iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

I had the great pleasure to host plenary speakers @micromotility.bsky.social and @jensen-research.bsky.social at the Finnish Physics Days 2026 @aalto.fi

Photo of 3 people standing in front of a building

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Reposted by Matilda Backholm

Jose Lado @joselado.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

The annual meeting of the Finnish Physical Society "Physics Days" will be held at Aalto University from March 4th to 6th, 2026. events.aalto.fi/en/3X3IKxA7/...

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Had a fantastic time visiting DAMTP in Cambridge this week. What a stunning academic setting and beautiful old campus.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

9th International Soft Matter Conference, Crete.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

First day back on campus after my vacation. Did I tell you I have the best group?

Photo of wall with the text "Welcome back Matilda we missed you a lot"

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Reposted by Matilda Backholm

Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 03/08/2025

New #JRSocInterface paper: Soft matter mechanics of immune cell aggregates. Read more: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #biomechanics @matildabackholm.bsky.social

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

📣 New paper alert: "Soft matter mechanics of immune cell aggregates" now out in J. Roy. Soc. Interface @royalsocietypublishing.org doi.org/10.1098/rsif... Project led by Shohreh Askari and Guillem Saldo Rubio in a wonderful, multidisciplinary collaboration with Prof. Fagerholm @helsinki.fi

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

📣 Open PhD and postdoc positions in my Living, Fluid, & Soft Matter group. These new researchers will work in my ERC StG project SWARM. Application deadline 3.8.2025. See links and details in the comments below.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

This is such a cool new paper from the @bhamlalab.bsky.social with a fun discovery of kink instabilities in jumping nematodes. I was also happy to see that my old PhD data on C. Elegans bending stiffness was useful.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

"Taken together, we can conclude that women — already dramatically underrepresented at the highest levels of physics — are further underrepresented in last authorship in prestigious journals." Excellent effort by Prof. Alannah Hallas.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

I really needed this. I will print this, have it on my desk, and re-read it a few times a year.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Okay, here comes a newish PI question... We're soon submitting the first paper from my group (🥳). Should we upload it on arXiv? Any reasons not to? Something to be careful about? I've been really old-fashioned with this, but with the growing peer-review times, it might be time for change.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

To introduce myself to this new community, I will share some of my previous research projects. In my postdoc with @robinras.bsky.social, I developed the micropipette force sensor to measure the tiny friction of water droplets moving on extremely slippery superhydrophobic surfaces. Details below.

Picture of micropipette force sensor probing the friction of a millimetric water drop on a superhydrophobic surface.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

I'm reading the wonderful book Beautiful Experiments by @philipcball.bsky.social: "Experiments are at the core of science. It is typically by experimentation that scientific discoveries are made." I couldn't agree more. Long live curiosity-driven experimentation with counterintuitive discoveries.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

My Department of Applied Physics at Aalto University has opened two new Tenure Track positions in the field of Computational Physics, one of which is for the key area in soft materials: www.aalto.fi/en/open-posi...

aalto.fi

Assistant Professors, Computational Physics | Aalto University

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

My current research keywords: soft matter physics, biomechanics, micro/meso-swimming, plant physics, capillary phenomena, force sensing, fluid dynamics, experimental physics

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 10/01/2024

Help! What should I read next? Nothing too heavy, scary, or sad (life has given enough of that). What book blew you away or caught your full attention?

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