Emerging Soft Matter Excellence Award Session

Presentations

• Diffusiophoresis-enhanced instabilities

  ORAL · Invited

  March 16, 2026, 3:30 PM – March 16, 2026, 4:06 PM

  Publication: [1] Mirfendereski and Gupta, Cell Press 2025 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102513)
  [2] Alessio and Gupta, Science Advances 2023 (https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj2457)
  [3] Mirfendereski, Bayer and Gupta, under preparation

  Presenters

  • Ankur Gupta

    • University of Colorado, Boulder

  Authors

  • Ankur Gupta

    • University of Colorado, Boulder

  View abstract →

• Capturing stress in motion: Novel photoelastic techniques for high-inertia granular flows

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 4:06 PM – March 16, 2026, 4:18 PM

  Presenters

  • Benjamin McMillan

    • University of Cambridge

  Authors

  • Benjamin McMillan

    • University of Cambridge

  • Stuart B Dalziel

    • University of Cambridge

  • Nathalie M Vriend

    • University of Colorado Boulder
    • CU Boulder

  View abstract →

• Modular Synthesis and Facile Network Formation in Catechol Functionalized Block Copolymers

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 4:18 PM – March 16, 2026, 4:30 PM

  Presenters

  • Fahed Albreiki

    • University of California, Los Angeles

  Authors

  • Fahed Albreiki

    • University of California, Los Angeles

  • Samanvaya Srivastava

    • University of California, Los Angeles

  View abstract →

• Colloids with a Twist: Tuning Bulk Mechanical Behavior with Shape-Shifting Helical Colloids

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 4:30 PM – March 16, 2026, 4:42 PM

  Presenters

  • Nicholas L Cuccia

    • Harvard University

  Authors

  • Nicholas L Cuccia

    • Harvard University

  • Daniel Ravicz

    • University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Zvonimir Dogic

    • University of California, Santa Barbara

  View abstract →

• Wave-mediated capillary assembly on a fluid interface

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 4:42 PM – March 16, 2026, 4:54 PM

  Presenters

  • Jack-William Barotta

    • Brown University

  Authors

  • Jack-William Barotta

    • Brown University

  • Sarah Nguyen

    • Brown University

  • Maisie McLaughlin

    • Columbia University

  • Daniel M Harris

    • Brown University

  View abstract →

• Sculpting Matter with Sound: From Tunable Interactions to Rotational Dynamics in Acoustically Levitated Systems

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 4:54 PM – March 16, 2026, 5:06 PM

  Publication: Electrostatics overcome acoustic collapse to assemble, adapt, and activate levitated matter

  Presenters

  • Sue Shi

    • Institute of Science and Technology Austria

  Authors

  • Sue Shi

    • Institute of Science and Technology Austria

  • Galien Grosjean

    • Institute of Science and Technology Austria

  • Scott Waitukaitis

    • Institute of Science and Technology Austria

  View abstract →

• Symmetry and Memory in Driven Disordered Systems

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 5:06 PM – March 16, 2026, 5:18 PM

  Publication: Symmetry and Memories in Driven Disordered Systems (https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.11825)

  Presenters

  • Surendra Padamata

    • Pennsylvania State University

  Authors

  • Surendra Padamata

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Nathan C Keim

    • Penn State

  View abstract →

• Influence of Geometric Confinement and Interfacial Forces on Puncture

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 5:18 PM – March 16, 2026, 5:30 PM

  Presenters

  • Jennifer R Quigley

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst

  Authors

  • Jennifer R Quigley

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • Gabriela M Lana

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • Shelly Peyton

    • Tufts University

  • Hsu Shwe Yee Naing

    • Polymer Science & Engineering Dept at University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • Alfred J Crosby

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst

  View abstract →

• A Proliferating Nematic that Collecitvely Senses an Anisotropic Substrate

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 5:30 PM – March 16, 2026, 5:42 PM

  Publication: Preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.11754
  Submitted manuscript to PRX Life

  Presenters

  • Toshi Parmar

    • University of California, Santa Barbara

  Authors

  • Toshi Parmar

    • University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Fridtjof Brauns

    • University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Max-Planck-Institut for the Physics of Complex Systems

  • Yimin Luo

    • Yale University

  • M. Cristina Marchetti

    • University of California, Santa Barbara

  View abstract →

• Glioblastoma Brain Tumors Organize as Active Nematic Liquid Crystals with Novel Implications

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 5:42 PM – March 16, 2026, 5:54 PM

  Publication: Three-dimensional topological defects and quasi-long-range order in biological liquid crystals. Anna E. Argento... Carles Blanch-Mercader, Pedro R. Lowenstein, et al. bioRxiv 2025.04.14.648711; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.04.14.648711

  Presenters

  • Anna E Argento

    • University of Michigan

  Authors

  • Anna E Argento

    • University of Michigan

  • Molly West

    • University of Michigan

  • Maria Luisa R Varela

    • University of Michigan

  • Quentin Chaboche

    • Institut Curie

  • Molly Rutherford

    • University of Michigan

  • Daiana E Perez Visnuk

    • The University of Michigan
    • University of Michigan

  • Marta R Edwards

    • University of Michigan

  • Gurveer Singh

    • University of Michigan

  • Binyamin Jacoobovitz

    • University of Michigan

  • Daniel A Beller

    • Johns Hopkins University

  • Maria G Castro

    • University of Michigan

  • Carles Blanch-Mercader

    • Institut Curie

  • Pedro R Lowenstein

    • University of Michigan

  View abstract →

• Spin-and-Tumble Particles (STPs): Local Alignment and Collective Mixing in Starfish Embryo Swarms

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 5:54 PM – March 16, 2026, 6:06 PM

  Presenters

  • Yuchao Chen

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Authors

  • Yuchao Chen

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Shreyas Gokhale

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Alexandru Bacanu

    • Harvard University

  • Tom Burkart

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Julien Tailleur

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Nikta Fakhri

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  View abstract →

• Crack front ligament as elastic energy reservoir in fracture of brittle hydrogels

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 6:06 PM – March 16, 2026, 6:18 PM

  Publication: Wei, X., & Kolinski, J. M. (2025). Falling through the cracks: energy storage along segmented brittle crack fronts. arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.19406.

  Presenters

  • Xinyue Wei

    • Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

  Authors

  • Xinyue Wei

    • Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

  • John M Kolinski

    • Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

  View abstract →

• Bending Cutoff Governs Phononic Band Gaps in Elastic Beam Lattices

  ORAL

  March 16, 2026, 6:18 PM – March 16, 2026, 6:30 PM

  Presenters

  • Kwangmin Lee

    • Johns Hopkins University

  Authors

  • Kwangmin Lee

    • Johns Hopkins University

  • Charles Emmett Maher

    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • Katherine A Newhall

    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • Ryan C Hurley

    • Johns Hopkins University

  View abstract →