UCLan reports on Andrei’s visit to Japan.

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INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR UCLAN PHYSICIST

A professor from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has gained international recognition for his research into computational physics.

Andrei Zvelindovsky, Professor of Computational and Theoretical Physics, has received the prestigious Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Invitation Fellowship 2013. This highly competitive Fellowship is awarded to international authorities in science who are invited to share their expertise with Japanese colleagues.

He said: “I was very pleased to receive the JSPS Invitation Fellowship, which is clear recognition of the computational physics research we do at UCLan from leading Japanese scientists.”

As part of the program Andrei travelled extensively throughout Japan during May- June 2013, giving a series of seminars on computer modelling of soft nano-materials.

During his tour Andrei spoke at a number of top Japanese institutions including the universities of Kyoto, Nagoya and Tohoku in Sendai. He also spoke at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in the world-famous science city of Tsukuba, attended the National Polymer Meeting and was a guest speaker at a workshop of Japan’s largest industrial consortium around soft matter computer modelling, OCTA.

Reflecting on the seminars Andrei commented: “In recent years scientists have understood that in order to achieve a new level of technological revolution we need to learn more from nature and use methods similar to ones developed in the course of our biological evolution.

“That involves, for example, the use of synthetic polymeric molecules, which have the same main feature as the molecules from which our bodies are made. They are able to self-organise into sophisticated nano-structures. The goal of our research is how to guide this process towards a desired structure. The benefits can be enormous, from saving energy to new medical treatments.”

He added: “In our group we developed a theory on how to use a conventional electric field to manipulate soft nano-structures. That theory has now made it into the famous Japanese computer code OCTA, which is publicly available and is used in dozens of chemical engineering industries.”

From left to right: Dr Takashi Honda, Andrei, Professor Toshihiro Kawakatsu.