Javier Chico Vazquez is a DPhil at the Mathematical Institute in Oxford, under the supervision of Prof. Dominic Vella and Prof. Derek Moulton. In my research I use techniques from Applied Mathematics to model phenomena in the natural sciences, the weirder the topic the more interesting. If you have a topic suggestion feel free to contact me!

My work often requires an intricate combination of theory, numerics and experimentation, and as such I have developed a diverse set of interests over the years:

• Continuum mechanics (Fluid and Solid mechanics).
• Mathematical Modelling of natural phenomena.
• Asymptotic analysis.
• Scientific Computing.
• Mathematical Biology.
• Computational methods for Partial Differential Equations.

I completed my BSc and MSc at Imperial College London, where I received the Governor’s Prize in Mathematics, awarded to the best graduating student. My Master thesis research was on falling ferrofluids, under the supervision of Prof D.T. Papageorgiou.

PhD Thesis

My PhD research is concerned with building mathematical models for how organisms sense their environment. My doctoral journey has led me to study electroreception in bees, smell in flies and the vestibular system in humans (how we sense balance).

Collaboration with the Oxford Botanical Garden (OBG)

We have a fruitfuil ongoing collaboration with Chris Thorogood from the OBG. We are interested in understing floral gigantism in Rafflesia, the World’s largest flower.