Dr Giorgio Volpe
Associate Professor
Dept of Chemistry
Faculty of Maths & Physical Sciences
- Joined UCL
- 1st Sep 2014
Research summary
We are a group of biophysicists, chemists and physicists. We study artificial and biological soft active matter using a combination of techniques from microscopy, photonics, statistical physics and nanofabrication. We are interested in its fundamental behaviours and its applications to healthcare and material sciences.
Education
- Higher Education Academy
- Doctorate, Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy | 2015
- Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya
- Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy | 2012
- Universita degli Studi di Padova
- Other higher degree, Master of Science | 2007
- Universita degli Studi di Padova
- First Degree, Bachelor of Science | 2005
Biography
Dr Volpe is an Associate Professor in the Physical Chemistry Section. He first joined UCL as a Lecturer in 2014. Relying on forefront photonics and fabrication methods, his current research interests focus on the experimental and numerical study of far-from-equilibrium behaviors emerging in active soft matter systems that are of either biological or artificial origin, such as motile bacteria or artificial microswimmers respectively. In 2012, he was awarded a Ph.D. degree in Photonics from ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences (Barcelona, Spain) for his work on the optical control of nanoantennas undertaken in the group of Prof. Romain Quidant. After his Ph.D. studies, he held a two-year junior position at the Langevin Institute, ESPCI within Prof Sylvain Gigan’s group (Paris, France). Giorgio's research focus shifted to light scattering in complex media and its applications to nanophotonics, optical trapping and imaging through opaque materials such as biological tissue.