Internship and thesis proposals
Spreading of bacterial colonies on gels

Domaines
Biophysics
Nonequilibrium statistical physics
Physics of living systems
Non-equilibrium Statistical Physics
Hydrodynamics/Turbulence/Fluid mechanics

Type of internship
Expérimental
Description
At the scale of bacteria moving across surfaces, capillary forces are enormous, many times their flagellar propulsion force. During the internship we will investigate how bacteria collectively overcome this dominating constraint. To start with, we will study the spreading of drops on hydrogels, and study the flows induced by chemical gradients. A just acquired confocal chromatic probe, coupled to stuctured light profilometry, will be used to characterise the non-dispersive swelling front that precedes the bacterial spreading. If time permits we will compare the observations to experiments involving bacteria. The wider aim of the proposed PhD thesis is to quantify the forces at play during mass swarming of Bacillus subtilis, notably by controlling the dominant capillary forces. Our improved understanding of microscopic interactions will then be used, in collaboration with specialists in active matter, to develop coarse-grained statistical models for the colony morphogenesis.

Contact
Adrian Daerr
0157276273


Email
Laboratory : MSC - UMR 7057
Team : MSC: Dynamique des Systèmes Hors Equilibres.
Team Website
/ Thesis :    Funding :