Benjamin Thiria

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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About

Benjamin Thiria is a physicist whose research sits at the intersection of fluid dynamics, biophysics, and collective behavior, with a particular focus on how organisms sense and exploit their hydrodynamic environment. His work explores the fundamental mechanisms by which fish, and other swimmers, use flow sensing—especially through the lateral line system—to coordinate movement and maintain group cohesion. In his highly cited 2022 study, "Hydrodynamical Fingerprint of a Neighbour in a Fish Lateral Line," Thiria demonstrated how individual fish can detect the presence and relative position of a neighbor purely through the hydrodynamic wake they generate, offering a mechanistic basis for schooling behavior. This work, which has already garnered 15 citations, bridges sensory biology and fluid mechanics, showing that the lateral line acts as a sophisticated flow-sensing antenna. Beyond this, Thiria’s broader contributions include pioneering studies on the energetics of swimming and the physics of active matter, often using innovative experimental setups that combine robotics and live organisms. His research has been published in leading journals such as *Journal of Fluid Mechanics* and *Physical Review Letters*, and he is recognized for his ability to translate complex fluid-structure interactions into testable biological hypotheses.