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About Me

I’m Vatsal Sanjay, a fluid dynamicist working on multiphase and interfacial flows. I lead the Computational Multiphase Physics (CoMPhy) Lab at Durham University, where we study droplets, bubbles, and complex free‑surface phenomena using high‑fidelity simulations, scaling theory, and open science.

For current research, team, and resources, visit CoMPhy Lab.

Snapshot

• Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Durham University (since 2025)
• Postdoc, Physics of Fluids — Univ. Twente (2022–25)
• Ph.D., Physics of Fluids — Univ. Twente (2018–22)

• B.Tech + M.Tech, IIT Roorkee (2013–18)

• Download CV Research

Prospective Students

We’re building a computationally focused group at Durham. If you’re excited by multiphase physics, HPC, and open‑source science:

• Join/Contact
• Project ideas

Research Themes

• Drop impact, impact forces, and inertio–capillary dynamics
• Bubble bursting, Worthington jets, aerosol generation
• Surfactants, contact lines, and soft wetting
• Viscoelastic/viscoplastic interfacial flows and rheology–singularity interplay
• High‑fidelity DNS with AMR (e.g., Basilisk C), validation, and scaling laws

Open‑Source & Resources

• MultiRheoFlow: Open‑source framework for interfacial flows with arbitrary rheology
• Basilisk 101 (nano/short course)
• CoMPhy Lab GitHub
• Personal GitHub

Selected Recent Papers

• Gordillo, J. M., Rodríguez-Rodríguez, J., & Sanjay, V. Self-similar Worthington jets. arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.08972 (2026).
• Sanjay, V. Singularities in Soft Matter Systems. Contemporary Physics (2026).
• Verschuur, C. I., Oratis, A. T., Sanjay, V., & Snoeijer, J. H. How elasticity affects bubble pinch-off. Phys. Rev. Fluids, 11, 073302 (2026).
• Dixit, A., Oratis, A., Zinelis, K., Lohse, D., & Sanjay, V. Viscoelastic Worthington Jets and Droplets Produced by Bursting Bubbles. J. Fluid Mech., 1010, A2 (2025).
• Sanjay, V., & Lohse, D. Unifying theory of scaling in drop impact: Forces & maximum spreading diameter. Phys. Rev. Lett., 134, 104003 (2025).
• Sanjay, V., Zhang, B., Lv, C., & Lohse, D. The role of viscosity on drop impact forces on non-wetting surfaces. J. Fluid Mech., 1004, A6 (2025).

Recent Talks

• Sanjay, V. Singularities in Soft Matter Systems. Invited talk, SES 2026 Annual Technical Meeting, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA (12 Oct 2026).
• Sanjay, V. Singularities in Soft Matter Systems. Invited talk, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA (8 Oct 2026).

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