About Me

I am currently looking for PhD students - email me if you are interested. EPSRC studentships are available for UK students, and there are numerous scholarships for international students available via the University.

I am a scientist and engineer working on the theoretical description of soft solids, biological systems and the mechanics of chains. Much of my current work is on a particular type of active soft solid known as a liquid crystal elastomer, which can serve as an artificial muscle. Previous research successes include explaining the viral chain fountain and my work explaining that the human brain folds into it's iconic shape via a buckling instability.

I currently hold an associate professorship in Cambridge Engineering Department, where I run the Soft Mechanics group and a UKRI "Future Leaders Fellowship." I also have a longstanding affiliation with Cambridge's Theory of Condensed matter physics group, where I was a PhD student, research fellow and early career lecturer.

During my career I have also worked on elasticity and morphogenesis with L. Mahadevan in Harvard University's Applied Math Laboratory (funded by the 1851 Royal Commission). Before that I completed a PhD on liquid-crystal rubber supervised by Mark Warner which included an extended visit to Caltech's Mechanical Engineering Department to collaborate with Kaushik Bhattatcharya.

This is my personal site. Many more details can be found on my research group website, and I also have official web profiles Engineering Department. and in TCM.

Don't confuse me with my Dad, Prof. John D. Biggins, whose website can be found here.