Living and Soft Materials

Soft materials, particularly biological systems are structurally and rheologically complex, with architectures from the scale of molecules to tissues. Researchers in the Princeton Materials Institute explore all aspects of soft materials from their chemical, structural, and thermal properties to their processing into novel and in many cases non-equilibrium states to their applications in areas such as soft robotics or polymer composites.  The use of principles from materials science to determine develop new insights for the control of living and bio-inspired materials, which are inherently multicomponent, disordered, and are often out of equilibrium, is a core focus of our community.

Associated Faculty

Craig B. Arnold
Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Vice Dean for Innovation in the Office of the Dean for Research. Co-Leader, Princeton Alliance for Collaborative Research and Innovation.
Robert H. Austin
Professor of Physics
Ian C. Bourg
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute.
Clifford P. Brangwynne
June K. Wu '92 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Director, Princeton Bioengineering Initiative.
Pierre-Thomas Brun
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Jannette Carey
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Minjie Chen
Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
Stephen Y. Chou
Joseph C. Elgin Professor of Engineering. Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Daniel J. Cohen
Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Sujit S. Datta
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Emily C. Davidson
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Pablo G. Debenedetti
Dean for Research. Class of 1950 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science. Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Jason W. Fleischer
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
John T. Groves
Hugh Stott Taylor Chair of Chemistry. Professor of Chemistry.
Mikko P. Haataja
Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Acting Director, Program in Materials Science and Engineering.
Marcus N. Hultmark
Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Antoine Kahn
Vice Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science. Stephen C. Macaleer '63 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science. Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Andrej Košmrlj
Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Kai Li
Paul M. Wythes '55 P86 and Marcia R. Wythes P86 Professor in Computer Science.
Reza Moini
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Satish C. Myneni
Professor of Geosciences
Athanassios Z. Panagiotopoulos
Susan Dod Brown Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Glaucio H. Paulino
Margareta Engman Augustine Professor of Engineering. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Princeton Materials Institute.
Rodney D. Priestley
Dean of the Graduate School. Pomeroy and Betty Perry Smith Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Robert K. Prud'homme
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Jennifer M. Rampling
Associate Professor of History
Richard A. Register
Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Director, Princeton Materials Institute.
Z. Jason Ren
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. Acting Director & Associate Director for Research, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
Jean E. Schwarzbauer
Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular Biology. Associate Chair, Department of Molecular Biology.
Howard A. Stone
Donald R. Dixon '69 and Elizabeth W. Dixon Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Chair, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
James C. Sturm
Stephen R. Forrest Professor in Electrical Engineering. Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Co-Director, Program in Plasma Science and Technology.
David W. Tank
Henry L. Hillman Professor of Neuroscience.
Salvatore Torquato
Lewis Bernard Professor of Natural Sciences. Professor of Chemistry and the Princeton Materials Institute.
Michael A. Webb
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Nan Yao
Professor of the Practice, Princeton Materials Institute. Director, Imaging and Analysis Center.