I am a Reader Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at the University of Manchester. My main research interests are in fluid dynamics, in particular flows with strong surface-tension or free boundary effects, and in their modelling, control and nonlinear dynamics

• Bubble and drop dynamics at low Reynolds number
• Bifurcations of bubbles and drops, and how they are affected by patterning
• Bubbles and drops in Hele-Shaw cells
• Coalescence and pinchoff
• Reduced-dimensional models
• Feedback control of thin films
• Industrial mathematics and mathematical modelling
• Spreading dynamics and post-deposition behaviour in inkjet printing

I did my PhD at the University of Nottingham, working with Prof. John Billingham. My postdoctoral research was at the University of Manchester (2011-2014), supervised by Prof. Anne Juel and Prof. Andrew Hazel, and at Imperial College London (2014-2016) working with Prof. Demetrios Papageorgiou.

I was principal investigator for the EPSRC New Investigator Award on Feedback Control of Deformable Bubbles (2020-2023). Via a combination of EPSRC funding and support from the University of Manchester, this project involved both experimental and theoretical strands, and both a PhD student (Sammy Ayoubi) and a PDRA (Joao Fontana).

I was a co-investigator (with P-I Anne Juel and Co-I Andrew Hazel) on the EPSRC grant Transition to disordered front propagation. This project has allowed me to work with three excellent PDRAs over the course of the project: Jack Keeler, Antoine Gaillard and Gregoire Lemoult.

I co-supervised Jake Harris's PhD with Andrew Hazel. Jake worked on 3D calculations and depth-averaged modelling for single and multi-phase flow in a confined geometry. Jake graduated in 2023 and his PhD thesis is available via the University of Manchester repository.

I supervised Sammy Ayoubi's PhD jointly with Anne Juel. His project focused on the experimentally-challenging task of using control-based continuation methods to explore the bifurcations of bubbles in Hele-Shaw cells. Sammy graduated in 2025, and his PhD thesis is available via the University of Manchester repository. Sammy is now a PDRA in Paris.

I was also part of the supervisory team for James Shemilt, along with Oliver Jensen, Carl Whitfield and Alex Horsley, who worked on airway modelling for cystic fibrosis. James is now based in UBC working with Neil Balmforth.

My current email address is alice.thompson@manchester.ac.uk. I have also listed alice.thompson1@imperial.ac.uk pmxabt@nottingham.ac.uk as contact details on previous publications.

Most recently, I teach MATH45032/65032 Stability Theory jointly with Ashleigh Hutchinson. I have also previously taught MATH64062/ MAGIC058 (PDEs: Theory and Practice), and parts of MATH44151/64151 (Mathematical Methods for PDEs), MATH20401 (PDEs and Vector Calculus A) and MATH10232 (Calculus and Applications B).