About me
I am a theoretical physicist fascinated by the unusual properties of soft and active matter. The research in my group is curiosity-driven, often inspired by the beautiful and complex phenomena observed in nature or in the experimental labs of our colleagues, which we strive to rationalize. We explore a diverse range of topics, including the non-equilibrium statistical physics of active matter, the collective properties of active filaments, and the mechanics of solid-like polymers. We aim to unravel the effects of particle shape and flexibility, interparticle interactions, and activity on the structure, dynamics, and mechanical properties of soft and biological materials.
In our research, we employ a broad spectrum of approaches, from analytical models grounded in statistical physics to computational methods such as large-scale, particle-based simulations. Our goal is to uncover universal principles of collective self-organization and the statistical physics laws of non-equilibrium systems. Our long-term vision is to leverage this understanding to design novel materials with adaptive collective properties.
Short Biography
Sara Jabbari Farouji is an Associate Professor in soft and active matter at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Amsterdam. She earned her Ph.D. at the same institution under the supervision of Daniel Bonn and Gerard Wegdam, focusing on the experimental characterization of non-equilibrium dynamics in aging colloidal gels and glasses. She later transitioned to theoretical and computational soft matter research during her postdoctoral stays in Eindhoven, Paris, and Grenoble, before establishing her own research group at the University of Mainz, Germany in 2015 as a TRR146 junior group leader. Since October 2019, she joined the Institute of Physics at the University of Amsterdam as a faculty member.
Throughout her career, she has investigated a broad range of equilibrium and non-equilibrium soft and biological matter systems, including self-assembly, charged anisotropic colloids, liquid crystals, the mechanical properties of glassy and semicrystalline polymers, as well as microswimmers and active filaments. Her group's recent research focuses on the non-equilibrium statistical physics of active systems in complex environments and the collective behavior of dipolar microswimmers and active polymers. Her research has been supported by individual scholarships from the French government and a European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, as well as funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG), Delta Institute of Theoretical Physics (DITP), Dutch Institute of Emergent Phenomena (DIEP) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
- Oscar Wilde.
