Biography
I am a Research & Teaching academic at Murdoch University in Western Australia in the School of School Mathematics, Statistics, Chemistry and Physics. I am also an Honorary Associate Professor at the Australian National University.
I refer to my field of research as ‘Materials geometry’, that is, the materials science and physics of complex nano- or micro-structured materials addressed through the goggles of geometry, including hyperbolic, computational and stochastic geometry. A particular research focus are ordered network-like nanogeometries based on triply-periodic surfaces and nets, particularly the so-called Gyroid structure. I investigate their formation or growth by self-assembly or in biological systems, and their resulting functional properties, including photonics, transport and mechanics. I enjoy interdisciplinary work, between mathematical modeling, physics, physical chemistry, biology and materials science.
I also enjoy opportunities to shape international research communities and to contribute to the governance of the higher education sector. I have done so through my past and current roles, including on Murdoch University’s Senate and Academic Council and in the the Australian Institute of Physics.
Education
2013 Habilitation (Dr. rer. nat. habil.), Physics, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
2005 PhD, Physical Sciences, Australian National University (pdf of thesis)
2000 Diplom-Physik, Universität Köln, Germany, with minor subjects (Wahlpflichtfächer) Mathematics and computational physics
Employment
Mar 2015 – present: Murdoch University, Mathematics and Statistics (Mar 15 – Oct 18: Senior Lecturer; Oct 18 – Mar 22: Associate Professor, Mar 22-present: Professor)
Oct 2006 – Feb 2015: Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Theoretische Physik (Oct 06 – Nov 13: Akad. Rat / lecturer; Dec 13 – Sept 14 Akad. Oberrat / senior lecturer; Oct 14 – Feb 15 Professor i.V.)
Feb 2005 – Aug 2006: Australian National University, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Jun 1999 – Jun 2000: Forschungszentrum Jülich, John Von Neumann Institute for Computing, Forschungszentrum Jülich (Research Assistant)
Oct 1993 – Dec 1994: School for Mentally Handicapped Children (now Förderschule Redwitzstraße), Cologne, Germany (Class room assistant, as replacement for compulsory military service)
Visiting fellowships & other affiliations
Dec 2020 – Dec 2025: Honorary Associate Professor, Department Applied Maths, Research School of Physical Science, Australian National University
Dec 2023-Feb 2024: Visiting professor at the Danish Technical University (DTU) and Copenhagen University (Niels Bohr Institute)
Jan-Jul 2019: Visiting scientist at Copenhagen University (Niels Bohr Institute and Department of Food Science) and Lund University (Physical Chemistry)
Feb 2011 – Dec 2020: visiting scholar (campus visitor), Department Applied Maths, Research School of Physical Science, Australian National University
2013 – 2018 ‘Privatdozent‘, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
2013 – 2018 Member of the Cluster of Excellence “Engineering of Advanced Materials“
2012: visiting fellow, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne (2 months)
2011 – 2018: Founding member and principal investigator of DFG funded research group “Geometry and Physics of Spatial random systems”
Jun – Aug 2000: Visiting research student, Laboratory of Physics, Technical University Helsinki (HUT, now Aalto University), Finland (Host: Prof Mikko Alava)
Professional Service
2021 – present: Elected member of the Academic Council of Murdoch University (second election term: 2024-2026)
2019 – Jun 2024: Member of the National Executive of the Australian Institute of Physics, as Special Projects Manager
Aug 2022 – Mar 2024: Member of the People and Safety Committee, Murdoch University (appointed)
Mar 2018 – Mar 2024: Elected member of the Senate of Murdoch University (re-elected in March 2021 for a second term 2021-2024)
Mar 2018 – Mar 2024: Member of the Honorary Awards and Ceremonial Committee, Murdoch University
Mar 2023 – Dec 2023: Chair of the Academic Courses and Admissions Committee, Murdoch University
2021 – 2022: Member of the selection committee for the next Vice Chancellor, Murdoch University
Mar 2023 – Dec 2023: Deputy President of the Academic Council of Murdoch University (elected)
2017 – 2018: Chair of Organising Committee for 2018 AIP Congress (9-13 Dec 2018, Perth).
Jan 2017 – Dec 2018: Chair of the Western Australian Branch of the Australian Institute of Physics.
2017: Member of the GSOFT Sorting Committee of the Scientific Programm of the 2018 March Meeting American Physical Society (APS).
Apr 2016 – Dec 2016: Member of Murdoch University’s Academic Council (interim term, elected)
2016: Deputy Chair (2016) of the Western Australian Branch of the Australian Institute of Physics.
