Physics of Soft and Partially Ordered Matter

Theory and Simulation Group

Our research explores selected topics in the general field of soft matter, especially,  focusing on complex soft materials, topology and geometry, active matter and bio-systems, soft- and bio-photonics, and their applications. Specifically, our main research topics include topological defects in soft matter, colloids and complex fluids, soft matter optics and photonics, active matter, dynamics of complex fluids, liquid crystal emulsions, protein aggregation in biopharmaceuticals, liquid crystal elastomers, interactions on spherical lattices and caloric effects in soft matter. The methodological approaches include macroscopic phenomenology, topology, and microscopic molecular modeling.

Latest News

FRLR-ILCS Award

March 2025 - Peter Ropač recieves Facebook Reality Labs Research Award - Gold Award

Article published in PNAS

March 2025 - Saikat Das, Seyed Reza Seyednejad, Simon Čopar, and Surajit Dhara published a paper in PNAS: Topologically reconfigurable nematic emulsions.


Inside Front Cover of Advanced Optical Materials

February 2025 - The paper Liquid Crystal 3D Optical Waveguides Based on Photoalignment by Peter Ropač,  Yu-Tung Hsiao,  Brecht Berteloot,  Yera Ussembayev,  Inge Nys,  Miha Ravnik,  Kristiaan Neyts was featured on the inside front cover of Advanced Optical Materials.