Opportunities

Graduate Students

Open position and looking to fill by the year end

We are always looking for motivated graduate students interested in experimental soft condensed matter and/or active matter.

If you are interested in physics and you also want to find out how physics can translate to other fields like biology, polymer science, fluid mechanics and even some of the engineering questions, then soft matter is the field for you. To apply to our lab you should apply to the Department of Physics in the College of Natural Sciences at UMass, Amherst. Contact Prof. Manasa Kandula if you want to know more about the current research in the lab. To apply for UMass grad program visit Physics admission page.

Systems we study (colloids and polymers) and the experimental tools we use (microscopy and image analysis) fall at the cross roads of physics and other disciplines. So, we welcome students from other departments if you are interested in doing some projects with us.

Undergraduate and Master Students


Undergraduate Independent study research opportunities for Fall 2021

Projects on Soft and Bio-inspired material physics:

  1. Investigating particle mobility on complex surfaces: This project involves making colloidal assemblies and studying particle diffusion on the assemblies. (Experimental project; Minimum 2 credits)

  2. Synthesis of self-propelling colloids: Involves adapting existing chemical synthesis to make new kinds of particles and subsequently characterizing the shape and motion of the particles using microscopy. (Experimental project; Minimum 2 credits)

  3. Data analysis project: Developing algorithms for extracting statistical features of patchy colloidal particles from microscopy image series. Basic programming skills in Python or Matlab are preferred. (Minimum 3 credits)


If you want to learn more about the projects email: hkandula@umass.edu

Master Students

If you looking for opportunities to get a hands on experience in soft matter experimental research or in single-particle data analysis, we have projects for you. Our projects could be of interest to students from Physics, Chemistry and Engineering disciplines. Write to Prof. Manasa Kandula to know more about the projects.

Or if you are simply curious to know what is soft matter and what kind of research goes on in soft matter experimental labs, you are welcome to visit us.

Collaborations

We like to venture into new research directions and hence we are open to projects that lie at interface of soft matter physics and other disciplines. If you are interested in collaborations, please contact Prof. Kandula.