Domaines
Statistical physics
Biophysics
Soft matter
Physics of liquids
Nonequilibrium statistical physics
Physics of living systems
Non-equilibrium Statistical Physics
Hydrodynamics/Turbulence/Fluid mechanics
Type of internship
Expérimental Description
Bacteria are active microscopic swimmers that constantly interact with their neighbors. When many cells move together, complex collective behaviors can emerge, from swirls and jets to global alignment. Understanding how these patterns arise from single-cell properties is a central question at the interface between physics and biology.
Internship objective
This internship aims to characterize the single and collective motility of bacterial cells at low and intermediate densities. The student will:
• Measure the distribution of swimming speeds in populations of motile bacteria,
• Quantify how cell motility depends on the local spatial arrangement of neighbors,
• Compare two species with distinct motility strategies: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (well established in the lab) and Bacillus subtilis (to be set up during the internship).
Contact
Maxime Deforet