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David Grier

David Grier

· Professor of Physics

New York University · Chemistry

Active 1968–2026

h-index72
Citations30.2k
Papers38251 last 5y
Funding$3.5M1 active

Academic metrics are sourced from OpenAlex and public funding records; values may differ from Google Scholar.

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About

David G. Grier is a professor at New York University, affiliated with the Department of Physics and the Center for Soft Matter Research. His research focuses on soft condensed matter physics, utilizing experiments on model systems to understand how microscopic interactions among simple objects give rise to hierarchies of order and function in natural and engineered materials. His work aims to uncover the fundamental organizing principles that explain natural phenomena and guide the creation of novel materials and technologies. Grier's long-term research interests include understanding and controlling the interactions, dynamics, and collective properties of hierarchically-structured many-body systems, ranging from electrostatic interactions in colloidal dispersions to wave-mediated interactions in levitated matter. He has developed and characterized innovative techniques for probing soft materials with high precision, revealing fundamental principles for out-of-equilibrium systems, such as emergent activity, kinetically locked-in transport, and Brownian vortex flows. His research has also addressed intriguing phenomena like anomalous like-charge attractions in charge-stabilized colloids and has demonstrated the world's first functional tractor beams. Grier has contributed to the development of experimental platform techniques widely adopted in soft-matter research, including Holographic Optical Trapping, Total Holographic Characterization, and the Crocker-Grier algorithm for…

Research topics

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science
  • Optics
  • Physics
  • Computer vision
  • Materials science
  • Geology

Selected publications

  • CATCH: Characterizing and Tracking Colloids Holographically Using Deep Neural Networks

    The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · 2020 · 37 citations

    Senior authorCorresponding

    In-line holographic microscopy provides an unparalleled wealth of information about the properties of colloidal dispersions. Analyzing one colloidal particle's hologram with the Lorenz-Mie theory of light scattering yields the particle's three-dimensional position with nanometer precision while simultaneously reporting its size and refractive index with part-per-thousand resolution. Analyzing a few thousand holograms in this way provides a comprehensive picture of the particles that make up a di…

    DOI

  • In-line holographic microscopy with model-based analysis

    Nature Reviews Methods Primers · 2022 · 34 citations

    DOI

  • QInstrument

    Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-29

    otherOpen access1st authorCorresponding

    A Qt-based framework for controlling scientific instruments over serial ports. Instruments are represented as Qt objects with a uniform property system, automatic UI binding, and JSON-based configuration persistence. Any Qt binding (PyQt5, PyQt6, PySide2, PySide6) is supported via qtpy.

    PublisherDOI

  • QPolargraph

    Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-05-03

    otherOpen access1st authorCorresponding

    A Qt-based instrument interface for a two-dimensional polargraph scanner. Provides hardware abstraction for Arduino-driven stepper motors, Cartesian coordinate conversion, scan-pattern generation, and a live-display GUI application framework.

    PublisherDOI

  • QPolargraph

    Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-04-22

    otherOpen access1st authorCorresponding

    A Qt-based instrument interface for a two-dimensional polargraph scanner. Provides hardware abstraction for Arduino-driven stepper motors, Cartesian coordinate conversion, scan-pattern generation, and a live-display GUI application framework.

    PublisherDOI

Recent grants

Frequent coauthors

  • Fook Chiong Cheong

    Spheryx (United States)

    33 shared

  • David B. Ruffner

    Spheryx (United States)

    26 shared

  • Yael Roichman

    Tel Aviv University

    23 shared

  • Yilong Han

    University of Pennsylvania

    23 shared

  • Pamela Korda

    20 shared

  • Lauren E. Altman

    University of Pennsylvania

    18 shared

  • Andrew D. Hollingsworth

    New York University

    18 shared

  • Sven H. Behrens

    Exponent (United States)

    18 shared

Education

  • Ph.D., Physics

    University of Michigan

    1989

  • A.B. mcl, Physics

    Harvard College

    1984

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