The centre is involved in the study of molecules, cells, and organisms as living machines: imperfectly optimized products of natural selection which consume energy to achieve specific goals. The research spans over a wide range of areas from protein function, computational cell biology and evolution, and the physics of active systems, to morphology and control in animals and machines. A successful exploration of biological questions spanning many length and timescales needs a strong two-way interaction between mathematical theories and experiments. The centre has close collaborations with experimental labs at NCBS and elsewhere.