Prof Eugene Terentjev

Biography

Eugene Terentjev studied in Moscow, obtaining the MSc in 1982 and PhD in 1985; then carried out postdoctoral research in Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio). After moving to Cambridge in 1992, he became a University Lecturer in 1998 and then Professor of Polymer Physics in 2005. He is a fellow of Queens’ College where he is the Director of Studies in Natural Sciences.

Research

Eugene Terentjev is an experienced theoretician in soft condensed matter physics. His research mainly focuses on structure and dynamical properties of complex materials: polymer systems, liquid crystals and colloids, with an increasing impact in molecular and cell biophysics (biological polymers, tissues and cell mechanics). He has worked extensively on the physics of liquid crystalline elastomers. The multidisciplinary research group combines the chemical synthesis facility, physical experimental laboratory, and theoretical modelling, is working in two main directions: new “exchangeable liquid crystal elastomer” materials and their application in mechanical actuation (ERC Advanced grant), and mechanosensing effects in cell and tissue development (BBSRC DTP).