The G K Batchelor Prize for 2016 is awarded to Professor Raymond E. Goldstein FRS, Schlumberger Professor of Complex Physical Systems in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and Fellow of Churchill College.
This prestigious prize, sponsored by the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, is awarded every four years at the International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics to recognise the achievements of an active scientist who has made significant research contributions to fluid mechanics over the previous decade.
The prize is awarded for Professor Goldstein’s pioneering research into active matter fluid mechanics, including work on collective behaviour in bacterial suspensions, synchronisation of flagella in eukaryotic cells and the surface interactions of swimming microorganisms. In particular, the prize acknowledges the extraordinary degree of experimental sophistication employed to measure flow fields around active suspensions, which, coupled with theoretical insight, has led to significant advances in the understanding of cell transport and the evolution of multicellular systems.
The prize was awarded after an international panel of experts considered over 150 nominations received from researchers worldwide.
Fluid mechanics is pervasive and plays significant roles throughout most branches of science. The Batchelor Prize is awarded for published work that is of great current interest, representing an emerging field of application of Fluid Mechanics or a significant breakthrough in an established branch of the subject.
Professor Goldstein has served on various professional panels and committees as well as the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and American Physical Society, and has received several prizes in recognition of his work, including the 2012 Ig Nobel Prize.
Professor Goldstein remarked on winning this prestigious prize:
“I feel very honoured to have been awarded this prize, and to be in the company of the great fluid dynamicists who have won it previously. It is especially gratifying to see that our work at the intersection of the physical and life sciences has been recognised in this way. Although awarded to a single person, I consider the prize to be a testament to the fantastic collaborators I have had in Cambridge and beyond this past decade.”