Main Page

This is the homepage of the Georgia Tech node of the international Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) student research network. The goal of this network is to foster interaction and collaboration among PoLS researchers within Georgia Tech and amongst other PoLS institutes. Eight core faculty members from the Schools of Biology, Physics, and Mechanical Engineering lead the Georgia Tech PoLS node.

The NSF Physics of Living Systems program sponsors research "exploring the most fundamental physical processes that living systems utilize to perform their functions in dynamic and diverse environments." The aim of PoLS research is to advance our understanding of the living world in a quantitative way, while also seeking to expand the intellectual range of physics paying through the lessons learned from the biological study. For more information about the PoLS virtual institute program see the main PoLS website at http://pols.rice.edu/.

At Georgia Tech PoLS research is carried out across a diversity of biological scales: single-molecule ⇒ cellular ⇒ organismal biophysics. Both theoretical and experimental biophysics research is conducted by core faculty members and affiliated faculty.

Internship Opportunity

This opportunity is open to any PhD students who might be interested. Ideally looking for someone who has completed 2-3 years of their PhD program, has a good grasp of immune biology and is comfortable with programming in MATLAB/SimBiology (more details below).

They can send their resume to Satya for consideration.

Satyaprakash Nayak Pharmacometrician - IC-Proj | Global Pharmacometrics, GIPB Clinical Pharamcology | Pfizer Inc. 10 Fawcett Street, C228, Cambridge, MA | Mailstop: CAM/FAW/02/C228 Phone (O) - (617) 674 6575 | (Mob.) - (607) 229 2015 | email: satyaprakash.nayak@pfizer.com

Pfizer Summer Student Worker Program 2015 Mathematical Modeler, Computational Scientist, or Bioengineer

The Pharmacometrics Function supporting Pfizer’s BioTherapeutics Research Unit is looking for a qualified student with skills with databases, data manipulation, creation of informative graphics, and experience with mathematical modeling. The ideal candidate will work in a team environment and learn skills related to pharmaceutical research use of biomarkers and linkages of those markers in order to answer questions of interest to the pharmaceutical industry. Dependent on the successful candidate’s skills and interests, he or she may assist research scientists to develop a comprehensive pathway database, build new mathematical models linking data from the immune system, modify or validate existing models.

Basic skills:

• Comfort with dataset management, manipulation, and documentation
• Understanding of ordinary differential equation models and parameter fitting
• Interest in the application of mathematical modeling and simulation to biological or pharmaceutical research

Preferred skills (the successful candidate may possess one or more):

• Proficient in MATLAB or R
• Understanding of nonlinear dynamics
• Experience with numerical methods and parameter fitting for nonlinear models
• Versant in molecular and cellular biology (knowledge of physiology, immune system is a plus)

Educational qualifications:

• Undergraduate or graduate student in engineering (any), computer science, applied mathematics, physics, or related pharmaceutical sciences

Location: Cambridge, MA USA

Postdoc positions

Postdoc in Biophysics

Finzi Group Emory University

Job Description: Research may involve experimental design and data acquisition as well as the development and improvement of experimental and data analysis techniques and the application of these techniques to study transcriptional regulation. Most of the projects are collaborative efforts and involve interaction with other members in the lab and external collaborators.

Job Requirements: Candidates for this postdoctoral position must have a Ph.D. in the physical sciences, life science, or related disciplines. Emory University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, and welcomes applications from minority and women candidates. Applications should be submitted to lfinzi@emory.edu and should include a curriculum vitae, a research statement not exceeding two pages, summarizing your past and ongoing research and the names and contact information for three references.

Postdoc in Theoretical Viral Ecology

Prof. Joshua Weitz Georgia Institute of Technology

Start Date: Summer 2014

A postdoctoral scientist position (2+ years) is available at Georgia Tech in the theoretical ecology and quantitative biology group of Dr. Joshua Weitz (School of Biology). The postdoc will lead efforts to develop analytical and computational models of the dynamics and diversity of environmental viruses. Requirements include: (1) PhD in physics, computational biology, applied mathematics, ecology, evolutionary biology or related area; (2) Strong quantitative & computational skills; (3) Excellent communication skills; (4) Interest and experience in collaborative research. Position to start in Summer 2014, start date negotiable, includes competitive salary, benefits, and travel budget. Screening of applicants will begin October 15, 2013, however all applications will be considered until position is filled. To apply, please e-mail Joshua Weitz (jsweitz@gatech.edu) with a curriculum vitae (CV), a one page statement of how your research interests are related to this position, and contact information for 3 references. More information on the group’s research can be found at http://ecotheory.biology.gatech.edu Georgia Tech is located in Atlanta, GA in the Midtown neighborhood – a vibrant, urban community: http://www.midtownatl.com/.

Physics of Living Systems @ GT Postdocs

The Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) Student Research Network at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) invites applications for multiple PoLS Postdoctoral Fellowships. The successful applicants will join the GT node of the National Science Foundation funded Student Research Network. Successful applicants will work with faculty in the GT node on projects at the interface of physics and biology. Candidates with backgrounds in biological physics, biorobotics, soft condensed matter, and nonlinear dynamics are encouraged to apply. Candidates are expected to have a Ph.D. in physics, biophysics, applied mathematics, mechanical engineering, or a related field. Ideal candidates will have a demonstrated ability to conduct independent high-impact research.

