STEMCast Ep. 43 | The Science of the Small: Diving into nanoscale capillaries and their applications with Prof. Radha Boya

Have you ever heard of graphene, the world's thinnest material made of a single-layer of carbon atoms? Early in her career, Prof. Radha Boya asked herself, “if we can create a material that is a single-atom thin, can we create an empty space that is also a single-atom thin?” In today’s episode, we discuss the (now very established) results of this thought experiment - nanoscale channels - with Prof. Boya, a Professor of Nanoscience at the University of Manchester who was recently recognized as a Finalist in the 2026 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK. She co-developped these atomic-scale capillaries, which have opened up a diversity of research opportunities, from modelling neuronal synapse formation to enabling alternative forms of reservoir computing. Join us in this exciting conversation about the science of the small!

In this episode, we cover:

(1:11) Introduction to Prof. Boya’s research(7:57) Discovering science as a career option(11:20) Stepping stones towards her professional career: creating one-atom-thin empty spaces(15:46) Interesting applications of nanoscale capillaries: replicating biological learning processes(21:27) On the ingredients for cellular memory…(25:09) Future directions of the field(28:09) Mimicking whole-neuron signatures with nanoscale capillaries

Further reading (mostly papers in this episode)

Prof. Boyda Radha’s groupLong-term memory and synapse-like dynamics in two-dimensional nanofluidic channelsMolecular transport through capillaries made with atomic-scale precisionDirect imaging elucidates ionic memory in two-dimensional nanochannels with Prof. Aleksandra Radenovic

Episode host and producer: Sabrina Du

Contact: igem@mcgill.ca