Presenter:
Dr. Nikta Fakhri, Ph.D.
Thomas D. & Virginia W. Cabot Career Development
Associate Professor of Physics,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Talk title:
Broken symmetries in living matter
Abstract:
Active processes in living systems create a novel class of non-equilibrium material composed of many interacting parts that individually consume energy and collectively generate motion or mechanical stress. In this talk, I will discuss experimental tools and conceptual frameworks we develop to uncover laws governing order, phase transitions, and fluctuations in systems in which individual components break time-reversal symmetry.
Short Bio:
Nikta Fakhri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at MIT and Physics of Living Systems Group. She completed her undergraduate degree at the Sharif University of Technology and her Ph.D. at Rice University. She was a Human Frontier Science Program postdoctoral fellow at Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen, Germany before joining MIT. Nikta is an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Physics. She is the recipient of the 2018 IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Biological Physics and the 2019 NSF CAREER Award.
