If you’ll be attending APS in person or virtually, check out the talks from my group. I look forward to seeing many of you there!

Physics professor breaks down the science of Stranger Things season 5 YouTube video by WashU Arts & Sciences

In this video, I break down the physics of Stranger Things Season 5, from wormholes to exotic matter. I explain what the creators get right and what is pure Hollywood magic. This was a great collaboration with WashU Arts & Sciences! What would you all like to see next? youtube.com/shorts/Y-xuC...

Very cool!

Understanding bimolecular condensates through physics

Meet NITMB Affiliate Member, @myphysicsjourney.bsky.social!
Trevor GrandPre is an assistant professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis driving biological discovery with statistical physics and soft condensed matter physics

🔗 ⬇️

The seventh annual Workshop on Stochastic Thermodynamics (WOST VII) will be held May 18-22, 2026. This workshop is entirely online and free to attend. 10-minute lightning talks will be chosen from 1-page abstracts, with priority given to early-career researchers.

Exploring biological questions in new theoretical ways

Thank you for joining us at the first day of the 'Expanding the Palette of Mathematics in Biology' workshop! We look forward to returning tomorrow to continue our discussions

Together, our results highlight an active role for clients in regulating condensate composition and phase behavior, providing an important step forward in understanding client–scaffold interactions in multicomponent biomolecular condensates.

Using a combination of theory and experiments, we further demonstrate that clients can shift the critical point that defines phase separation in these systems. We test this prediction by titrating a client into a mixture of scaffolds that does not phase separate on its own.

Here, we show that client enrichment can have nontrivial effects on scaffold composition within multicomponent condensates, including enrichment of one scaffold accompanied by depletion of another.

Examples include focal adhesion condensates involved in cell motility in animal cells and P bodies found in yeast.

Biomolecular condensates are cellular compartments formed by macromolecules with attractive interactions, often referred to as scaffolds, that drive phase separation. Other molecules, known as clients, are not required for condensate formation but can become selectively enriched.

I'm also honored to present this work at the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting next month as the recipient of the Physical Cell Biology Early Career Award! I'm grateful to the Subgroup Committee for this recognition.

Principles of Client Enrichment in Multicomponent Biomolecular Condensates Biomolecular condensates are commonly organized by a small number of scaffold molecules that drive phase separation together with client molecules that do not condense on their own but become selectiv...

I’m excited to share a new preprint led by Aishani Ghosal, formerly a postdoc in my group and now an assistant professor at NISER, with experiments led by Lindsay Case’s group at MIT! We show how client recruitment shapes composition in multicomponent condensates.
arxiv.org/abs/2601.11450

Aishani Ghosal, Nicholas E. Lea, Lindsay B. Case, Trevor GrandPre: Principles of Client Enrichment in Multicomponent Biomolecular Condensates https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.11450 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.11450 https://arxiv.org/html/2601.11450

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: APS DBIO: Non-academic career paths in biological physics. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: APS DBIO: Non-academic career paths in biological physics. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

Considering a career outside academia?

Join us Jan 21 at 2:30pm ET for a virtual panel “Non-academic career paths in biological physics” to hear from panelists working in national labs, startups, and industry

Register here: apsphysics.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Are you a junior scientist working in theoretical biophysics? @zamakany.bsky.social and I are organizing another workshop this fall here at @hhmijanelia.bsky.social. Travel and the workshop expenses are all covered!

tinyurl.com/yc66fawc

Roadmap for Condensates in Cell Biology Biomolecular condensates govern essential cellular processes yet elude description by traditional equilibrium models. This roadmap, distilled from structured discussions at a workshop and reflecting t...

Our "Roadmap for Condensates in Cell Biology" is now available on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2601.03677 🎉 This article summarizes the interdisciplinary weekly discussions we had at our condensate workshop at KITP in the summer of 2025. Feedback is very welcome!

Summer program for workshops at the Aspen Center for Physics

With @tzerhan29.bsky.social, @jasnir.bsky.social and Asja Radja, we are thrilled to organize an Aspen summer workshop (Aug 9-Sept 6) on the "Physics of Collective Function in Active Living Matter". Applications are open at aspenphys.org/event/physic... till Jan 15!!
Please share and apply soon!

Postdoctoral Job Opportunity! I am hiring a postdoc to join my group next fall. Many possible research directions in theoretical biophysics and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. See the posting linked below for details — apply by Jan 15th for full consideration.

We're looking for a postdoc to strengthen our group! Please apply by January 15, 2026 if you're a fun and motivated person who likes theoretical modeling of biological processes by combining analytics and numerics. There is freedom in choosing projects! Details: www.ds.mpg.de/4110032/job_...

Excited to share the first paper from my group with Gianluca Teza (MPI-PKS) and Attilio L. Stella (U Padova)! “Coarse-Graining via Lumping: Exact Calculations and Fundamental Limitations” shows when lumping is exact and when it fails even without approximations. arxiv.org/pdf/2512.11974

Applications for our 2026 Summer Undergraduate Research Program are now open!

Our program offers summer fellowships to undergraduates to engage in cutting-edge research at the interface between mathematics and biology

Learn more at www.nitmb.org/surp

We are opening a FACULTY POSITION (tenure track, permanent) in the University of Cambridge at the interface of control and biology, interpreted broadly. Theorists and wet lab quantitative biologists with backgrounds in control, EE, applied math, ... apply by Jan 28!

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/univers...

Edwin Thompson Jaynes Fellowship

Applications are open until December 15 for the Ed T. Jaynes Postdoctoral Fellowship in Physics. You’ll have the freedom and support to pursue your own research ideas independently.

8 months left till the IDP GRC and GRS!! 🍜🔬🖥️𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻! We will be selecting speakers from abstracts in the next few weeks - make sure your abstract is online!
Registration link: www.grc.org/intrinsicall...

I’m excited to be included on the list as an Affiliate Member of NITMB. I look forward to visiting the Institute more often and actively participating in the scientific community!

Two tenure track positions in computational physics @aalto.fi: www.aalto.fi/en/open-posi...

The Physics of Mysterious Cellular Droplets YouTube video by WU Physics Department

I had the privilege of giving Science Saturday, an engaging public lecture meant to spark curiosity about the wonders of science. My talk, “The Physics of Mysterious Droplets,” explored liquid-like droplets inside our cells and the physics behind their behavior: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R16...

Curious about the latest advancements in soft matter physics by young researchers? Join our Students’ Virtual Conference, on November 6th from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET! We have a great lineup of 20 speakers covering a wide range of topics. Register via the QR code or via tinyurl.com/DSOFTConfere...

Buribushi Fellowship

Independent researcher fellowships (non-tenure track) at OIST, with a focus on broadly defined theory www.oist.jp/research/bur...