Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) research explores physical processes that living systems utilize to perform diverse functions in dynamic and diverse environments. It advances our understanding of the living world in a quantitative way, while also striving to provide insight from biological applications to expand the intellectual range of physics. PoLS research covers a broad spectrum of physics approaches in biology, ranging from the physical principles and mechanisms at the single cell level such as molecular architecture and dynamics inside cells, energy metabolism, gene regulation and intracellular and intercellular communication, to organismal biophysics, to collective behavior and evolution of complexity in life forms and living populations of organisms. Georgia Tech’s PoLS research has a special emphasis on interactions between living systems and their complex environment.
Physics of Living Systems
Regents Professor, School of Mathematics
Dynamical Networks, Dynamical and Stochastic Systems
Associate Professor, School of Physics
Cell Mechanics, Molecular Biophysics, Bionanotech, Optical Manipulation
Professor, School of Physics
Complex Systems, Pattern Formations, Physics of Living Systems
Associate Professor, School of Physics
Membrane Proteins, Ribosome, Molecular Dynamics
Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Biofluidics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Locomotion, Behavior
Associate Professor, School of Physics
Single-Molecule Biophysics, DNA-Protein Interactions, Gene Regulation, Chromatin Dynamics, Statistical Physics.
Assistant Professor, School of Physics
Soft Matter Physics, Geometry, Mechanics, Soft Materials, Applied Mathematics
Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Major Transitions in Evolution (mainly multicellularity). The Evolution of Cooperation. Bet Hedging / Evolution in Fluctuating Environments. The Evolution of Aging. Life Cycle Evolution.
Assistant Professor, School of Physics
I study how shape and mechanical interactions inform function and locomotion in living systems at scales ranging from the molecular and cellular to the organismal. I also have an interest in living systems as statistical physics, incorporating phenomena such as criticality and entropy production.
Dunn Family Associate Professor, School of Physics
Neuromechanics, Neurophysiology, Dynamics of Locomotion, Multiscale Physics of Muscle
Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Viral Ecology and Evolution, Nonlinear Dynamics, Network Science, Physics of Living Systems
Professor, School of Physics
Viral Ecology and Evolution, Nonlinear Dynamics, Network Science, Physics of Living Systems
Assistant Professor, School of Physics
Mechanics of Hierarchical Materials Materials; Mechanical Properties of Multicellular Organisms; Hydrodynamics of Cell Packings