Professor Ard Louis has been awarded the Institute of Physics Sam Edwards Medal and Prize for pioneering the development of novel mathematical and numerical models that have contributed to our understanding of soft matter and biological physics across length scales.
Professor Louis has pioneered several influential methods for the study of soft-and biological matter with his early work combining insights from polymer physics with the theory of simple liquids to develop the “soft colloid” picture of polymers. The methods he developed are now applied to an extensive range of soft matter systems by groups worldwide.
He clarified the statistical mechanical foundations of the popular effective potential coarse-graining method and went on to map out a general framework for a wide class of coarse-graining methods.
Together with collaborators, he developed the coarse-grained oxDNA and oxRNA models, which can be used to accurately simulate biophysical processes. The exceptional accuracy of oxDNA has resulted in its widespread adoption by hundreds of laboratories in academia and industry, where it is used for prototyping and analysing new experimental designs. It is now recognised as the most successful coarse-grained model for DNA self-assembly.
His work has significantly contributed to our understanding of evolutionary processes, particularly through his pioneering studies of the genotype-phenotype (GP) maps; his work helps to explain the prevalence of symmetry in naturally occurring self-assembling protein complexes, and the natural distribution patterns of folded RNA secondary structures.
'It is a tremendous honour to have my work recognised with an award named after Sir Sam Edwards, one of the greatest theoretical physicists of the 20th century,' said Professor Louis. 'It has been both a great privilege and great fun to work with so many talented collaborators, postdocs, and students, following in Sir Sam’s footsteps by applying ideas from physics to a wide range of interdisciplinary problems.'
‘I am delighted that Ard has been recognised by the IOP with the Sam Edwards Medal and Prize,’ comments Professor Andrew Boothroyd, Head of Department. ‘Along with his interdisciplinary work in understanding a range of complex systems, he makes an important contribution to the graduate community and departmental life in general and is a much-valued colleague.’
The IOP’s silver Sam Edwards Medal and Prize recognises distinguished contributions to soft matter physics; Professor Louis joins fellow laureate from the University of Oxford’s Department of Physics, Professor Julia Yeomans who was awarded the Sam Edwards Medal and Prize in 2021.