Michael Elmhirst Cates, FRS, FRSE (born 5 May 1961) is a British physicist. He has been the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge since 1 July 2015.He was previously Professor of Natural Philosophy and Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Edinburgh. His scientific work is varied, but focuses on the theory of soft matter, such as polymers, colloids, gels, liquid crystals, and granular material.