Appointments are available immediately. To apply, please e-mail info@pols.gatech.edu with a curriculum vitae (CV) along with a one page statement of how your research interests are related to this position. In addition, please arrange to have two letters of recommendation e-mailed to the same address. Applications will be considered immediately and the search will continue until all positions are filled.

Georgia Tech is a unit of the University System of Georgia and an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and requires compliance with the Immigration Control Reform Act of 1986. Applications from women and underrepresented minorities are encouraged. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US.

Announcements

• 24-Mar-2015 Congratulations to Prof. JC Gumbart on being awarded an NSF CAREER award!

• 18-March-2015 Congratulations to Henry Astley on his recent publication in PNAS with Prof. Hu and Prof. Goldman. You can find Henry's PNAS publication here

• 17-March-2015 Daniel Kovari from the Curtis Group has successfully defended his dissertation. Dan will be post-docing with Laura Finzi at Emory starting in the Fall. Congratulations Dr. Kovari!

• 14-Jan-2015 Prof. Dan Goldman was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). "For contributions to biological physics and nonlinear dynamics at the interface of biomechanics, robotics, and granular physics".

• 10-Oct-2014 Congratulations to the Goldman group for their recent Science Publication, Sidewinding with minimal slip: snake and robot ascent of sandy slopes!

• 26-Dec-13 Congratulation to Dr. Dan Goldman, recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (see the press release here). This award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

• Hamid Marvi will be joining Professor Metin Sitti's lab at department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University as a postdoc starting January 2014.

• 05-Nov-13 Louis McLane presented his thesis defense entitled, "Probing the structure of the pericellular matrix via

novel biophysical assays," in IBB 1128 - Suddath seminar room.

• 30-Oct-13 Sarah Sharpe presented her thesis defense entitled, "Control of burial and subsurface locomotion in particulate substrates," in IBB, room 1128 (Suddath Seminar Room).

• 10-18-13 Several students (Wenbin Wei from Curtis lab and Tung Le from Kim lab) won the Molecular Biophysics senior student supplement.

• 27-Sept-13 Joshua Weitz and his collaborative team were awarded a NSF Dimensions in Biodiversity grant. Please click the following link that gives more details,

http://www.biology.gatech.edu/news/release.html?nid=240951.

• 07-22-13 Gabriel Mitchell presented his thesis defense entitled, "Quantifying Enzymatic Lysis in Gram-positive Bacteria," in the ES&T Building, room L1125.

• 05-08-13 Tung Le from Harold Kim's lab has recently published a publication, entitled, Measuring Shape-Dependent Looping Probability of DNA.

T. T. Le and H.D. Kim. 2013. Measuring Shape-Dependent Looping Probability of DNA. Biophysical Journal, 104:2068–2076.

• 04-18-13: The James S. McDonnell Foundation is seeking applicants for the 2013 Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards in Complex Systems Research. For more information see the listing in the newly created job board.

• 02-15-13: Sarah Sharpe (Goldman Lab) placed 2nd for Best Student Presentation in the Division of Comparative Biology at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) Conference. See the announcement on their website.

• 02-01-13: The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign will be hosting the 2013 Physics of Living Systems Summer School, July 15th-20th. See their website: http://www.cplc.illinois.edu/summerschool2013/ for more details.

• 01-31-13: The Lake Como School of Advanced Studies in Complex Systems (Villa del Grumello, Como, Italy) will be hosting a workshop covering “Quantitative Laws of Genome Evolution” from June 27- July 5, 2013. Registration opens in February 2013. See flier for details.

• 01-22-13: The PoLS web site, which includes the BLOG is now ready for use, but it requires you to register first.

If you have not already registered, visit: http://pols.rice.edu

• 11-16-12 there will be two talks given by Prof. Robert Dudley entitled From Ants to Hummingbirds: The Evolution of Flight. Information about the talk can be found here and here. A lunch for PoLS student members and the speaker will be provided after the talk.

• 11-15-12: For those students interested, the Siements Competition in Math, Science & Technology will be held on the Georgia Tech campus this weekend. As described on the competition website "America’s next generation of young innovators presents their awe-inspiring research projects to expert university judges." More information can be found here.

Signing-up for the email list

To receive email notification about upcoming GaTech-PoLS events and reminders about the weekly talks, sign-up for the email list. You can sign-up by simply sending a message

To: pols-request@lists.gatech.edu
Subject: subscribe

After you have requested subscription the list moderators can approve you. Once that happens you will get a confirmation email.

Core faculty list

Core Faculty

PI	Website	Contact
Jennifer Curtis	Cell Physics Lab (Curtis Group)	jennifer.curtis[at]physics.gatech.edu
Flavio Fenton	Department Profile	flavio.fenton [at] physics.gatech.edu
Daniel I. Goldman	CRAB Lab (Goldman Group)	daniel.goldman[at]physics.gatech.edu
James Gumbart	Simbac (Gumbart Group)	gumbart[at]physics.gatech.edu
David Hu	Hoogle (Hu Group)	hu [at] me.gatech.edu
Harold Kim	Department Profile	harold.kim [at] physics.gatech.edu
Simon Sponberg	Sponberg Group	sponberg [at] physics.gatech.edu
Joshua Weitz	Department Profile	jsweitz[at] gatech.edu
Kurt Wiesenfeld	Department profile	kurt.wiesenfeld[at] physics.gatech.edu

Support

This network is supported by the NSF Physics of Living Systems program within the physics division. The student research network is a part of the NSF Science across virtual institutes program to encourage interaction among researchers across many universities.