2016 – 2018: Member of the Dean’s Advisory Group of the School of Engineering and IT, Murdoch University
2016 – 2018: Member of the Research Committee of the School of Engineering and IT, Murdoch University
2017: Member of the Murdoch University Childcare Association Committee
Public commentary on higher education matters
I have commented publicly on various matters related to higher education, Australia’s university and research sector, and international student recruitment. A listing of my public commentary and publications can be found at this link.
In 2019, I appeared as interviewee on the ABC Four Corners episode “Cash Cows” which covered international student recruitment practices at some Australian universities. After the program aired, a dispute over my Senate membership emerged resulting in a court case between Murdoch University and myself. This became a matter of significant public interest; see my public statement when the court matter was resolved and numerous articles in the ABC, The Guardian, The Australian, The West Australian, Times Higher Education, WA Today, Australian Financial Review, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, etc.
Professional Development
2021: Mental First Aid (accredited course)
2018: Australian Institute of Company Director (AICD) course “Foundation of University Governance”, Perth 14-16 Nov 2018
Conference organisation
I have contributed to the organisation of about 10 international conferences and have organised or co-organised about 10 focus sessions at international professional meetings including the APS March Meetings, the MRS Fall Meetings and the Fruehjahrstagung of the DPG. See “Organisation of conferences and focus sessions” for details.
Amongst the conferences for which I was chair or co-chair are:
Dec 2018 Australian Institute of Physics Bianniel Congress, Chair of the organising committee and member of programme committee, 9-13 December 2018
Sept 2016 Organisation of Australian Academy of Sciences Boden Research Conference 2016 “Animal, Vegetal, Mineral‘, 19-23 Sept 2016, Yallingup, Western Australia (more information)
Sept 2014, chair (jointly with Thorsten Poeschel) of organising committee of conference Jam-Packed: Packing and Jamming of Particulate Systems , Erlangen/Germany, 15-18 Sept 2014
Oct 2011, chair (jointly with Stephen Hyde) of conference organisation committee Geometry of interfaces – topological complexity in materials and biology, Primosten, Croatia, 3–7 October 2011
Scientific publications
See Publications” link for a list of my publications (or here for google Scholar, ORCID, Scopus Author ID or Research ID). I have published over 100 scientific articles in total, with the large majority of these in peer-reviewed scientific journals. My publications have been cited over 5,000 times, with a google scholar H-index of 38.
Invited and plenary presentations
I have presented around 50 invited talks at conferences, including at key professional meetings such as the APS March Meetings, the Faraday Discussion Meetings or the MRS Fall meetings. I have also presented numerous seminars and colloquia. See the page “Talks and Presentations“.
Outreach and public lectures
See “Public lectures, Outreach & Exhibitions” for my scientific outreach activities.
Editorial activities
2017 Co-organiser of the June 2017 issue of Interface Focus “Growth and function of complex forms in biological tissue and synthetic self-assembly” (jointly with Stephen Hyde, Myfanwy Evans and Bodo Wilts)
2012 Co-organiser of the October 2012 issue of Interface Focus (“Geometry of interfaces: topological complexity in biology and materials” (jointly with Stephen Hyde)
Awards & Stipends
Feb 2024 Alan H Schoen Award (Citation: “for outstanding Contributions to the Understanding of Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces and Gyroids”)
Nov 2021 Vice Chancellor’s Excellence in Research & Innovation Award, PhD Thesis category, jointly awarded (as supervisor/student tandem) with PhD student Dr Philipp Schoenhoefer
Dec 2019 (*) Named by the Times Higher Education among the People of the year who mattered in higher education in 2019 (* not a formal award)
Sept 2019 Fellow of the American Physical Society (Citation: ‘For contributions to geometrical principles in soft matter physics, particularly bicontinuous phases’)
Apr 2019 Camurus Lipid Research Foundation Fellowship Award for “providing important contributions to our understanding of curvature and structure in nature”
Jun 2017 Dean’s Award, School of Engineering and IT, Murdoch University
Nov 2014 Emmy-Noether Prize for outstanding habilitation work at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg
Jul 2010 Award for Excellence in Teaching by the Physics Department of the University Erlangen (“Preis für eine hervorragend evaluierte Lehrveranstaltung”)
Aug 2010 (*) People’s choice award for mathematical puzzle toy In finiTiles at the Big Research Ideas @ Work competition as part of the Australian Science Festival, August 2010 (* the recipient of this prize was Stuart Ramsden, for joint work with Vincent Craig, Tim Senden and myself)
Oct 2003 First prize for the best student presentation at the Australian Partnership for Computing Conference 03, Gold Coast
Nov 2000 International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS) provided by the Australian Government Department of Education, Training and Youth Aff airs, PhD Scholarship for study in 2001-05