Shiling Liang
Research interests
stochastic thermodynamics, chemical reaction theory, biological physics
Professional Experiences
Nov 2024 - now
ELBE Postdoctoral Fellow
Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD) | Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems (PKS) | Cell Biology and Genetics (CBG), Dresden, Germany
- Group affiliations: Jonathan Rodenfels (MPI-CBG), Frank Jülicher (MPI-PKS)
Jan 2023 - May 2023
JSPS Fellow (Strategic Program)
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Okinawa, Japan
- Host advisor: Simone Pigolotti
Education
2020 - 2024
Ph.D. in Physics
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Thesis title: Fundamental Thermodynamic Constraints on Symmetry Breaking in Biochemical Systems
- PhD advisors: Daniel Maria Busiello and Paolo De Los Rios
2018 - 2020
M.Sc. in Physics
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
2014 - 2018
B.Sc. in Physics
Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
Awards & Honours
2024
ELBE Postdoctoral Fellowship, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD)
2024
APS DBIO Travel Awards (declined due to visa issue)
2023
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Strategic Fellowship
2022
Best Short Talk Award, 7th Beijing Soft Matter Workshop
Preprints
* Corresponding author
[10] Bao, R.* and Liang, S.*, 2024. Nonequilibrium Response Theory: From Precision Limits to Strong Perturbation. arXiv preprint, arXiv:2412.19602.
[9] Liang, S.*, De Los Rios, P. and Busiello, D. M.*, 2024. Thermodynamic Space of Chemical Reaction Networks. arXiv preprint, arXiv:2407.11498.
Publications
2025
[8] Liang, S.*, Ma, Y.-H.*, Busiello, D. M. and De Los Rios, P., 2025. Minimal Model for Carnot Efficiency at Maximum Power. , Phys. Rev. Lett. 134(2), 027101.
(Featured in Phys.org, Interesting Engineering and South China Morning Post)
[7] Cao, Y.* and Liang, S.*, 2025. Stochastic thermodynamics for biological functions. Quantitative Biology, 13(1), p.e75.
2024
[6] Liang, S.*, De Los Rios, P. and Busiello, D. M.*, 2024. Thermodynamic Bounds on Symmetry Breaking in Linear and Catalytic Biochemical Systems. Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 228402.
2023
[5] Liang, S., Pigolotti, S., 2023. Thermodynamic bounds on time-reversal asymmetry. Phys. Rev. E (Letter) 108, L062101.
2022
[4] Liang, S., Busiello, D. M*. and De Los Rios, P., 2022. Emergent thermophoretic behavior in chemical reaction systems. New Journal of Physics, 24(12), p.123006.
2021
[3] Liang, S., De Los Rios, P. and Busiello, D.M*., 2021. Dissipation-Driven Selection under Finite Diffusion: Hints from Equilibrium and Separation of Time Scales. Entropy, 23(8), p.1068.
[2] Busiello, D.M.*, Liang, S., Piazza, F. and De Los Rios, P., 2021. Dissipation-driven selection of states in non-equilibrium chemical networks. Communications Chemistry, 4(1), p.16.
[1] Dass, A.V., Georgelin, T., Westall, F., Foucher, F., De Los Rios, P., Busiello, D. M., Liang, S. and Piazza, F.*, 2021. Equilibrium and non-equilibrium furanose selection in the ribose isomerisation network. Nature communications, 12(1), p.2749.
