Alan Turing Lecture 2026

The 2026 Alan Turing Lecture will be given by Raymond E. Goldstein FRS, Alan Turing Professor of Complex Physical Systems. 

Lecture Title: Architecture of Biological Complexity

This lecture will describe recent experimental and theoretical advances in understanding the architecture of organisms that serve as models for evolutionary transitions from unicellular to multicellular life. Professor Goldstein will discuss the shape-shifting properties of certain choanoflagellates (the closest living relatives of animals), the recent discovery of common probability distributions of cellular neighbourhood volumes in yeast and alga, and embryonic inversion and the spontaneous curling of the extracellular matrix of green algae. These studies together shed light on the fundamental question: How do cells produce structures external to themselves in an accurate and robust manner?

Speaker: Ray Goldstein received undergraduate degrees in Physics and Chemistry from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics from Cornell University. Following postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago and faculty positions in Physics and Applied Mathematics at Princeton University and the University of Arizona, he moved to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge in 2006, where he is the Alan Turing Professor of Complex Physical Systems.

His research interests span from statistical physics to nonlinear dynamics and geophysics, with particular emphasis on biological physics, both theoretical and experimental. His work has been recognised by a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, a Presidential Faculty Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, the G.K. Batchelor Prize in Fluid Mechanics, the Rosalind Franklin Medal of the Institute of Physics (UK) and Fellowship in the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and the Royal Society. 

He shared the 2012 Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for work on the shape of a ponytail.

Event Programme

3.00-4.00pm: King’s College Archive Exhibition: Highlights from the Alan Turing Collection

The Alan Turing collection has been gradually accumulating at King’s for decades. From 1960 when his mother made the first gift of his papers to the College to our most recent accession – Turing’s ‘Delilah Project’ papers – which were purchased last year. Also on display will be Turing’s copies of his seminal publications – his theses “On Computable Numbers…” and “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” which helped pave the way for the development of Computer Science and AI.

3.00-4.00pm: Display of Sir Eduardo Paolozzi’s Alan Turing Suite

4.00-4.45pm: Refreshment Break, Chetwynd Room

5.00-6.15pm: Alan Turing Lecture 'Architecture of Biological Complexity' by Ray Goldstein in Keynes Hall

The lecture will last approximately 45 minutes followed by Q&A

6.15-7.15pm: Drinks Reception, Chetwynd Room

If you would like to attend the Alan Turing Lecture please register by Ticket Tailor. Places are limited and registration will close when the capacity of Keynes Hall is reached.