Stephen Hyde

Professor Stephen Hyde is a Research Professor in the School of Chemistry within the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney, a position he assumed in 2021 following a distinguished career at the Australian National University (ANU). At ANU, he served as Professor and ARC Federation Fellow in the Department of Applied Mathematics, Research School of Physics, holding the Barry Ninham Chair of Natural Sciences. He was Head of the Department from 1999 to 2002 and is now Emeritus Professor. Hyde earned his PhD in Physics from Monash University in 1986, after undergraduate studies at the University of Western Australia and Monash University. He was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2005.

Hyde's research specializes in the geometry and topology of self-assembling systems, applying non-Euclidean geometry, low-dimensional topology, and graph theory to understand structures in condensed matter, from atomic and molecular scales to biological systems. His work has revealed universal forms in porous crystalline and liquid crystalline materials, the role of curvature in crystals, liquid crystals, and colloids, and mechanisms of molecular and colloidal self-assembly. Key publications include the book "The Language of Shape: The Role of Curvature in Condensed Matter – Physics, Chemistry and Biology" (1999), "A short history of an elusive yet ubiquitous structure in chemistry, materials and mathematics: the gyroid" (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2008), "Morphogenetical mechanisms in self-assembled nanocrystalline materials of barium carbonate and silica" (Science, 2009), "Hierarchical self-assembly of a striped gyroid formed by threaded chiral mesoscale networks" (PNAS, 2014), and "Symmetric tangled Platonic polyhedra" (PNAS, 2022). With over 13,900 citations on Google Scholar, his contributions have profoundly influenced the fields of materials science, soft matter physics, and theoretical chemistry. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

Professional Email: stephen.hyde@sydney.edu.au