Dr. Timon Idema
Research Themes: Synthetic biology and Cell biology
Research Interests: Membrane-mediated interactions, cell division, tissue formation, bacterial colony growth, collective dynamics of groups of active particles
Biography
Timon Idema obtained MSc degrees in physics (2004) and mathematics (2005) and a PhD in theoretical biophysics (2009) at Leiden University. After a postdoc at UPenn he joined the Department of Bionanoscience in 2012, where he is now an associate professor. His research interests span a large range of scales, from membrane-mediated interactions between proteins to collections of cells in tissues and colonies. A theorist himself, Idema frequently collaborates with experimental groups both inside and outside the department. He also teaches a range of courses in various degree programmes, and is actively involved in teaching innovation. Idema currently serves as a member of the board of the condensed-matter division of the European Physical Society and as the program director of the MSc of Nanobiology.
For further information regarding current research and available projects, visit Idema Group
Courses
Current Projects
- Pattern formation in heterogeneous tissues and colonies
- Self-assembly of polymer networks on membranes.
Highlight Publications
- D. R. McCusker, R. van Drongelen and T. Idema, "Active particle dynamics beyond the jamming density", EPL 125, 36001 (2019) / arXiv:1611.09125.
- R. van Drongelen, T. Vazquez-Faci, T. A. P. M. Huijben, M. van der Zee, and T. Idema, "Mechanics of epithelial tissue formation", J. Theor. Biol. 454, 182-189 (2018) / arXiv:1705.06205
- A. Vahid, A. Šarić, and T. Idema, "Curvature variation controls particle aggregation on fluid vesicles", Soft Matter 13, 4924-4930 / arXiv:1703.00776 (2017)
- A. Vahid and T. Idema, "Point-like inclusion interactions in tubular membranes", Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 138102 / arXiv:1510.03610 (2016)
- R. van Drongelen, A. Pal, C. P. Goodrich, and T. Idema, "Collective dynamics of soft active particles", Phys. Rev. E 91, 032706 / arXiv:1411.4821 (2015)