Events
Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Aparna Baskaran, Brandeis University "Measuring Active Stress: Vignettes of Data Driven Approaches Applied to the MT-Kinesin Active Fluid"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Aparna Baskaran, Professor of Physics, Brandeis University
Title:
Measuring Active Stress: Vignettes of Data Driven Approaches Applied to the MT-Kinesin Active Fluid
Abstract:
In this talk, we will begin with big picture discussion of that "Active matter" looks like from a materials physicist's perspective at the present time. Then, we will review the specifics of an experimental active matter system of in vitro suspension of purified cytoskeletal proteins. The meat of the talk will discuss some recent work to employ data driven techniques to extract material parameters and understand the complex emergent phenomenology of this fluid system.
Speaker Bio:
Aparna Baskaran received her undergraduate degree from Pondicherry University in 2001 and her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 2006. She is a professor in the Martin A. Fisher School of Physics at Brandeis University, where she has been on the faculty since 2010. Her research centers on understanding theoretical principles that underlie nonequilibrium phenomena in soft materials and physical biology. Aparna's research involves close collaboration with experimentalists and computer simulators to understand and model particular systems, from which she extracts theoretical ideas that transcend the context of their origin and apply to broad classes of nonequilibrium systems. She is a beloved teacher and passionate exponent of her science.
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/92035300595
Passcode: NICO25
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO Fall Seminar Series returns on Sept 24th! Emma Alexander, Northwestern University
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
The Wednesdays @ NICO Fall Seminar Series returns on September 24th and will run through November 12th, 2025. Detailed speaker information, talk titles, abstracts, and zoom links will be available soon.
This fall, we are honored to host the following distinguished speakers:
9/24 - Emma Alexander, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University
September 24, 2025 | 12:00 PM US Central
Chambers Hall, Lower Level, 600 Foster Street, Evanston, IL
Constrained Information Optimization in Visual Cortex
Animal brains represent information to complete a variety of tasks under systematically-changing conditions. The Bio-Inspired Vision Lab at Northwestern is developing tools to identify signatures of optimality in neural population codes, so that we can interpret the computational goals of visual neurons from cell measurements. Results include evidence of hierarchical visual processing in primate stereo vision and a biophysically-grounded model of metabolic stress in calorie-restricted mice.
10/1 - Sebastien Martin, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University "When algorithms meet policy - Changing the school bus system of Boston and San Francisco"
10/8 - Tomer Ullman, Dept of Psychology, Harvard University "Good Enough: Approximations in Mental Simulation and Intuitive Physics"
10/15 - Patrick Park, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University "Back to ‘Data’ Science in the Age of AI"
10/22 - Max Kreminski, Midjourney "Tracing and Shaping Paths in Design Space"
10/29 - Elizabeth Gerber, Mechanical Engineering and Communication Studies, Northwestern University "Richer Together: Human–AI Systems That Amplify Human Connection at Work"
11/5 - Julio Ottino, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University "From Clocks to Clouds: The Complexity Revolution"
11/12 - Blaise Aguera y Arcas, Google Research "Symbiogenesis, Computational Parallelism, and Complexity in Evolution"
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: TBA via Zoom
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)