Rate My Professor Johan van Leeuwen

His research integrates physics, engineering, molecular techniques, and modelling to address fundamental problems in biology, focusing on the relationship between form and function in evolution and development. Research interests encompass biophysics, biology, animal health and welfare, growth, animal anatomy and morphology, zoology, biomechanics, muscles, fish, and computational fluid dynamics. Specific studies include bio-fluid dynamics of swimming and flight, biomechanics of muscular hydrostats such as squid tentacles, chameleon tongues, and salamander tongues, architectural optimization in muscles, developmental biomechanics of muscles and bones, escape and swimming performance in flatfish, mechanisms of manoeuvrability through undulating fins, and muscle structure in larval zebrafish. Recent bio-inspired projects explore wet bio-adhesion and steerable needles based on tree frogs, sea urchins, and parasitic wasps. He has published more than 110 scientific journal papers with a Web of Science h-index of 31. Key publications are "Evidence for an elastic projection mechanism in the chameleon tongue" (2004), "Biomechanics of swimming in developing larval fish" (2018), "Axial muscle-fibre orientations in larval zebrafish" (2025), and "Axial muscle-fibre orientation in developing larval zebrafish" (2026). A conference titled "Biomechanics in Nature" marked his retirement as professor of Experimental Zoology in 2023.