Members & Research

Professor Weitz and his group study the physics of soft condensed matter, materials easily deformed by external stresses, electric, magnetic or gravitational fields, and even thermal fluctuations. These materials typically possess structures much larger than atomic or molecular scales; the structure and dynamics at these mesoscopic scales determine macroscopic structure and bulk properties. The group studies both synthetic and biological materials with interests ranging from fundamental physics to technological applications and from basic materials questions to specific biological problems. In the area of biology, Weitz studies the mechanical properties of biopolymer networks that serve as in vitro models for the mechanics of the cytoskeletal network. Behavior observed in these models are correlated with properties measured directly within cells. The Weitz group also explores the forces generated by cells on the surrounding extracellular matrix and is developing microfluidic devices for the study of evolution at the single gene level.