Dynamics of nonlinear physicochemical and biochemical systems with modeling and predicting of their behavior under nonequilibrium conditions

?his multidisciplinary research project focuses on nonlinear physicochemical and biochemical systems under conditions that are far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Under nonequilibrium conditions these complex, spatiotemporal systems may undergo spontaneous self-organization giving rise to multi-stable states, oscillations and deterministic chaos. Although nonlinear dynamics is among the most rapidly growing area of fundamental research, these dissipative dynamic states are not well understood and therefore not exploited to our advantage. The overall aim of our project is to characterize quantitatively these dissipative dynamic states in selected systems, elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms and design useful applications. To this ambitious goal, our team is built of researchers with strong background in basic (physical chemistry, mathematics and biochemistry) and applied (technology, pharmacy and medicine) research. Basic experimental research focuses on the investigation of homogenous and heterogeneous physicochemical and biochemical reactions under batch and open reactor conditions, using known and improved experimental, theoretical and numerical physicochemical methods. These model systems enable us to examine the universal principles of self-organization and to design concise models to predict the system behavior with special emphasis to the potential applicability in pharmacy, biomedicine, ecology, catalysis and design of new materials.