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Dr Richard Morris

Dr Richard Morris

Senior Lecturer
Science
School of Physics

After completing a masters degree in mathematical physics from the University of Edinburgh, and following a short spell working in investment banking, Richard completed a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Manchester.  He then undertook postdocs at the Institut de Physique Theorique (IPhT) at the CEAA in Saclay, Frace, and the University of Warwick, in the UK.  This facilitated a transition from statistical physics to soft-condensed matter, a trajectory that concluded with a move into biology when he took up the position of Simons Fellow at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, India.  He was appointed as an EMBL-Australia Group Leader in 2019, and has a joint position at UNSW between Single Molecule Science (SMS) and the School of Physics.
E-mail
r.g.morris@unsw.edu.au
Location
Rm 310, Level 3, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, UNSW, Kensington, Sydney, NSW, 2031
  • Book Chapters | 2019
    Jhawar J; Morris RG; Guttal V, 2019, 'Deriving Mesoscopic Models of Collective Behavior for Finite Populations', in INTEGRATED POPULATION BIOLOGY AND MODELING, PART B, pp. 551 - 594, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.host.2018.10.002
    Book Chapters | 2014
    Morris RG; Barthelemy M, 2014, 'Spatial Effects: Transport on Interdependent Networks', in DAgostino G; Scala A (ed.), NETWORKS OF NETWORKS: THE LAST FRONTIER OF COMPLEXITY, SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN, pp. 145 - 161, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03518-5_7
  • Journal articles | 2024
    Dickson CF; Hertel S; Tuckwell AJ; Li N; Ruan J; Al-Izzi SC; Ariotti N; Sierecki E; Gambin Y; Morris RG; Towers GJ; Böcking T; Jacques DA, 2024, 'The HIV capsid mimics karyopherin engagement of FG-nucleoporins', Nature, 626, pp. 836 - 842, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06969-7
    Journal articles | 2023
    Al-Izzi SC; Morris RG, 2023, 'Morphodynamics of active nematic fluid surfaces', Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 957, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2023.18
    Journal articles | 2023
    Crosato E; Philippson JN; Thutupalli S; Morris RG, 2023, 'Dynamical demographic phases explain how population growth and mutation control the evolutionary impact of bottlenecks', Physical Review Research, 5, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.013093
    Journal articles | 2023
    Noordstra I; Hermoso MD; Schimmel L; Bonfim-Melo A; Currin-Ross D; Duong CN; Kalappurakkal JM; Morris RG; Vestweber D; Mayor S; Gordon E; Roca-Cusachs P; Yap AS, 2023, 'An E-cadherin-actin clutch translates the mechanical force of cortical flow for cell-cell contact to inhibit epithelial cell locomotion', Developmental Cell, 58, pp. 1748 - 1763.e6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2023.06.011
    Journal articles | 2023
    Noordstra I; Morris RG; Yap AS, 2023, 'Cadherins and the cortex: A matter of time?', Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 80, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ceb.2023.102154
    Journal articles | 2022
    Brown JWP; Alford RG; Walsh JC; Spinney RE; Xu SY; Hertel S; Berengut JF; Spenkelink LM; Van Oijen AM; Böcking T; Morris RG; Lee LK, 2022, 'Rapid Exchange of Stably Bound Protein and DNA Cargo on a DNA Origami Receptor', ACS Nano, 16, pp. 6455 - 6467, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c00699
    Journal articles | 2022
    Hertel S; Spinney RE; Xu SY; Ouldridge TE; Morris RG; Lee LK, 2022, 'The stability and number of nucleating interactions determine DNA hybridization rates in the absence of secondary structure', Nucleic Acids Research, 50, pp. 7829 - 7841, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkac590
    Journal articles | 2022
    Spinney RE; Lee L; Morris RG, 2022, 'Geometrical patterning of receptor sites controls kinetics via many-body effects in bivalent systems', Physical Review Research, 4, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.L042028
    Journal articles | 2021
