We use computer simulation and formal theory to study the fascinating phenomenon of molecular self-assembly: the spontaneous and reversible aggregation of molecules into a wide variety of structures.  Self-assembly is common in biological systems, and also provides a useful approach to the synthesis of materials with nanoscale features.   Our research goals are to understand and predict how the sizes, shapes, and various other properties of self-assembled structures depend on the chemical structures of their constituents and on conditions of temperature, pressure and concentration.  Using a range of theoretical and computational tools (e.g. molecular dynamics, Brownian dynamics, Monte Carlo, and statistical thermodynamics) we can learn both how a molecule's structure influences local packing and how local effects give rise to mesoscale structure and bulk phase behavior.

(Picture above at group cookout/reunion, June 2012 - Front row from left: Xinjiang Lu, Cher Qi, Ana West. Back row: Johnny Chung, Kevin Ma, Lewen Yang, Patrick Coppock, James Kindt.)

Congratulations to Ana West for winning the Soft Matter poster prize for "Effects of Defects on Stress Relaxation in Self-Assembled Protein Networks" at the 2011 International Symposium on Stimuli-Responsive Materials!

Kindt Group on Youtube: Cholesterol in a Lipid Bilayer

Financial support for the Kindt group research activities provided by NSF grants CHE-1213904, CHE-0911285, CHE-0616383, and CHE-0316076.