Team members
Arnold JTM Mathijssen
Assistant Professor
Department of Physics & Astronomy
University of Pennsylvania
Arnold enjoys exploring the physics of life. Before starting the lab, he completed his PhD in theoretical physics with Julia Yeomans FRS at the University Oxford, and his postdoc in bioengineering with Manu Prakash at Stanford University. Honours include being named “30 under 30” by Scientific American, the HFSP Cross-Disciplinary Fellowship, the Sir Sam Edwards PhD Thesis Prize, the APS Charles Kittel Award, the Kaufman Foundation Early Investigator Award, and the Klein Family Social Justice Award.
To make science more equitable and accessible, we started a series of outreach events about “Kitchen Science” for students from underrepresented backgrounds in Philadelphia. Arnold is also chair of the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP), to be held at UPenn in January 2024.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Albane Thery
Postdoc
Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow
Albane is interested in building mathematical and numerical models for hydrodynamics problems that arise in soft active matter and biological physics. Specifically, she has been working on the influence of confinement on the large-scale patterns that emerge in suspensions of swimmers interacting through the fluid. She also wants to understand the interplay between the properties of complex fluids, and an organism swimming and sensing its surroundings. Although her work so far has been theoretical, she works in close collaboration with experimentalists to understand collective dynamics in assemblies of microswimmers as well as at the intracellular scale.
Before coming to Philadelphia in 2022, Albane did her PhD at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Eric Lauga. When not in the lab, Albane can be found reading, cooking, and lifting (tentatively heavy) things at the gym.
Graduate Students
Maggie Liu
PhD student in Physics & Astronomy
Maggie is a graduate student in physics. She is broadly interested in understanding emergent states of matter, especially in the living system. Outside of academics, she enjoys watching anime, throwing pottery and drawing.
Ernest Park
PhD student in Physics & Astronomy
Ernest is a graduate student researching active carpets. He received his BS in physics at Brandeis University. Outside of the lab, he enjoys lifting and playing music.
Ran Tao
PhD student in Physics & Astronomy
Ran Tao is a graduate student studying Soft Matter and Biophysics. His current project focuses on bacteria swimming upstream. He did his undergraduate at Emory University studying physics and applied mathematics. He enjoys running, soccer, and watercolor painting.
Margot Young
PhD student in Physics & Astronomy
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Pronouns: She/they
Margot is a graduate student working on the ultrafast motion project. She did her undergraduate at the University of Chicago, majoring in Physics and Visual Arts. Outside of the lab, they can usually be found cooking, sculpting (ceramics, metalworking, etc.), and playing various sports.
Master Students
Zeyuan Wang
Nanotechnology, GSF Program Student
Zeyuan is a graduate student who is studying nanotechnology. He did his undergraduate at University College London (UCL). He is currently working with Ernest on the artificial PDMS cilia project. Ouside of the lab, his hobbies includes playing video games and playing various sports.
Undergraduate Students
Jada Asamoah
First Exposure to Research in the Biological Sciences (FERBS) Scholar
Jada is a sophomore in the First Exposure to Research in the Biological Sciences program at the University of Pennsylvania, working towards a major in Biochemistry and a minor in History. In her spare time, she can be found crocheting or reading a good book.
Talia Calazans
Vagelos Scholar in the Molecular Life Sciences
Ian Lee
Vagelos Scholar in the Molecular Life Sciences
Ian is a junior in the Vagelos Scholars program. He is currently planning on majoring in physics and biophysics. Outside of class, Ian loves to practice the violin (he is a member of the Penn Symphony Orchestra), enjoys video games, and reads about politics too much for his own good.
Ivy Liu
First Exposure to Research in the Biological Sciences (FERBS) Scholar
University Scholars
Undergraduate Outreach Coordinator
Ivy is a junior in the First Exposure to Biological Research (FERBS) and University Scholars (UScholars) Programs. She is studying Physics with a minor in Computer Science. She is a part of the Penn Women in Physics, Penn Benjamins, and National Research Conference @ Penn Clubs. Outside of classes, she enjoys playing mobile games, reading, and watching shows.
Suya Que
Penn Undergraduate Research Mentorship (PURM) Scholar
Suya is a junior studying bioengineering, chemistry, and design. At Penn, she is part of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Society of Women’s Engineers, Penn Chinese Calligraphy, and various volunteer organizations on and near campus.
