Hi! I am a physicist beginning a PhD at the University of Cambridge, having recently completed my MPhys in Physics at the University of Edinburgh. Over the past few years, I have become increasingly interested in a broad question: how can relatively simple microscopic interactions give rise to the complicated collective behaviour we see in nature? It is a question that has taken me through rather different areas of physics — from frustrated quantum magnets and neutron scattering, through non-equilibrium statistical physics and active matter, to chromatin organisation, cellular memory and, most recently, the collective dynamics of cilia.
I certainly did not begin university expecting to work on biological physics. Much of my earlier research was in condensed matter physics of the harder variety, studying magnetic materials and trying to understand their behaviour from microscopic models and neutron-scattering experiments. Over time, however, I became increasingly fascinated by statistical physics and the idea that many of the same broad concepts can help us understand systems very far removed from conventional condensed matter. This gradually drew me towards soft and biological matter. At Cambridge, I hope to continue following these questions through the study of collective ciliary dynamics and biological information processing.
Edinburgh was an extraordinary place in which to make that journey, and I owe an enormous amount to my supervisors: Chris Stock, Alexander Morozov and Davide Marenduzzo. Each introduced me to a very different part of physics and, more importantly, taught me different ways of thinking about research. I am immensely grateful for their patience, encouragement and willingness to let me pursue questions that interested me. Just as importantly, countless conversations with friends — about physics and otherwise — have shaped the way I think. Some of the most useful discussions I have had have taken place nowhere near a blackboard.
However, I'd like to think I am more than my Google Scholar page. I’ve been really lucky to have the opportunities I’ve had, thanks in large part to my family. My parents and my sister have always encouraged my curiosity and supported me — both emotionally and financially — and I’m incredibly grateful for the way they’ve fostered my interests and given me the freedom to pursue what I love. Outside of physics, I’ve always loved playing cricket, attempting to get better at chess, solving various Rubik’s cubes, swimming at the beach, and writing. Physics has admittedly developed a habit of finding its way into the last of these: I have written about topics ranging from fusion energy to the the crisis in cosmology.
I know I’ve been fortunate. I’ve had chances that many people, despite working just as hard, haven’t been given. A world full of poverty, inequality, war, and discrimination has stripped away freedoms and opportunities from others, priviledges that I’ve been lucky to enjoy. Hence, I believe it’s my responsibility to make the most of what I’ve been given. Sometimes I think of how John Keats wrote that philosophy — and, by extension, science — can “unweave a rainbow,” taking some of the magic and mystery out of the world. But it follows that science removes mystery only to reveal deeper and more beautiful truths. For me, science is about using that knowledge to better understand both nature and society, and to help improve life for as many people as possible.
Whatever path I follow, I hope that in my own small way, I can contribute to the changes needed so that, as a society, we might move beyond the confines of mundane necessity and step into the realm of real freedom, where everyone can explore what they love and discover who they truly want to be, no matter the circumstances of their birth. To recall the quote by Aimé Césaire which the Trinidadian author C.L.R. James was fond of: "...there is a place for everyone at the rendezvous of victory"
You can often learn as much about someone from what they read as from what they write. Below is a small, informal list of books and works that have shaped how I think:
Just as certain books have shaped how I think about the world, a handful of scientific papers have profoundly influenced the way I think about physics and which inspired me to pursue research in Biological Physics. These are works that I find myself returning to time and time again: