Faculty at the Max Planck School Matter to Life
In the Matter to Life Program, you will experience first-class training, highly interdisciplinary teaching and research opportunities from outstanding experts across Germany. Our faculty currently constitutes of 50 Fellows who are selected and appointed for a period of four years as well as 11 Adjunct Fellows.
Below you will find a list of all MPS MtL Fellows, i.e. your potential PhD supervisors. Please visit the websites of the respective partner institutions to learn more about the research work of a specific Fellow.
Karen Alim
MtL research focus:
Biological Physics: Self-Organization of Shape and Function
Biological Physics: Self-Organization of Shape and Function
Philippe Bastiaens
(1963-2025)We are deeply saddened by the news of the demise of Philippe Bastiaens who was a valued Fellow of the MPS MtL since its founding.
In tribute to his legacy, our students have shared what Philippe meant to them personally and to the Matter to Life initiative.
Andreas Bausch
Timo Betz
Eberhard Bodenschatz
MtL research focus:
Fluid Physics, Pattern Formation and Biocomplexity
Fluid Physics, Pattern Formation and Biocomplexity
Heike Böhm
MtL research focus:
Glycans in Synthetic Biology
Glycans in Synthetic Biology
Michael Boutros
MtL research focus:
Engineering of genomes and tissues
Engineering of genomes and tissues
Dieter Braun
MtL research focus:
We are performing physico-chemical experiments to recreate Darwinian evolution from scratch. Our goal is to provide a working model of how life could have originated from a few RNA nucleotides in the volcanic environments of the early Earth. This will also reveal novel biotechnological applications, an example from the past is NanoTemper Technologies.
We are performing physico-chemical experiments to recreate Darwinian evolution from scratch. Our goal is to provide a working model of how life could have originated from a few RNA nucleotides in the volcanic environments of the early Earth. This will also reveal novel biotechnological applications, an example from the past is NanoTemper Technologies.
E. Ada Cavalcanti-Adam
MtL research focus:
Molecular and Cellular Mechanobiology
Molecular and Cellular Mechanobiology
Lena Daumann
Laura De Laporte
MtL research focus:
Advanced Materials for Biomedicine
Advanced Materials for Biomedicine
Hendrik Dietz
MtL research focus:
Biomolecular Self-Assembly & Controlling Molecular Motions
Biomolecular Self-Assembly & Controlling Molecular Motions
Stefan Diez
MtL Research Focus:
Molecular Transport in Cell Biology and Nanotechnology
Molecular Transport in Cell Biology and Nanotechnology
Tobias Erb
MtL reseach focus:
Synthetic Biochemistry: New-to-nature Enzymes, Synthetic Pathways & Articifial Cells for CO2 fixation
Synthetic Biochemistry: New-to-nature Enzymes, Synthetic Pathways & Articifial Cells for CO2 fixation
Erwin Frey
MtL research focus:
Theoretical Physics of Living Systems: Self-organisation, Fluctuations, and Pattern Formation
Theoretical Physics of Living Systems: Self-organisation, Fluctuations, and Pattern Formation
Viktorija Glembockyte
MtL research focus:
Engineering and Imaging of Functional Nanoscale Tools
Engineering and Imaging of Functional Nanoscale Tools
Kerstin Göpfrich
MtL research focus:
Biophysical Engineering of Synthetic Cells with DNA Nanotechnology and 3D Printing
Biophysical Engineering of Synthetic Cells with DNA Nanotechnology and 3D Printing
Ramin Golestanian
MtL research focus:
Living Matter Physics
Living Matter Physics
Frauke Gräter
MtL research focus:
Molecular Mechanisms of Mechano-Sensing
Molecular Mechanisms of Mechano-Sensing
Isabella Graf
MtL research focus:
Physics of Life Theory: Self-Organization, Information and Signal Integration, Robustness of Function
Physics of Life Theory: Self-Organization, Information and Signal Integration, Robustness of Function
Stephan Grill
MtL research focus:
Physics of life - Self-organization of living matter
Physics of life - Self-organization of living matter
Helmut Grubmüller
MtL research focus:
Biomolecular mechanism and function by theoretical biophysics and computer simulations
Biomolecular mechanism and function by theoretical biophysics and computer simulations
Michael Grunze
MtL research focus:
Biointerface Science
Biointerface Science
Jochen Guck
MtL research focus:
Biological optomechanics
Biological optomechanics
Laura Heinen
MtL research focus:
Bottom-Up Engineering of Synthetic Cells, Metabolically Active Materials, Life-Like Systems, Out-of-Equilibrium Reaction Networks, Membrane Proteins
Bottom-Up Engineering of Synthetic Cells, Metabolically Active Materials, Life-Like Systems, Out-of-Equilibrium Reaction Networks, Membrane Proteins
Stefan Hell
Andreas Herrmann
MtL research focus:
Macromolecular Materials and Systems – Sonopharmacology and Sonogenetics
Macromolecular Materials and Systems – Sonopharmacology and Sonogenetics
Anthony Hyman
MtL research focus:
Biomolecular Condensates
Copyright picture: Sven Döring
Biomolecular Condensates
Copyright picture: Sven Döring
Karin Jacobs
MtL research focus:
Experimental Soft Matter and Biophysics: Adhesion of Biomolecules and Bacteria and Parasites
Experimental Soft Matter and Biophysics: Adhesion of Biomolecules and Bacteria and Parasites
Kai Johnsson
MtL research focus:
Chemical Biology
Chemical Biology
Rüdiger Klingeler
MtL research focus:
Applying Sophisticated Magnetic Spectroscopies and Magnetochemistry to Elucidate Electronic States and to Understand Function in Metalloprotein, Biomimetic and Radical Systems.
