Predictive Modelling » Seminars

16/11 1pm-2pm: WCPM, Anastasia Mantziou, Warwick

James Kermode — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 14:41:34 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Mon, 16 Nov '26

Networking Lunch: The Pit Stop, room next to IMC 004, from 12:30pm - 1pm.

Title: Bayesian modelling for populations of network data

Abstract: There is a broad literature for the statistical analysis of a network as a snapshot, while the formulation of statistical frameworks for modelling populations of network data is still a developing area. In a network population, each observation is itself a network rather than a scalar quantity, and the statistical objective is to jointly analyse the network population to make inferences for its structure. This talk introduces modelling frameworks for inference in network populations that explicitly incorporate network characteristics of interest, with an application to ecological data.

Bio: Dr Anastasia Mantziou is a Harrison Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics at the 91Ӱ��. Her research focuses on the statistical analysis of complex networks, developing Bayesian methods to better understand how networked systems evolve and interact. She completed her PhD in Statistics at Lancaster University, where she worked on Bayesian modelling for multiple network data, before undertaking research positions at Imperial College London and the Alan Turing Institute.

Dr Mantziou's work spans Bayesian network modelling, network populations, clustering methods, and network time-series analysis. She has applied these techniques across a diverse range of fields, including neuroscience, ecology, economics, cyber-security, and human tracking systems. More recently, her research has explored economic networks and transaction data, as well as Bayesian topic modelling for cyber-security applications.

Research interests: statistical network analysis, Bayesian statistics, network populations, network clustering, dynamic and temporal networks, economic networks, cyber-security, and applied data science.

23/11 1pm: WCPM: Anna Regoutz, Oxford

James Kermode — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 08:47:25 GMT

When: 1pm, Mon, 23 Nov '26

Networking Lunch: The Pit Stop, room next to IMC 004, from 12:30pm - 1pm.

Title: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy - progress and challenges for electronic structure theory

Abstract: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and its hard X-ray variant (HAXPES) have become powerful probes of the electronic structure of materials, enabling access to both surface- and bulk-sensitive information across a wide range of systems. This talk will highlight recent progress in combining state-of-the-art photoelectron spectroscopy experiments with electronic structure theory to unravel chemical bonding and local coordination in complex materials, including extended inorganic solids and molecular systems.

Through selected case studies, ranging from transition metals to polymorphic gallium oxide and amino acids, this talk will demonstrate how advances in theory, from density functional theory to many-body approaches, enable increasingly quantitative interpretation of valence, semi-core-, and core state photoelectron spectra. At the same time, significant challenges remain, including accurately describing quasiparticle energies, satellite features, and final-state effects, as well as treating large and complex systems.

The talk will conclude by outlining current limitations and future directions for bridging experiments and theory, with the aim of unlocking the full information content of photoelectron spectra to understand and design functional materials.

Bio: Professor Anna Regoutz is an Associate Professor of Experimental Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford and leads the Applied X-ray Spectroscopy research group. Her research focuses on understanding how the atomic structure and electronic structure of inorganic materials determine their physical and chemical properties, with the aim of developing materials for next-generation electronic and opto-electronic technologies.

Professor Regoutz leads an interdisciplinary research programme that combines thin-film synthesis, surface and interface chemistry, and advanced X-ray spectroscopy techniques. A particular focus of her work is the development and application of Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES) to investigate the chemical and electronic structure of complex materials, including buried interfaces in electronic devices. Her group also studies oxide thin films, wide-bandgap semiconductors for power electronics, and inorganic nanomaterials for biosensing applications.

