Michael Cates | |
|---|---|
 Cates in 2012 | |
| Born | Michael Elmhirst Cates 5 May 1961 Bristol, England, United Kingdom |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Education | Trinity College, Cambridge (PhD) |
| Awards | Maxwell Medal and Prize (1991) Paul Dirac Medal and Prize (2009) Weissenberg Award (2013) Bingham Medal (2016) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics Soft matter |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge University of Edinburgh |
| Thesis | The statistical mechanics of complex polymers (1985) |
| Doctoral advisor | Sir Sam Edwards |
Michael Elmhirst Cates (born 5 May 1961) is a British physicist. He is the 19th Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and has held this position since 1 July 2015.[1] He was previously Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, and has held a Royal Society Research Professorship since 2007.[2]
His work focuses on the theory of soft matter, such as polymers, colloids, gels, liquid crystals, and granular material. A recurring goal of his research is to create a mathematical model that predicts the stress in a flowing material as a functional of the flow history of that material. Such a mathematical model is called a constitutive equation. He has worked on theories of active matter, particularly dense suspensions of self-propelled particles which can include motile bacteria. His interests also include fundamental field theories of active systems in which time-reversal symmetry (T-symmetry, and more generally, CPT symmetry) is absent. Such theories are characterised by non-zero steady-state entropy production.
At Edinburgh, Cates was the Principal Investigator of an EPSRC Programme Grant, awarded in 2011, entitled Design Principles for New Soft Materials.[3][4] On his departure for Cambridge, Cait MacPhee took over as Principal Investigator. Cates remains an Honorary Professor at Edinburgh.
- ^ "Cambridge University Reporter No 6380". 18 March 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
- ^ "Professor Michael Cates: Royal Society Research Professor". Royal Society. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- ^ "Design Principles for New Soft Materials". Gow.epsrc.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ^ ECFP. "Design Principles for New Soft Materials". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 26 August 2014.