Professor Apala Majumdar

Personal statement

I am an applied mathematician by training with expertise at the interface of mathematical modelling, applied analysis and theoretical physics. I primarily specialise in the mathematics and modelling of nematic liquid crystals and partially ordered materials, including their applications in industry. My research programme has four essential strands - (i) analysis of continuum theories for liquid crystals and soft materials; (ii) multiscale theories that focus on the relationship between microscopic and macroscopic continuum approaches; (iii) non-equilibrium phenomena e.g. switching processes and transition pathways between metastable states  and (iv) modelling of soft-matter based applications in industry and technology, with emphasis on geometry- and energy-driven pattern formation.

I have worked with researchers from different branches of mathematics e.g. pure and applied mathematics, numerical analysis, industrial mathematics. Given the inherently interdisciplinary nature of my research, I have worked with physicists, chemists and researchers from industry e.g. Merck Chemicals. I have collaborators all around the world e.g. Luxembourg, China, India, Chile, Mexico and the States and my work is currently funded by three separate international projects.

Prior to my appointment at Strathclyde, I have worked at the University of Bristol, University of Oxford and University of Bath. I was the Director for the Centre for Nonlinear Mechanics at Bath from 2018-2019, which is a University Research Centre focussed on interdisciplinary research in applied mathematics. I also led a Bath-Chile-Mexico network spanning four institutions and co-funding four international research workshops. I am currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Bath and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford, where I have co-supervised graduate students. I am also a member of the Programme Committee of the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences in Edinburgh and a member of the Global Challenges Research Funding Strategic Advisory Group in the United Kingdom. I am deeply committed to applied mathematics in an interdisciplinary context and please feel free to contact me directly at apala.majumdar@strath.ac.uk for research projects. PhD and postdoctoral opportunities.

More information about my research group can be found at https://themajumdargroup.wordpress.com/