    Al-Izzi SC; Morris RG, 2021, 'Active flows and deformable surfaces in development', Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, 120, pp. 44 - 52, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2021.07.001
    Journal articles | 2021
    Al-Izzi SC; Nodehi SG; Köster DV; Morris RG, 2021, 'More ATP Does Not Equal More Contractility: Power And Remodelling In Reconstituted Actomyosin', , http://arxiv.org/abs/2108.00764v4
    Journal articles | 2020
    Jhawar J; Morris RG; Amith-Kumar UR; Danny Raj M; Rogers T; Rajendran H; Guttal V, 2020, 'Noise-induced schooling of fish', Nature Physics, 16, pp. 488 - 493, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0787-y
    Journal articles | 2020
    Morris RG; Husain KB; Budnar S; Yap AS, 2020, 'Anillin: The First Proofreading-like Scaffold?', BioEssays, 42, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bies.202000055
    Journal articles | 2019
    Budnar S; Husain KB; Gomez GA; Naghibosadat M; Varma A; Verma S; Hamilton NA; Morris RG; Yap AS, 2019, 'Anillin Promotes Cell Contractility by Cyclic Resetting of RhoA Residence Kinetics', Developmental Cell, 49, pp. 894 - 906.e12, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2019.04.031
    Journal articles | 2019
    Morris RG; Dafforn TR; Turner MS, 2019, 'Solvated Membrane Nanodiscoids: A Probe For The Effects Of Gaussian Curvature', , http://arxiv.org/abs/1904.00710v1
    Journal articles | 2019
    Morris RG; Rao M, 2019, 'Active morphogenesis of epithelial monolayers', Physical Review E, 100, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.100.022413
    Journal articles | 2019
    Morris RG; Yap AS, 2019, 'Erratum to: Wetting by living tissues (Nature Physics, (2019), 15, 1, (6-7), 10.1038/s41567-018-0316-4)', Nature Physics, 15, pp. 103, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0337-z
    Journal articles | 2019
    Morris RG; Yap AS, 2019, 'Wetting by living tissues', Nature Physics, 15, pp. 6 - 7, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0316-4
    Journal articles | 2018
    Jhawar J; Morris RG; Guttal V, 2018, 'Deriving mesoscopic models of collective behaviour for finite populations', Elsevier, 40, pp. 2019, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.host.2018.10.002.
    Journal articles | 2017
    Morris RG, 2017, 'Signatures of Mechanosensitive Gating', Biophysical Journal, 112, pp. 3 - 9, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2016.12.009
    Journal articles | 2016
    Morris RG; Turner MS, 2016, 'Erratum: Mobility Measurements Probe Conformational Changes in Membrane Proteins due to Tension (Physical Review Letters (2015) 115 (198101) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.198101)', Physical Review Letters, 116, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.239901
    Journal articles | 2015
    Morris RG; Turner MS, 2015, 'Mobility Measurements Probe Conformational Changes in Membrane Proteins due to Tension', Physical Review Letters, 115, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.198101
    Journal articles | 2014
    Caltagirone F; Franz S; Morris RG; Zdeborová L, 2014, 'Dynamics and termination cost of spatially coupled mean-field models', Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 89, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.012102
    Journal articles | 2014
    Morris RG; Barthelemy M, 2014, 'Spatial effects: Transport on interdependent networks', Understanding Complex Systems, pp. 145 - 161, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03518-5_7
    Journal articles | 2014
    Morris RG; Rogers T, 2014, 'Growth-induced breaking and unbreaking of ergodicity in fully-connected spin systems', Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, 47, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1751-8113/47/34/342003
    Journal articles | 2014
    Morris RG, 2014, 'Relaxation and curvature-induced molecular flows within multicomponent membranes', Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 89, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.062704
    Journal articles | 2013
    Morris RG; Barthelemy M, 2013, 'Interdependent networks: The fragility of control', Scientific Reports, 3, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep02764
    Journal articles | 2012
