Prof Linda Hirst’s lab carries out research on all kinds of interesting soft materials. Current projects include:

• Active matter and  biopolymers
• Liquid crystal/nanoparticle composites
• Lipid membrane structure and phase behavior
• Molecular packing and topological defects at curved interfaces

Our group is a member of the physics graduate group at The University of California Merced in the School of Natural Sciences.

NIH bibliography page

The group has received generous funding from

• The National Science foundation
• The University of California MEXUS program
• The UC Merced Health Sciences Research Institute
• The University of California Cancer Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC)
• The UC Merced Committee on Research
• The UC Merced CREST Center (NSF)
• The UC Merced MACES Center (NASA)