Alain Goriely is a mathematician with broad interests in mathematical methods, mechanics, sciences, and engineering. He is well known for his contributions to fundamental and applied solid mechanics, and, in particular, for the development of a mathematical theory of biological growth, culminating with his seminal monograph The Mathematics on Mechanics of Biological Growth (2017).
He received his PhD from the University of Brussels in 1994 where he became a lecturer. In 1996, he joined the University of Arizona where he established a research group within the renowned Program of Applied Mathematics. In 2010, he joined the University of Oxford as the inaugural Statutory Professor of Mathematical Modelling and fellow of St. Catherine's College. He is currently the Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
In addition, Alain enjoys scientific outreach based on problems connected to his research including tendril perversion in plants, twining plants, umbilical cord knotting, whip cracking, the shape of seashells, brain modelling, and he is the author of a Very Short Introduction to Applied Mathematics (2017).
Professional position
- Statutory Chair of Mathematical Modelling, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford
Subject groups
- Mathematics
Applied mathematics and theoretical physics
- Engineering
Engineering, mechanical
- Microbiology, immunology and developmental biology
Developmental biology
- Anatomy, physiology and neurosciences
Behavioural neuroscience
- Organismal biology, evolution and ecology
Biological modelling, Plant sciences / botany
- Health and human sciences
Clinical neuroscience
- Other
History of science
