<html aria-label="message body"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div>Dear Soft Matter & Complex Systems Colleagues and Friends,</div><div><br></div><div>While 1 May is Labour Day, and 8 May is our departmental Physicists’ Day, there will be no seminar for the coming weeks. We will resume our normal schedule on 15 May, with a round of Student Talks</div><div><br></div><div>In the meantime, I would like to advertise a special seminar on <b>Thursday 7 May at 11:15 in room B0.14.</b> Our guest will be</div><div><br></div><div><b>Douglas R. Brumley</b> (University of Melbourne, Australia)</div><div><br></div><div>who will give a talk</div><div><br></div><div><b>Nutrient transport in dynamic microenvironments</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>Abstract: </b>The capacity for organisms to exchange nutrients with one another and their surroundings underpins microbial symbioses, biogeochemical cycling in the ocean, and the healthy functioning of corals. Here, we explore three-dimensional active transport by ciliary arrays around coral surfaces, using a combination of mathematical modelling, non-invasive measurements of ciliary distributions, and quantification of flow fields and spatial oxygen profiles. We also examine how individual bacteria are capable of exchanging nutrients through chemotactic tracking of fine-scale chemical trails exuded by cells and highlight how nutrient transport and chemical partnerships are influenced by fluid flows.</div><div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br></div></div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bio: </span>Douglas Brumley is an Associate Professor in Applied Mathematics at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research group utilises mathematical modelling, lab-based experiments, and field observations to address open questions in biology. Douglas completed a PhD in Mathematics at the University of Cambridge (Gates Cambridge Scholarship), and Postdoctoral Fellowships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, and ETH Zürich, Switzerland, before moving to the University of Melbourne where he has developed an interdisciplinary research group at the interface of biology and mathematics. Supported by research grants and Fellowships — for example from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Human Frontier Science Program and Australian Research Council — Douglas’ group uses quantitative microscopy and mathematical modelling to investigate fluid flows in biology, ranging from corals, plants, gut microbiota and the open ocean.</div><div><br></div><div>We hope to see many of you there!</div><div><br></div><div>Jonasz Słomka</div><div>Maciej Lisicki</div><div><br></div><div></div></body></html>