    Morris RG; Barthelemy M, 2012, 'Transport on coupled spatial networks', Physical Review Letters, 109, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.128703
    Journal articles | 2011
    Morris RG; McKane AJ, 2011, 'Stability of growing vesicles', Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 83, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.061151
    Journal articles | 2010
    Morris RG; Fanelli D; McKane AJ, 2010, 'Dynamical description of vesicle growth and shape change', Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 82, http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.82.031125
  • Preprints | 2024
    Currin-Ross D; Al-Izzi SC; Noordstra I; Yap AS; Morris RG, 2024, Advecting Scaffolds: Controlling The Remodelling Of Actomyosin With Anillin, , http://arxiv.org/abs/2402.07430v1
    Preprints | 2024
    Pollard J; Al-Izzi S; Morris RG, 2024, Gauge Freedom and Objective Rates in the Morphodynamics of Fluid Deformable Surfaces: the Jaumann Rate vs. the Material Derivative, , http://arxiv.org/abs/2406.18014v1
    Preprints | 2024
    Pollard J; Morris RG, 2024, Defect Dynamics in Cholesterics: Beyond the Peach-Koehler Force, http://arxiv.org/abs/2412.08866v1
    Preprints | 2024
    Pollard J; Morris RG, 2024, Morse Theory and Meron Mediated Interactions Between Disclination Lines in Nematics, , http://arxiv.org/abs/2408.01032v1
    Preprints | 2024
    Rautu SA; Morris RG; Rao M, 2024, Active morphodynamics of intracellular organelles in the trafficking pathway, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.27.615486
    Preprints | 2024
    Spinney RE; Morris RG, 2024, A Dean-Kawasaki equation for reaction diffusion systems driven by Poisson noise, , http://arxiv.org/abs/2404.02487v2
    Preprints | 2023
    Dickson CF; Hertel S; Ruan J; Ariotti N; Tuckwell A; Li N; Al-Izzi SC; Sierecki E; Gambin Y; Morris RG; Towers GJ; Böcking T; Jacques DA, 2023, Karyopherin mimicry explains how the HIV capsid penetrates nuclear pores, , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.23.534032
    Preprints | 2022
    Al-Izzi SC; Morris RG, 2022, Morphodynamics of Active Nematic Fluid Surfaces, , http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2023.18
    Preprints | 2022
    Brown JWP; Alford R; Walsh J; Spinney R; Xu S; Hertel S; Berengut J; Spenkelink L; van Oijen A; Böcking T; Morris R; Lee L, 2022, Rapid exchange of stably bound protein and DNA cargo on a DNA origami receptor, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.16.476526
    Preprints | 2022
    Crosato E; Philippson JN; Thutupalli S; Morris RG, 2022, Dynamical phases in growing populations: understanding recovery from bottlenecks, , http://arxiv.org/abs/2202.08394v2
    Preprints | 2022
    Crosato E; Philippson JN; Thutupalli S; Morris RG, 2022, Rethinking Population Bottlenecks: Intrinsic Fluctuations, Mutation and Dynamical Demographic Phases, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.28.501945
    Preprints | 2022
    Spinney RE; Lee LK; Morris RG, 2022, Bivalent Kinetics: Insights from Many Body Physics, , http://arxiv.org/abs/2201.07010v1
    Preprints | 2021
    Al-Izzi SC; Morris RG, 2021, Active Flows and Deformable Surfaces in Development, , http://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2103.12264
    Preprints | 2021
    Al-Izzi SC; Nodehi SG; Köster DV; Morris RG, 2021, More ATP Does Not Equal More Contractility: Power And Remodelling In Reconstituted Actomyosin, http://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2108.00764
    Preprints | 2021
    Hertel S; Spinney R; Xu S; Ouldridge T; Morris R; Lee L, 2021, Mechanisms underlying sequence-dependent DNA hybridisation rates in the absence of secondary structure, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.17.473246

Richard's research focuses on applying and developing concepts from statistical and theoretical soft-condensed matter physics, as well as applied mathematics, to describe biological systems.

My Research Supervision

Richard currently supervises three PhD candidates in a joint capacity.

  • Denni Curran-Ross (with Prof. Alpha Yap, UQ)
  • Samantha Webster (with Dr. Jesse Goyette, UNSW)
  • Brian Ee (with Dr. Lawrence Lee, UNSW)