Cambridge Physics Centre Lectures – January 2027

Programming materials, from nano to macro

How do you build synthetic cells from fragments of DNA? How can nanoparticles change the behaviour of light? How can skin mimics be designed to improve medical data? And what do all these questions have to do with one another? 
In the classroom, we’re taught the sciences as separate disciplines. But for many researchers, the boundaries of where “physics” ends, and “chemistry” or “biology” begins are blurred. This lecture explores self-assembly, thermodynamics, and light-matter interactions, and will demonstrate that these physical principles can be used to programme how materials look and behave across multiple length scales and application areas. From synthetic cells, to optical metamaterials, to bio-photonics, this lecture will show that a degree in one STEM subject doesn’t have to limit the fields you work in and what you research.