09/11 1pm-2pm: WCPM, Halim Kusumaatmaja, Edinburgh

James Kermode — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:35:40 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Mon, 09 Nov '26

Networking Lunch: The Pit Stop, room next to IMC 004, WMG: 12:30pm - 1pm

Title: Title: Complex Droplet Dynamics on Nature-Inspired Liquid Repellent Surfaces

Abstract: Wetting of surfaces by liquids is commonly observed in everyday life and is of paramount importance for many natural and engineering processes. In many cases, it is beneficial to design surfaces that repel liquids: these surfaces can suppress icing and surface fouling, they reduce drag and friction, and contaminants can be removed easily. Interestingly, nature provides several conceptually distinct inspirations to design liquid repellent surfaces. Many natural surfaces such as lotus leaves and duck feathers are rough. The roughness amplifies the surface hydrophobicity leading to superhydrophobic properties with very large contact angles. In contrast, on pitcher plants, a layer of liquid imbibes the surface corrugations, providing a smooth liquid surface that substantially reduces friction. In this talk, I will discuss recent works by my group and our collaborators to understand complex droplet dynamics on structured, nature-inspired liquid repellent surfaces. In particular, I will focus on three phenomena. First, I will elucidate salient mechanisms of how particles can be captured and removed by liquid droplets, which is key for designing self-cleaning surfaces. Second, I will discuss how droplet icing can be suppressed on superhydrophobic surfaces. Third, I will discuss the possibility to develop patterned liquid surfaces and the distinctive features of droplet dynamics on such surfaces, including how they give rise to new wetting states and contact line pinning mechanisms.

Bio: Professor Halim Kusumaatmaja is the Jason Reese Chair of Multiscale Fluid Mechanics at the University of Edinburgh and leads the Simulations of Soft Matter, Biophysics & Fluid Dynamics research group. His research lies at the interface of physics, engineering, applied mathematics, chemistry, and biology, using theory and advanced computational simulations to understand complex fluid and soft matter systems.

Professor Kusumaatmaja's work spans multiscale fluid mechanics, soft matter physics, and biophysics, with particular interests in wetting phenomena, liquid-repellent surfaces, membrane biophysics, liquid-liquid phase separation, microfluidics, and computational fluid dynamics. His group develops and applies simulation techniques, including lattice Boltzmann methods, to investigate the behaviour of complex materials and biological systems.

Before joining the University of Edinburgh, he held academic positions at Durham University and completed postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces and the University of Cambridge. He obtained his PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Oxford and is widely recognised for his contributions to computational fluid mechanics and soft matter science.

Research interests: multiscale fluid mechanics, soft matter physics, biophysics, wetting and wettability, liquid-repellent surfaces, microfluidics, biomolecular condensates, membrane biophysics, and lattice Boltzmann simulations.

07/12 1pm-2pm: WCPM, Thomas Speck, Stuttgart

James Kermode — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:04:15 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Mon, 07 Dec '26

Where: IMC 004

Networking Lunch: The Pit Stop, room next to IMC 004, from 12:30pm - 1pm.

Title: Synchronization in chiral active fluids and coexistence of topologically distinct phases

Active matter has become a central paradigm in non-equilibrium statistical physics, encompassing a range of systems from biology to engineering that are driven through local dissipation and exhibit directed motion. These systems show a wide range of collective phenomena such as swarms and motility-induced phase separation. I will introduce a class of idealized "dry" models in which self-propelled particles undergo persistent rotation. Single particles perform a circle walk along a closed orbit perturbed by noise. I will then discuss numerical and analytical results for two types of schematic orientational interactions in ensembles of many particles: alignment leading to synchronization and spontaneous traveling bands, and chirality switching leading to the spatial coexistence of topologically distinct phases.

Bio: Professor Thomas Speck is Professor of Theoretical Physics and Head of the Institute for Theoretical Physics IV at the University of Stuttgart. His research explores the fundamental principles governing complex systems far from equilibrium, focusing on how collective behaviour and self-organisation emerge in soft and active matter. At Stuttgart, he leads a research programme that combines analytical theory, statistical physics, and computational modelling to understand phenomena ranging from molecular-scale processes to interacting colloidal systems.

Professor Speck is internationally recognised for his contributions to statistical mechanics, stochastic thermodynamics, and active matter physics. His work has helped shape the theoretical understanding of self-propelled particles, non-equilibrium phase transitions, and the thermodynamics of driven systems. He has authored highly cited research on active Brownian particles, collective motion, and fluctuation phenomena in soft matter, with over 10,000 citations to his work.