Simulations of Soft Matter 

Group Leader: Dr Halim Kusumaatmaja
 Welcome to the Kusumaatmaja group based in the Department of Physics at Durham!  We are interested in Theoretical and Computational Soft Matter and Biophysics. Our work is interdisciplinary, lying at the interface between Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, and Biology. Please see our research summary and publications if you want to learn more about our work.

***NEW PhD OPPORTUNITY*** Starting Date: 1st February 2019
  • We have an opening for a PhD student to work on the project "Designing smart functionalised surfaces for water harvesting", to be supervised by Halim and Prof Jas Pal Badyal FRS (Durham Chemistry). This project is part of the new Durham GCRF (Global Challenges Research Fund) Centre for Doctoral Training, and it is only open to prospective students from DAC nations [List of Countries]. Deadline for application: 31 August 2018. [advert]
Recent News:    
  • 18-19/9/2018: Halim will give invited lectures on the lattice Boltzmann method in the summer school on Computational Modeling in Geoscience held in Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia [www].
  • 17/9/2018: Will's paper with Juan Aguilar, Halim and Kislon Voitchovsky on In-situ molecular-level observation of methanol catalysis at the water-graphite interface has been accepted for publication in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces [arXiv].
  • 17/9/2018: Halim will visit Universitas Padjajaran in Bandung, Indonesia and give a talk on Liquid Repellent Surfaces.
  • 12-13/9/2018: Halim, Ciro Semprebon and Rodrigo Ledesma are organising a workshop on Multiscale Modelling of Wetting Phenomena [www]. This workshop is a UKFN SIG “Droplet and Flow Interactions with Bio-Inspired and Smart Surfaces” event.
  • 29-30/8/18: Halim attended and gave a talk at the UKFN SIG meeting on Fluid Mechanics of Cleaning and Decontamination [www].
  • 26-27/8/18: Prof Haihu Liu from Xi'an Jiaotong University is visiting our group.
  • 20-24/8/18: Kristian Thijssen from Julia Yeomans' group in Oxford is visiting our group.
  • 10/8/2018: A new paper on "Measuring Bilayer Surface Energy and Interface Curvature in Asymmetric Droplet Interface Bilayers" has been submitted for publication. It is a joint work with Nate Barlow, Ali Salehi-Reyhani, Nick Brooks, Laura Barter, Oscar Ces (Imperial College) and Anthony Flemming (Sygenta).
  • 6-10/8/2018: Martin Bauer from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is visiting our group. 
  • 3/8/2018: A new paper on "Inference of complex state transition networks via reconstructed high-dimensional energy landscapes" has been submitted for publication. It is a joint work with Phil Pearce, Aden Forrow, Jörn Dunkel (MIT), Francis Woodhouse (Cambridge) and Ashley Kelly (former summer student). [bioRxiv]
  • 30/7-24/8/2018: George Fearnley, a Durham Physics UG, is doing a summer project in our group.
  • 13/7/2018: Halim is speaking at the BSI Research Showcase event [www].
  • 9/7/2018: Sarah Goodband from SOFI cohort 4 is joining our group as a PhD student. She will work with Halim and Dr Kislon Voitchovsky on liquid infused surfaces. Her project is partially funded by AkzoNobel.
  • 4-5/7/2018: A few of us from the group are attending the SOFI showcase at the University of Edinburgh [www].
  • 28-29/6/2018: Halim gives an invited talk at a UKFN-ECMI workshop on "Nematics at the Meeting Point of Solid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics: New Perspectives and Challenges" at the University of Bath [www].
  • 25-27/6/2018: Halim gives an invited talk at a CECAM workshop on "Nano-structured soft matter: a synergy of approaches to amphiphilic and block copolymer systems" at the University of Lincoln [www].
  • 25-26/6/2018: Halim is quoted in a couple of online articles from detik.com [1][2].
  • 12/6/2018: Subkhi's paper with Ciro Semprebon and Halim on "Drop dynamics on Liquid Infused Surfaces: The Role of the Lubricant Ridge" has been accepted for publication in Langmuir. [arXiv] [www] 
  • 7/6/2018: Halim will attend the IOP Theory of Condensed Matter Annual Meeting at the University of Warwick.
  • 2-17/6/2018: Irwan Ary Dharmawan from University of Padjajaran is visiting our group. 
  • 24-26/5/2018: Halim gives a plenary talk at the "TIM18 Physics Conference" at Timisoara, Romania [www]
  • 21-22/5/2018: Halim gives an invited talk at a workshop on "Mathematical Modelling: From Bio to Quantum" at ICMM, University of Loughborough [www]. Halim is also a scientific advisory board member for ICMM (Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical Modelling).
  • 15/5/2018: Jack Law's paper with Alex Wong, Mark Miller and Halim on "Nucleation on a sphere: the roles of curvature, confinement and ensemble" has been accepted for publication in Molecular Physics (Special Issue for Daan Frenkel). [arXiv] [www]
  • 14-18/5/18: Halim will attend and give a talk at a workshop on "Modeling and Simulation of Interface Dynamics in Fluids/Solids and Applications" in Singapore [www].
  • 9/5/2017: Moritz's paper with Ciro Semprebon, Ali Mazloomi, Ilya Karlin and Halim on "Ternary free-energy entropic lattice Boltzmann model with high density ratio" has been accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. [arXiv] [www] 
  • 7/5/2017: Benjamin's paper with Jack Law, Buddho Chakrabarti and Halim on "Dynamic Morphologies and Stability of Droplet Interface Bilayers" has been accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. [arXiv] [www]
  • 21/4/2018: Halim attended UKFN SIG meeting on "Structural surfaces and liquid/surface interactions" in Edinburgh.
  • 19-23/3/2018: Halim will attend and give a tutorial on Multiphase LBM at "Lattice Boltzmann Methods with openLB Software Lab" in Karlsruhe, Germany. 
  • 26/2/2018: Halim attended the Royal Society's Artificial Cell meeting at Chicheley Hall.
  • 5-16/2/2018: Victor Ambrus from from West University of Timisoara is visiting our group. 
  • 1/2/2018: Peter Pan from National Taiwan University is visiting our group. 
  • 30/1-1/2/2018: Aden Forrow from MIT is visiting our group.
  • 23/1/2018: Our LBM book is in Springer's Top Downloaded New Books in Physics [www].