On a structural level, the properties featured by a majority of mechanical metamaterials can be ascribed to the finite number of soft internal degrees-of freedom allowing for low-energy deformations.

In the first part of this thesis we study the geometry of folding patterns.

Mechanical metamaterials are man-made materials which derive their unusual properties from their structure rather than their composition.

Researchers from FOM Institute AMOLF, Leiden University and Harvard University made a rubber beam that bends faster when subjected to less pressure. They published their work on 21 July online in Physical Review Letters.

The more complex the object, the harder it is to fold up. Space satellites often need many small motors to fold up an instrument, and people have difficulty simply folding up a roadmap. Physicists from Leiden and Amsterdam have now designed a structure that folds itself up in several steps. Publication…

Mechanical metamaterials have been found to display surprising features, on top of their unusual properties such as shape morphing and programmability. When the materials are a step in size larger, new rules seem to apply. This was discovered by researchers at AMOLF and the universities of Leiden and…

Press coverage for the Nature Physics-paper about topological materials by Anne Meeussen, Erdal Oğuz, Yair Shokef and Martin van Hecke

Researchers from Leiden University, the Netherlands, designed a novel metamaterial that buckles on demand. Small structural variations in the material single out regions that buckle selectively under external stress, whereas other regions remain unchanged. The research is published in this week’s Early…

Rigid materials break more easily than floppy ones. This simple observation allows to predict and control the width of cracks. Theoretical understanding of how materials break is useful in for example the production of cars or screens. Publication in PNAS.

PhD Defence

We investigate the physics and design of mechanical metamaterial, intricately sculpted materials with properties set by their architecture.

PhD Defence

Research groups in the Biological & Soft Matter Programme unravel mechanisms in biological processes and develop novel bio-inspired soft materials.

Folding a map or a package insert can be difficult. The order in which you make the folds matters. Martin van Hecke designed a rubber object which does not have that problem. When you push on the sides, it elegantly folds itself step-by-step into a small, neat package. This self-folding object is one…

PhD Defence

A specifically designed collection of gears is soft on one end and rigid on the other. These are robust properties of the system that hold even in the presence of manufacturing imperfections. This emerging research area may lead to new ways of designing geared devices like satellite trackers or watches.…

We study the physics of a broad range of biological and soft materials

Present-day physics stretches from a better understanding of the evolution of the universe to the physics of condensed matter, biological processes, soft matter and metamaterials. The summer programme will highlight aspects of these fields, with an emphasis on the Leiden Master programme and the experimental…

Research at the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) is foundational and curiosity driven. All our scientists share a desire to increase the knowledge of the world around us, in an open atmosphere of inquiry from which innovative ideas emerge that provide applications and value for society.

Scientists have developed a material that breaks one of the fundamental principles governing many physical systems. Ordinary materials transmit external forces equally, no matter where the pressure comes from. The newly developed material breaks this rule and could potentially be of interest in soft-robotics…

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

The Faculty of Science grants two C.J. Kok awards each year: the C.J. Kok Public Award, also known as the award for the ‘Discoverer of the Year’, and the C.J. Kok Jury Award, the award for the best PhD thesis from the past year. All institutes within the faculty are given the opportunity to nominate…

Researchers at FOM-institute AMOLF and the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) have developed a rubber rod with strange bending behaviours. Beyond a certain point, it bends more under decreasing pressure. This behaviour doesn’t fit our expectations and does not conform to secular laws that predict the…

Metamaterials have properties that depend on their shape and architecture. Researchers at AMOLF, Leiden University and Tel Aviv University have found a new way of designing these metamaterials and their properties by deliberately incorporating small errors. They publish their results today in Nature…

Anne Meeussen is the winner of the Fysica 2020 Young Speakers' Contest. She was elected by the online attendants after delivering a talk about metamaterials.

Martin van Hecke published an article in Nature, together with physicists from AMOLF and UvA. They have developed a metamaterial that folds itself up, even in multiple steps. Van Hecke appeared in the following media.

Newspaper NRC and popular scientific magazine New Scientist write about Corentin Coulais’ research on one-way-traffic metamaterials. He published a paper on this subject in Nature on February 13.

On an apparently normal cube a pattern of hollows and bulges appears when the cube is compressed. A method has been developed to design such three-dimensional structures and to construct these using simple building blocks. Publication in Nature.

The project has been done in the Mechanical Metamaterials group under the supervision of Prof.dr. Martin van Hecke and MSc Anne Meeussen . The title of the presentation is: ''Elastic Moduli of Smooth and Corrugated Thin Silicone Rubber Sheets." The presentation will take place on Friday 8 September…

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

The Physics master offers you a lot of options to create your own programme. There is also the possibility to follow an internship abroad at another university or company or follow courses at another university in the Netherlands or abroad.

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? You can develop your persenol leadership style or study abroad. Would you like to experience education at Leiden University up close before starting your master’s? Apply for one of our Summer School programmes.

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

In their quest for materials that conduct electricity without resistance at moderate temperatures, scientists usually work on their chemical make-up. Now Leiden physicists have come up with a radically new approach: pinching holes in a periodic pattern. Publication in SciPost.

From 16 to 26 July, the Leiden Institute of Physics organizes its annual summer school, titled ‘Modern Physics at all Scales’.

From July 22nd to August 1st, the Leiden Institute of Physics organizes its annual summer school, titled ‘Modern Physics at all Scales’.

A new computer simulation shows the promising possibilities of the booming field of topology. Smartly designed mechanical structures carry sound exclusively one way and are immune to fabrication errors. Publication on 17 July in Nature Physics.

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