I currently have a funded PhD position available as part of my Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship in Applied Mathematics at UNSW Sydney to work on the non-reciprocal mechanics of active interfaces and its role in developmental processes. The position is open to both domestic and international students.

Project details: The project will use tools from differential geometry and continuum mechanics to develop theories of active slender structures. Examples of such systems include thin layers of epithelial tissues involved in morphogenesis as well as engineered soft robotic "meta-materials". The main goals of the project will be to build symmetry-based theories for tubules, shells and filaments that break reciprocity and are actively chiral. This will involve analysis of the nonlinear geometric PDEs as well as developing numerical methods to solve the equations and potentially collaborating with experimental scientists in developmental biology or soft robotics. Funding for attendance of domestic and international conferences is available.

The project will be joint supervised by myself and Prof. Wolfgang Schief (UNSW).

For an idea of the flavour of the project see some recent works in active membranes and soft robotics:

• Chiral Active Membranes, Al-Izzi & Alexander, Phys. Rev. Research 5, 043227 (2023)
• Nonreciprocal buckling makes active filaments polyfunctional, Al-Izzi, Du, Veenstra, Morris, Souslov, Carlson, Coulais & Binysh, PNAS 123 (11) e2531723123 (2026)

Selection criteria:

• A first class Masters or Honours degree in Mathematics, Physics or Engineering with a research component
• Prior experience in continuum mechanics, fluid mechanics or soft matter physics would be a plus
• Experience with numerically solving partial differential equations
• An aptitude for mathematics applied to real world biological or bioinspired systems, in particular physical/mechanical systems, and interest in fundamental biophysical mechanisms
• An interest in collaborating with experimental scientists to test modelling hypothesis
• Meet the UNSW English Language Requirements (https://www.unsw.edu.au/study/how-to-apply/english-language-requirements)

For consideration please send the following as a single pdf file to s.al-izzi[AT]unsw.edu.au

• A CV with the contact details of two references
• A full transcript of undergraduate/Masters degree in English (or with official translation) and an explanation of the mark scheme if not obvious
• A brief cover letter (<1.5 pages) detailing your experience and motivation for applying

Closing date: 31st May 2026

Qualified candidates will be invited for a zoom/teams meeting to discuss further.