Gaurav Arya

Gaurav Arya is a Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University, with additional appointments in the Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering. His research laboratory employs physics-based computational tools to investigate biological and soft-material systems at the molecular scale.

• Ph.D. from University of Notre Dame (2003)
• B.Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (1998)

Research focuses on:

• Molecular modeling and simulations
• Statistical mechanics
• DNA nanotechnology
• Viral DNA packaging
• Chromatin biophysics
• Polymer-nanoparticle composites

Recent research trends emphasize AI-driven materials discovery and programmable DNA nanostructures. Key grants include:

• NSF DMREF: Architecting DNA nanodevices (2023-2027)
• DOE Mesoscale Self-Assembly (2020-2027)
• UC San Diego Ligand-Nanocrystal Interlayer Studies (2024-2027)

Scientific contributions:

• Featured in 2025 Nature Communications on DNA superstructures
• 2022 Science Advances on DNA nanodevice reconfiguration
• 2021 PNAS on viral DNA packaging motors