iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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

Thanks so much for coming! Great to finally meet you in person :)

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

I'm looking for a doctoral researcher with a MSc degree in physics and a keen interest to perform cutting-edge experiments in biological, fluid, and soft matter physics. See all details here: www.aalto.fi/en/open-posi...

aalto.fi

Doctoral Researcher for Experiments in Swarming Dynamics of Living Swimmers | Aalto University

The Department of Applied Physics is now looking for a

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

I'm looking for a postdoc with a PhD degree in physics and experience in experimental biological, fluid, and/or soft matter physics research. See all details here: www.aalto.fi/en/open-posi...

aalto.fi

Postdoctoral Researcher for Experiments in Swarming Dynamics of Living Swimmers | Aalto University

The Department of Applied Physics is now looking for a

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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 · 26/04/2025

Congrats on the cover and the beautiful work!

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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 · 31/12/2024

Focus on research and supervision 🥂

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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 · 03/12/2024

Big congrats, Jose! Well deserved and sounds like an exciting project!

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

What a wonderful collection of people! I'd love to join as well.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Thanks for sharing! It's starting to look like the best approach also on the physics side.

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

That's really good to know. Is it generally better to upload after journal submission? Most are fine with the paper being in arxiv also before the formal submission?

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

So the citations are not sonehow magically combined once the real paper is out? I thought that arxiv works a bit against scooping, that an arxiv paper sort of sets the date for the discovery?

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

Good point! It's really nice if the community can provide its own group review.

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

Thanks for sharing! I think I just need a small final push over the energy barrier of reluctance :)

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

Getting early feedback and follow-up collaborators are great benefits! Thanks for sharing!

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

Thanks! I am somehow stuck with the need for the peer-review stamp of approval before sharing our work with the rest of the world. But then again, we have also presented it at conferences already, so it doesn't make much sense.

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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

Wow, what an impressive person and scientist! Very nice article.

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

I also had other fun collaborations with Sakari Lepikko (Small 2024 doi.org/10.1002/smll...) and Matti Hokkanen (Adv. Mater. 2021 doi.org/10.1002/adma...) where I helped with the force measurements.

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

We further developed the technique to probe also the viscous dissipation of drops moving on these surfaces. We found a cool new friction force in the air film trapped under the drop. Paper in PNAS (2024): doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

doi.org

Toward vanishing droplet friction on repellent surfaces | PNAS

Superhydrophobic surfaces are often seen as frictionless materials, on which water is highly mobile. Understanding the nature of friction for such ...

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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 · 13/11/2024

Super, thanks! I'm now doing a small scifi tour (Hail mary was superb, now reading A long way... by Chambers). Before that I accidentally picked up A little life from the library not knowing what it was about, but I managed to get through it so everything dark, heavy, and sad should go after that :/

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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 · 12/11/2024

Loved this book! Thanks for the recommendation. Any other book tips? :)

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 02/03/2024

I had the great privilege to meet prospective BSc summer researchers a few weeks ago, and the exact same thought went through my mind.

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Matilda Backholm @matildabackholm.bsky.social · 11/01/2024

Interesting! It goes on my list 👌 Thank you!

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