My research chair is titled "Computational statistical physics of
(bio-) polymers". The main area of my expertise is Monte Carlo
methods in statistical physics. Over the last decade, I have focused
on the application of statistical physics to polymeric systems, with an
emphasis on the dynamics of biopolymers. Almost always, my research is
a combination of theory and simulations. Topics of current interest are
translocation, mechanical properties of biomolecular networks, and the
physical chemistry of microarrays.
Usually, when I am not in Leiden, I can be found at the Institute
for Theoretical Physics, University of Utrecht. My research there
is focused on the development of efficient techniques to simulate the
dynamics of atomic and molecular systems, and the study of disordered
materials such as silica glass and amorphous silicon, of nucleation,
and of structure development in phase-separating polymer mixtures (again,
always combining theory with simulations).
