Ricard Alert Zenón

Research Group Leader at @mpi_pks and @csbdresden. Previously @HFSP postdoc @Princeton, and PhD @FisicaUB. Biophysics theory and active matter physics.

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

Check our new paper @PhysRevE showing how spatial variability in growth affects the buckling transition! Useful way for tissues to control buckling just by localizing growth. With Rahul G. Ramachandran and @lepuslapis @mpi_pks. See Pierre's thread below!

https://t.co/mQRl2W8MpG

[Pierre Haas @lepuslapis]

It's great to see this now published @PhysRevE!
https://t.co/gjsgtMKTV7
See below for a thread summarising the preprint - but of course you should read the paper for some solid mechanics...

[Physical Review E @PhysRevE]

Analytical calculations and numerical sampling reveals the effects of spatially disordered growth on buckling instability of elastic rods, showing how biological systems could trigger or avoid buckling and thereby control a key driver of morphogenesis.

🔗 https://t.co/lPgTAGBmMp

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

Check out this opportunity for summer internships in biological physics! Please apply before Dec. 9th to work for 3 months with one of the groups @mpi_pks.

[Pierre Haas @lepuslapis]

Fully funded summer #internships in #biophysics @mpi_pks in Dresden - apply now to join our group (or the groups of @RicardAlert, @c_kurzthaler, @mpopov1c, or Frank Jülicher) over the summer of 2025!

Deadline: 9th of December, 2024.

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

@murozmar @NatureCellBio @BUmechanobio @BioDesignCenter @wyssinstitute Congrats, Marina! Very interesting! Is it durotaxis in metastasis?

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

@TheSquishyLab @softmatter Congrats, Sujit! Very happy for you!

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

@ShrivastavaLab Yes, Flavo are so fast! Amazing! We mention them too!

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

New preprint! We introduce active screws: a new class of active particles that propel by spinning on a substrate. There are several examples: from from gliding microtubules to soil bacteria, and even magnetically-driven colloidal helices.
https://t.co/qNJMvF7W4f

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

This was work with Debarghya Banerjee, which we started when he was @mpi_pks. If you know of other examples of active screws, or you wonder about their collective behavior, please let me know!

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

We analyzed data from our previous work with @KSCopenhagen, Ned Wingreen, and @shaevitz on colonies of M. xanthus.
https://t.co/tXOo9DfQgA

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

We found that there are small chiral flows around topological defects, with a chiral activity about an order of magnitude smaller than the achiral one. Could slow rolling motion of the cells explain it?

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

If the screws also roll sideways, they produce chiral active stresses. So, rolling is a mechanism whereby the chirality of individual constituents can give rise to collective chiral effects.

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

We propose a microscopic model for active screws and we coarse-grain it. We show that a collective of active screws behaves like an active nematic.

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

In other types of active chiral particles, the axis of rotation and propulsion are different. In active screws, the axis of rotation and propulsion are the same.

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

@SteMartiniani @IUPAP_physics @nyu_csmr @SimonsCenterNYU @NYUPhysics @nyuchemistry @NYUScience Congrats, Stefano! :)

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

📢 The call for distinguished @mpi_pks fellows is open! We provide excellent 3-year postdoc positions that allow full independence to outstanding candidates. Please apply!

[MPI-PKS Dresden @mpi_pks]

Opening for a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow @mpi_pks ! This is an independent Fellowship with free choice of research topics and individual appearance on our research page https://t.co/MPWyw97kaT , apply by 15 November:
https://t.co/SY5uzzHThw

[MPI-PKS Dresden @mpi_pks]

Cells move in groups often led by specialised leader cells. Work @NaturePhysics by @RicardAlert @mpi_pks & collaborators shows that leader cells cannot autonomously guide groups: followers must contribute to build a global force asymmetry for group motion. https://t.co/QeFEvEHH66

[Universitat de Barcelona @UniBarcelona]

#RecercaUB | 🦠 Un estudi demostra que en el moviment col·lectiu cel·lular hi participen totes les cèl·lules, sense cèl·lules guia, com es pensava fins ara.

🔬 Lidera @XavierTrepat, de la #UniBarcelona i @IBECBarcelona.

👉https://t.co/kNTmykBZPh

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

Original paper here: https://t.co/AreBFi7ztT

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

👉News piece about our recent work @NaturePhysics on cell trains! @LeoneRossetti in @XavierTrepat's lab generated leader cells with light. We used these experiments to develop a model for how asymmetries in traction forces drive collective cell migration.

[Parc Científic de Barcelona @PCB_UB]

#PCBCommunity | A team led by @IBECBarcelona has studied the migratory movement of cells using light control.

➡️Results show there is no leader cell directing the collective movement, as believed so far, but that all cells participate in the process.

📝@NaturePhysics @XavierTrepat @UniBarcelona @CampusClinicUB #IBEC #ICREA @CIBERBBN @LeoneRossetti #MSCA @KingsCollegeLon @RicardAlert @mpi_pks @csbdresden

To learn more ➡️ https://t.co/Ji3DNVs89G

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

@AntoineDeblais Congrats!

[Ricard Alert Zenón @RicardAlert]

📢 IgNobel prize for active matter! The physics of drunk worms! 🪱

[Institute of Physics @IoP_UvA]

Congratulations to Daniel Bonn, Antoine Deblais, Tess Heeremans and Sander Woutersen! They won an Ig Nobel prize for their research in which they investigate the behaviour of drunk worms as a particular form of active matter. https://t.co/NXrPeub9Y2