Teaching and Supervision
- 1 Master thesis and 1 Master semester project at EPFL, 2023/24
- Teaching Assistant, PEBBLE BioFusion Camp 2024 at Westlake University, 2024
- Teaching Assistant, Analytic mechanics at EPFL, 2022/23
- Teaching Assistant, Statistical physics of biomacromolecules at EPFL, 2022
- Teaching Assistant, Biophysics : physics of the cell at EPFL, 2021
Service
2022-now
Founder and Organizer of Statistical Physics Youth Communications
- Founded and lead a vibrant community of 260+ early-career researchers in statistical physics
- Coordinate online seminars featuring recent advances in statistical physics, with 15 successful sessions completed
2024-2025
Co-organizer of Swarma Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics Study Group
- Design and coordinate a structured 16-session program covering fundamental and advanced topics with 300+ participants
Reviewer
- Soft Matter, Physical Review E, and Journal of Statistical Physics
Invited Talks
2025
Response relations in non-equilibrium Markov processes, The 8th National Conference on Statistical Physics and Complex Systems, Ningbo, China, Jul 2025
Thermodynamic Space for Chemical Reaction Networks, Autocatalysis in Reaction Networks Seminar, Online, Apr 2025
Thermodynamic Limits of Biological Functions, Westlake University, Hangzhou China (Onlien), Apr 2025
Introduction to Chemical Reaction Theory, OIST TSVP Program, Okinawa, Japan, Mar 2025
2024
Thermodynamic Constraints on Biological Processes, ELBE Symposium, Dresden, Germany, May 2024
2023
Thermodynamic cost of spatiotemporal symmetry breaking, LMU, Munich, Germany, Nov 2023
Thermodynamic cost of time-reversal symmetry breaking, MPI-PKS, Dresden, Germany, Nov 2023
Thermodynamic cost to break spatiotemporal symmetry, BICMR, Peking University, Beijing, China, Aug 2023
Why must life be out of equilibrium, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, Aug 2023
From origins of life to thermodynamic bounds on symmetry breaking, Peking University, Beijing, China, Jul 2023
Thermodynamics on the origin and the present of life, ELSI, Tokyo, Japan, May 2023
Thermodynamics on the origin and the present of life, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, May 2023
Symmetry breaking in the present and origin of life, USTC, Hefei, China (Online), Jan 2023
2022
Non-isothermal chemical reaction networks: hints to the origins of life, MISANU, Serbia (Online), Nov 2022
Schools, Workshops & Conferences
2025
StatPhys29, Florence, Italy, Jul 2025
- Contributed talk: Power-Efficiency Trade-off in Finite-Time Thermodynamics
Joint European Thermodynamics Conference, Belgrade, Serbia, May 2025
- Contributed talk: Fundamental Limits on Biochemical Sensing
DPG Spring Meeting, Regensburg, Germany, Mar. 2025
- Contributed talk: Power-Efficiency Trade-off in Finite-Time Thermodynamics: From Minimal Model to General Principle
Computational and Physical Understanding of Biological Information Processing, OIST TSVP Program, Okinawa Japan, Mar. 2025
- Invited talk: Introduction to Chemical Reaction Theory
- Poster / short talk: Fundamental Limits on Biochemical Sensing
Physical Biology Circle Meeting 2025, GIMM, Lisbon, Portugal, Jan. 2025
- Contributed talk: Thermodynamic Constraints Shape the Design Space of Biological Functions
2024
Frontiers in Non-equilibrium Physics 2024, YITP, Kyoto, Japan, July 2024
- Contributed talk: A Minimal model for Carnot efficiency at maximum power
Information Processing, Noise, and Adaptation in Living Systems - Signal24, Dresden, Germany, March 2024
- Contributed talk: Universal thermodynamic bounds on symmetry breaking in living systems: from error correction to pattern formation
Modeling energy-consuming biomolecular processes, Lausanne, Switzerland, Jan. 2024
- Poster: Universal thermodynamic bounds on symmetry breaking in living systems: from error correction to pattern formation
2023
StatPhys28, Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 2023
- Contributed talk: Universal thermodynamic bounds on symmetry breaking in living systems: from error correction to pattern formation
Molecular Origins of Life, Munich, Online, Jun. 2023
Workshop on Stochastic Thermodynamics - WOST IV, ICTP, Italy, May 2023
- Contributed talk: Universal thermodynamic bounds on symmetry breaking in living systems: from error correction to pattern formation [Video]
APS March Meeting, Online, Mar. 2023
- Contributed talk: Universal thermodynamic bounds on spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking
2022
(Post)modern Thermodynamics School & Workshop, Luxembourg University, Luxembourg, Dec. 2022
School on Information, Noise, and Physics of Life, Niš, Serbia, Sep. 2022
7th Beijing Soft Matter Workshop, Beijing, China, Jul. 2022
- Talk: Emergent thermophoretic behavior for particles with internal states
- Best Short Talk Award
Molecular Origins of Life, Munich, Germany, Jun. 2022
- Poster: Universal thermodynamic bounds on spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking
2021
14th International meeting on Thermodiffusion, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, May 2021
- Poster: Thermophoresis of multi-state particles
2019
IX GEFENOL Summer School on Statistical Physics of Complex Systems, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain, Sep. 2019
Mathematics of Deep Learning, Zuse Institute Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Aug. 2019
Bad Honnef Physics School: Physics of Bacteria, Physikzentrum Bad Honnef, Germany, Aug. 2019
Hands-On Research in Complex Systems School, ICTP, Trieste, Italy, Jul. 2019
- Poster: The cluster structure of high-efficiency photosystem (PS I)
2017
Introduction to Complex Systems Summer School, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands, Jun. 2017
References
Prof. Paolo De Los Rios, paolo.delosrios@epfl.ch, Associate Professor, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
Prof. Simone Pigolotti, simone.pigolotti@oist.jp, Professor, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Japan
Dr. Daniel Maria Busiello, busiello@pks.mpg.de, Project Leader, Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPI-PKS), Germany