Qiwei Yu

Living systems operate nonequilibrium processes across many scales in space and time. Is there a model-free way to bridge the descriptions at different levels of coarse-graining? Here we find that preserving the evidence of time-reversal symmetry breaking works remarkably well!

Our tour de force into the nucleolar world — a stunning exploration of spatial organization and the functional choreography of ribosome biogenesis now out in Nature✨ tinyurl.com/5n7jk3uz Led by @sofiquinodoz, @jiang_lifei, @brangwynnelab, with theory partners @QiweiYu2,…

Excited that our nucleolus mapping paper just came out today in Nature! Truly an amazing study from even more amazing due of @sofiquinodoz & @jiang_lifei w/ @LafontaineLab & Sebastian Klinge and other fantastic co-authors nature.com/articles/s4158…

Now on the Princeton Engineering and ODBI sites, a new mapping tool that allows researchers to peer deep into cells' inner compartments to watch and control ribosome assembly, shedding new light on the machinery responsible for making proteins.

Combining sequencing and imaging, @sofiquinodoz maps the spatiotemporal dynamics of rRNA processing, demonstrating how rRNA serves as both a scaffold and a substrate for the nucleolus—a multiphase, liquid-like structure. nature.com/articles/s4158… @brangwynnelab @omenndarlingbio

Apply now to be a CPBF Fellow in 2026! puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/apply…

The work was published in @Nature today. Read more on the @EPrinceton site: engineering.princeton.edu/news/2025/07/0…

Led by Sofia Quinodoz and Lifei Jiang of @brangwynnelab, this work opens the door to new treatments and medicines. 📷 Members of the research team, from left: Anita Donlic, Aya Abu-Alfa, Jordy Botello, Qiwei Yu, Quinodoz, Lennard Wiesner, Cliff Brangwynne, Jiang, Troy Comi.

Postdoc opportunity! Join us in heavenly Vancouver (Canada) to develop fundamental nonequilibrium stat mech, thermo, and info theory applied to biomolecular machines and in close collaboration with experiment. Details: sfu.ca/physics/sivakg…

Biology consumes energy at the microscale to power functions across all scales: From proteins and cells to entire populations of animals. Led by @QiweiYu2 and @MattLeighton5, we study how coarse-graining can help to bridge this gap 👇🧵 arxiv.org/abs/2506.01909

Science is built on public trust, federal funding, and academic freedom. All of these are currently being eroded, but what can we do? Join us for an online panel on "Being a Voice for Science" (June 11, 2-3pm ET). Info and registration: engage.aps.org/dbio/resources…

Attacking Chinese students who work in “critical fields” while completely defunding those fields is the height of hypocrisy

Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard. hrvd.me/IntStudents25t

When constructing models of the world, we aim for good compressions: models that are as accurate as possible with as few details as possible. But which details should we include in a model? An answer lies in the "minimax entropy" principle 👇 arxiv.org/abs/2505.01607

Now out in @AnnualReviews of Physical Chemistry: @DavidASivak and I review recent work studying flows of free energy into, out of, and within molecular machines. These nanoscale protein machines convert energy within cells of all living organisms with remarkable efficiencies.