Vernerey Soft Matter Mechanics Group
Welcome to theÌýVernerey Soft Matter Mechanics Group.ÌýOur group’s multiscale approach offers tools to decode the mechanical behavior of complex living materials and their engineering analogs, aiding our comprehension of the role of mechanics in biology (growth and morphogenesis) and the design of soft materials (gels and polymers).
The vast majority of soft and living materials have a network structure at all scales from the molecular to the cellular and macroscopic levels. In these complex systems — from polymers and tissues to active materials — structure and function arise not just from the parts, but from their connectivity and dynamics.
Using theoretical modeling, our key objective is to reveal how local interactions between components give rise to emergent global behavior, such as adaptability, resilience, and self-organization. Our approach is interdisciplinary and borrows concepts from continuum mechanics nonequilibrium and biological physics and complex network theory, and is complemented by computational simulations and experimental analysis.
Three areas of current research are on the following topics:Ìý
1. The large-scale organization of complex networks in biological and man-made polymers, with particular emphasis on how their complex architecture (whether static or dynamics) controls their mechanical behavior and resilience.Ìý
2. The mechanisms that control the intelligent sensing, response and adaptation of living bio-polymer networks.Ìý We particularly study how the cooperativity and collective motion within the cell wall of plants and fungi mediate its response (phototropism, helical growth, gravitropism,..)
3. Collective decision and motion in networks of living agents with emphasis on understanding the role of individual and collective rules between agents during Ìýgrowth, morphogenesis and disease. Our two model systems are dense cell networks in organoids (bone) and fire-ant aggregations.
Read about our latest work on
Ìý
