Multistable active matter

Multistable active matter
April 16-17, 2026

Overview

Multistability, where a system can adopt multiple distinct stable states and switch between them in response to external driving, is common across many complex systems, from crumpled sheets and metamaterials to living tissues and robotic collectives. It is also central to the ability of those systems to process information from external cues, and to adapt to their environment. Activity is central to living systems and engineering, and is crucial to leverage the potential hidden in multistable systems to promote autonomous, life-like capabilities.

Despite rapid progress, the communities studying multistability and active matter remain fragmented. This meeting addresses this gap by creating a platform for exchanging new results, identifying unifying principles, and catalyzing collaborations at the interface of physics, materials science, and biology

Registration

Thank you for your interest in participating. Unfortunately, we have already reached our maximum number of participants. Please send an email to paul.baconnier75@gmail.com to be added to the waiting list.

Program

Thursday, April 16

  • 08:30–09:00 – Welcome
  • 09:00–09:10 – Opening remarks
  • 09:10–09:50 – Jack Binysh: Non-reciprocal buckling makes active filaments polyfunctional
  • 09:50–10:30 – Camille Jorge: Active hydraulics
  • Break
  • 11:00–11:40 – Yoav Lahini: TBA
  • 11:40–12:20 – Silke Henkes: TBA
  • 12:20–13:30 – Lunch
  • 13:30–13:45 – Sander C. Kammeraat: Emergent active correlations drive epithelial finger formation
  • 13:45–14:00 – Thomas Barois: Mechanical binding of granular rotors
  • 14:00–14:15 – Jocelyn Dupont: Rectified dynamics of a deformable active particle
  • 14:15–14:30 – Rupesh Mahore: Multistability in nonreciprocal metamaterial
  • Break
  • 15:00–15:40 – Olivier Dauchot: Multistability in polar active solids
  • 15:40–16:20 – Baudouin Saintyves: Self-coordination, reconfigurability and tunable compliance in a granular robotic material
  • 16:20–17:00 – Corentin Coulais: Dynamical frustration in time-modulated metamaterials

Friday, April 17

  • 08:40–09:10 – Welcome
  • 09:10–09:50 – Daniela Kraft: Complex emergent dynamics in active and flexible microstructures
  • 09:50–10:30 – Jérémie Palacci: A colloidal platform for active solids at the microscale
  • Break
  • 11:00–11:40 – Antoine Deblais: Rheology and mechanics of entangled living worms
  • 11:40–12:20 – Mazi Jalaal: Living on the edge of stability: from plants to robots
  • 12:20–13:30 – Lunch
  • 13:30–13:45 – Rahil Valani: Multistability in a memory-driven active particle
  • 13:45–14:00 – Laura Hoek: Boundary-controlled operation of an active information engine
  • 14:00–14:15 – Dominic Vella: Rate-dependent control of multi-stable systems
  • 14:15–14:30 – Maximilian Lechner: Gradient-based optimization of kinetics of enable the design of active multistable systems
  • Break
  • 15:00–15:40 – Menachem Stern: Learning multistability
  • 15:40–16:20 – Martin van Hecke: Networks of active, bistable elements
  • 16:20–17:00 – Panel discussion: TBA

Confirmed speakers

  • Daniela Kraft (Leiden University)
  • Yoav Lahini (Tel Aviv University)
  • Silke Henkes (Leiden University)
  • Olivier Dauchot (ESPCI)
  • Jeremie Palacci (ISTA)
  • Baudouin Saintyves (INRIA)
  • Corentin Coulais (Amsterdam University)
  • Mazi Jalaal (Amsterdam University)
  • Antoine Deblais (Amsterdam University)
  • Jack Binysh (Amsterdam University)
  • Camille Jorge (Amsterdam University)
  • Menachem Stern (AMOLF)

Practical information

Contact

E-mail: Paul Baconnier

Locations

  • AMOLF Colloquium room
  • Lunch at the AMOLF canteen

Organizers

  • Paul Baconnier
  • Sourav Roy
  • Dor Shohat
  • Martin van Hecke

Sponsors

© AMOLF 2026