Research in this cluster focuses on a number of sub-areas of the wider field of fluid dynamics and heat transfer, pursuing a combination of experimental, technological, theoretical and computational studies.

One line of research concerns fundamental aspects of turbulence and vortex dynamics, with emphasis on anisotropy imposed by background rotation and density stratification. A second sub-area comprises gas dynamics – in particular nucleation and condensation phenomena in rapidly expanding gases – and aero acoustics, i.e. flow induced sound production. The study of these topics is relevant for a variety of industrial situations as well as biological systems.

The physics of heterogeneous media such as suspensions and dusty plasmas is also studied; recently the dynamics of granular media have also become one of the topics of interest. The research activities also include a study of some basic aspects of atmospheric physics, in particular the fundamental transport mechanisms in large-scale atmospheric flow systems (such as the polar vortices) and their relation to the chemical composition of the atmosphere. This work is intrinsically linked with the work on turbulence and vortex dynamics.

The incorporation of the research activities on low-temperature physics, in particular those concerning novel thermoacoustic and cryocooling techniques, has broadened the scope of this cluster considerably.