Hannah Xiao
Vagelos Scholar in the Molecular Life Sciences
Hannah is a graduates senior in the Vagelos Scholars program majoring in Physics. Outside of class, she enjoys woodworking, smoking meats, and listening to the CNBC Youtube channel while playing minesweeper.
High school teachers and students
Rishi Ambavanekar
High school student
Hi! My name is Rishabh “Rishi” Ambavanekar and I am a junior in high school. Apart from experimenting with science at home, some of my interests include playing bored games (like Catan and Dungeons and Dragons), reading philosophy, swimming, and watching sitcoms!
Lab Alumni
| Graduation | Name | Position | Position after Mathijssen lab |
| 2023 | Ercag Pince | Postdoc, Senior Research Scientist | Data Science |
| 2023 | Raman Thadani | Undergraduate Researcher, Vagelos Scholar in Molecular Life Sciences | Consulting, McKinsey & Co, Boston |
| 2023 | Roka Kakehi | Undergraduate Outreach Coordinator | Undergraduate at Penn |
| 2023 | Kalindi Gosine | Undergraduate Outreach Coordinator | Undergraduate at Penn |
| 2023 | Joji Thompson | High School Teacher & Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Fellow | High School Teacher |
| 2023 | Josiah Borges | High School Student | High School Student |
| 2023 | Kai Mitsuishi | Undergraduate Researcher | Undergraduate at Penn |
| 2023 | Yihan Xie | Undergraduate Researcher | Undergraduate at Penn |
| 2023 | Siqi Lu | Master Student in Nanotechnology | Industry, Hong Kong |
| 2023 | Ruiqi Lu | Master Student in Nanotechnology | Industry |
| 2023 | Julia Linxi Zhu | Master Student in Nanotechnology | Industry |
| 2022 | Faye Parker | Undergraduate Researcher | Undergraduate at Penn |
| 2022 | Anthony Mohr | Undergraduate Researcher | Undergraduate at Penn |
| 2022 | Chloe Mouzakitis | Undergraduate Researcher | Undergraduate at Penn |
| 2022 | Aaron Reisman | Undergraduate Researcher | Undergraduate at Penn |
| 2022 | Madeleine Riley | Undergraduate Researcher | Undergraduate at Penn |
| 2021 | Samantha Donovan | Undergraduate Researcher, Vagelos Scholar in Molecular Life Sciences | Undergraduate at Penn |
Some of our collaborators & co-authors
- Saad Bhamla (Georgia Tech, United States)
- Zev Bryant (Stanford University, United States)
- Sapna Chitlapilly Dass (Texas A&M, United States)
- Eric Clement (ESPCI Paris, France)
- Abdallah Daddi-Moussa-Ider (University of Düsseldorf, Germany)
- Ahmet F Demirörs (ETH, Switzerland)
- Amin Doostmohammadi (Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark)
- Nuris Figueroa-Morales (CU Boulder, United States)
- Joost de Graaf (Utrecht University, Netherlands)
- Francsica Guzman-Lastra (Universidad Mayor, Chile)
- Raphael Jeanneret (Ecole Normale Supérieure, France)
- Chenyu Jin (University of Bayreuth, Germany)
- Anke Lindner (ESPCI Paris, France)
- Maciej Lisicki (University of Warsaw, Poland)
- Hartmut Löwen (University of Düsseldorf, Germany)
- Corinna Maass (University of Twente, The Netherlands)
- Wallace F Marshall (UCSF, United States)
- Andreas Menzel (Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany)
- Endre J Mossige (UC Santa Barbara, United States)
- Marco Polin (University of Warwick, United Kingdom)
- Manu Prakash (Stanford University, United States)
- Vivek Prakash (University of Miami, United States)
- Mitya Pushkin (University of York, United Kingdom)
- Guillermina Ramirez – San Juan (Brandeis University, United States)
- Tyler Shendruk (University of Loughborough, United Kingdom)
- Robert S Thorne (University College London, United Kingdom)
- Julia Yeomans FRS (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
- Andreas Zöttl (TU Vienna, Austria)
Interested in starting a collaboration together? Please get in touch!
Social Events
07.26.2024: Trip to the Biopond
With a visit to Surreal Creamery 🍦