Soft matter and biophysics theory
Research Field
My main research interest are related to the theoretical statistical physics of soft matters and biological systems. In the past I have worked on liquid crystals, polymers, contact line dynamics, dynamics of biological membranes, cell adhesion, cell motility, and tissue dynamics. My recent research topics include theoretical modeling of the fluctuations in contact line stick-slip dynamics, crawling cells with mechanisensitive adhesion complexes, immunological response, and passive tracers moving in complex environment driven by active molecular motors.
I run a small research team at National Central Univewrsity, this allows close interactions between the PI and the junior scientists. Currently, there are 2 PhD students, 1 undergraduate student, and a visiting Master student (starting March 2026 for 1 year). About a half of the students' research project are mainly computational, the other half mostly analytical (with relative less numerical calculations). About a half of their projects are directly related to my experimental collaborations. Besides one-to-one personal meeting between each student and the PI, there is a group meeting every week.
- Cell motility (in collaboration with exp team at National Taiwan University)
- Modeling friction (in collaboration with exp team at Hong Kong Univ of Sci and Tech, Hong Kong)
- Dynamics membrane driven by acto-myosin network containing myosin 1b motors (in collaboration with exp team at Institut Curie, France)
- Detection of weak signals at cell level
- Distinguished Professor, National Central University, since 2010.
- Outstanding Research Award, National Central University, 2006, 2007, 2009.
- Young Theorist Award, National Center for Theoretical Sciences, 2008.
- Teaching Excellence Award, College of Sciences, National Central University, 2002, 2006.
- Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh, 1996, 1997.
PhD in physics, University of Pittsburgh, USA (2000)