Richard G. Morris (Group Leader)
After completing a Masters in Mathematical Physics from the University of Edinburgh, and following a short spell working in investment banking, Richard completed a PhD in Theoretical (Statistical) Physics from the University of Manchester. He then undertook postdocs at the Institut de Physique Theorique (IPhT) at the CEA in Saclay, France, and the University of Warwick, in the UK. This facilitated a transition from Statistical Physics to Soft-Condensed Matter, a trajectory that concluded with a move into living systems when he took up the position of Simons Fellow at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, India. He was appointed as an EMBL-Australia Group Leader in 2019, and has a joint position at UNSW, Sydney, between Single Molecule Science (SMS) and Physics. Richard is married with four daughters.
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Richard Spinney (Postdoc)
Richard completed an MSci at the University of Nottingham before completing his PhD at University College London. This was followed by research positions at University College London and the University of Sydney. Richard's research and interests lie in aspects of nonequilibrium statistical physics, encompassing stochastic thermodynamics, information theory, and stochastic processes. This has led to applications in information thermodynamics, computation, emergent behaviour in soft matter, and computational neuroscience. Beyond research he enjoys cycling and spending time exploring New South Wales.
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Sami Al-Izzi (Postdoc)
Sami completed his BSc in Theoretical Physics at University College London before taking Part III of the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge. He then moved to the University of Warwick to pursue a 4 year MSc+PhD at the CDT in Mathematics of Systems, where the PhD was supervised jointly between Warwick and Institut Curie (Sorbonne Université). He was then a postdoc at UNSW Sydney, working across the School of Physics and Single Molecule Science. After that, he was awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship to work with Andreas Carlson at the University of Oslo Mathematics Department. Sami is now a postdoctoral fellow under the Australia-wide ARC Centre of Excellnce for Mathematical Analysis of Cellular Systems, based at UNSW, Sydney. Sami’s research interests span geometry, active matter and hydrodynamics. In his spare time he enjoys climbing, running and playing guitar.
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Joseph Pollard (Postdoc)
Joe completed an MSc in Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Oxford before moving to Warwick to undertake a MSc+PhD at the CDT in Mathematics of Systems. His PhD work involved applying methods of topology and geometry to liquid crystals, with a particular focus on the effects of chiral liquid crystals. After that he completed a postdoc at the University of Durham. Joe's primary research interest is in using methods of topology and geometry to better understand soft matter systems, including liquid crystals, tissues, and membranes. Outside of work he enjoys running and hiking, and he has an extensive collection of paper money and ancient oriental coins.
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Jeremy Worsfold (Postdoc)
Jeremy completed his MPhys at the University of Manchester before undertaking a MRes then PhD in Statistical Applied Mathematics at The University of Bath under the supervision of Tim Rogers and Paul Milewski. There he studied the impact of stochasticity in finite populations of particles moving in continuous space. These models of collective behaviour have applications ranging from swarming and synchronisation to vehicle traffic formation. He is currently continuing these studies and hopes to strengthen ties to the biological applications of his studies. In his spare time, Jeremy enjoys playing football (soccer), running, and exploring all the beaches Sydney has to offer.
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Minkush Kansal (Postdoc)
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Minkush completed his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at IIT Guwahati, India. During this period, he developed an interest in fluid dynamics and subsequently moved to the Netherlands to pursue master's in Fluid Physics at University of Twente. There, he worked at the Physics of Fluids group under the supervision of Jacco Snoeijer for his master's thesis and later for his PhD. Minkush has broadly worked on theoretical modeling of problems involving soft matter, like capillary instability of soft solids and wetting flows of viscoelastic fluids. He is currently working on understanding interactions between the diffusion barrier in the nuclear pore complex (NPC) and the capsid of HIV. Along with research, Minkush also likes to follow standup comedy, perform in open mics and explore the local culture and events.
Brian Ee (PhD student)
Brian completed a BA in Music and BAdvSci(Hons) in Microbiology at UNSW. For his undergraduate honours thesis, he researched the structural dynamics and self-assembly of bacterial virulence proteins using synthetic biology and biophysics techniques. He is now undertaking a PhD at UNSW, jointly supervised by Richard Morris and Lawrence Lee. His research interests span synthetic biology, protein dynamics, reaction kinetics and molecular self-assembly. His current work involves developing experiment and theory for new synthetic biology methods to self-assemble multi-enzyme complexes. Brian also enjoys playing the clarinet, swimming and tinkering with 3D printers and computers.
Denni Currin-Ross (PhD student)
Denni completed a dual degree in BSc/BA at The University of Queensland (UQ) majoring in Genetics and Mathematics. Currently, Denni is completing a joint PhD between UQ and UNSW under the co-supervision of Alpha Yap and Richard Morris. Denni’s research centres around analysing and understanding myosin flow patterns at cellular junctions in epithelial monolayers. Besides work, Denni enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and going to the beach with her dogs.
Louis Goldsmith (Hons. student)
Louis is in the 4th-year of a 6-year Medical degree (to become a real doctor). As part of that program he spends one year working in resaerch, where he is looking at phase separation of LAT-Grb-SOS condensates in the T-Cell signalling pathway in conjunction with the lab of Jesse Goyette.
Patrick Ryan (Hons. student)
Patrick has a degree in Economics from the University of Sydney, and is currently in his Hons. year for a degree in Physics at UNSW. For his Hons. project he is looking at noise-induced states due to non-reciprocal interactions.
Alumni
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Emanuele Crosato (Postdoc) - now Postdoc with Kirsty Wan, Exeter
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​Samantha Webster (PhD student) - now Postdoc with Kate Pool, UNSW
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Mitchell Kiely (Hons. student) - now Cybersecurity, Australian Defence Force.