows: Developing and analyzing minimal models of cytoplasmic streaming and organelle transport

• Sperm Dynamics: Modeling emergent dynamics in assemblies of fruit-fly sperm to understand collective behavior

• Flagellar Mechanics: Flagellar beating patterns, role of molecular motors in collective beating, and flagellar oscillations in complex fluid environments

• Soft Materials: Using fluid-structure interaction phemomena to design novel soft materials and meta-fluids with unique properties

• Collective Behavior: Modeling the dynamics and organization of fish schools, chiral suspensions, and non-reciprocal oscillators

Check our Publication page to know more about ongoing work.​​