This grant will support Professor Zhiyue Lu to develop a theoretical framework to understand biochemical networks that operate far from equilibrium and outside steady states. Living systems exist in far-from-equilibrium states; this characteristic is one of the most striking distinctions between living and non-living systems.   Unlike non-living matter, living organisms demonstrate remarkable sensitivity and complex responses to environmental changes. While most scientific understanding focuses on near-equilibrium or steady-state systems, Lu aims to explore how biochemical networks respond to time-varying environmental conditions.   The research focuses on three key properties of living systems: sensitivity and robustness to environmental changes, ability to manipulate energy to power various processes, and capacity to extract energy from fluctuating environments. Through mathematical modeling and simulation, Lu's team will investigate how network structure influences these properties under different temporal patterns of environmental change. Specifically, they'll study how networks process complex information patterns, combine weak energy sources to power energy-intensive processes (or distribute energy from one source to multiple processes), and extract energy from environments that fluctuate at different timescales.