Applying Sophisticated Magnetic Spectroscopies and Magnetochemistry to Elucidate Electronic States and to Understand Function in Metalloprotein, Biomimetic and Radical Systems.
Stefan Klumpp
MtL research focus:
Theoretical Biophysics - Physical basis of biological function
Theoretical Biophysics - Physical basis of biological function
Sarah Köster
MtL research focus:
Cellular Biophysics - Mechanics and Dynamics of the Cytoskeleton
Cellular Biophysics - Mechanics and Dynamics of the Cytoskeleton
Hans-Georg Kräusslich
Benoit Ladoux
MtL research focus:
Cell and tissue mechanobiology
Cell and tissue mechanobiology
Katharina Landfester
MtL research focus:
Nanoparticle protein interaction & Nanocarriers for drug delivery
Nanoparticle protein interaction & Nanocarriers for drug delivery
Franziska Lautenschläger
Reinhard Lipowsky (em.)
MtL research focus:
Hidden dimensions of self-organization
Hidden dimensions of self-organization
Sarah Loos
MtL research focus:
Statistical Physics of Living Systems: Self-Organization, Stochastic Thermodynamics, Physics of Information
Statistical Physics of Living Systems: Self-Organization, Stochastic Thermodynamics, Physics of Information
Lukas Milles
MtL research focus:
De novo protein design
Image reference: MPI of Biochemistry / Magdalena Possert
De novo protein design
Image reference: MPI of Biochemistry / Magdalena Possert
Martin Möller (em.)
MtL research focus:
Oligomer and Polymer building blocks for medicine and biological application
Oligomer and Polymer building blocks for medicine and biological application
Thorsten Moos
MtL research focus:
Bioethics
Copyright picture: Universität Heidelberg, Kommunikation und Marketing
Bioethics
Copyright picture: Universität Heidelberg, Kommunikation und Marketing
Marcus Müller
MtL research focus:
Statistical Physics and Simulation of Biological and Soft Matter
Statistical Physics and Simulation of Biological and Soft Matter
Andrea Musacchio
MtL research focus:
In vitro reconstitution of cell division
In vitro reconstitution of cell division
Wolfram Pernice
Andrij Pich
MtL research focus:
Functional & interactive polymers for biomedical and sustainable materials
Copyright picture: Fabio Sentek, DWI – Leibniz-Institut für Interaktive Materialien
Functional & interactive polymers for biomedical and sustainable materials
Copyright picture: Fabio Sentek, DWI – Leibniz-Institut für Interaktive Materialien
Joachim Rädler
MtL research focus:
Soft Matter Physics and Lipid Nanoscience in Living Systems
Soft Matter Physics and Lipid Nanoscience in Living Systems
Matthias Rief
MtL research focus:
Molecular Biophysics - Function and Folding processes of proteins
Molecular Biophysics - Function and Folding processes of proteins
Tim Salditt
Roman Sarott
MtL research focus:
Chemical Biology, Chemically Induced Proximity
Chemical Biology, Chemically Induced Proximity
Thomas Scheibel
MtL research focus:
Biomaterials for biofabrication
Biomaterials for biofabrication
Franziska Schoenebeck
MtL research focus:
Origins of chemical phenomena at a molecular level. Synthesis and homogeneous catalysis
Origins of chemical phenomena at a molecular level. Synthesis and homogeneous catalysis
Ulrich Schwarz
MtL research focus:
Soft Matter and biological physics - Forces and elasticity in cell adhesion
Soft Matter and biological physics - Forces and elasticity in cell adhesion
Petra Schwille
MtL research focus:
Cell and Membrane Biophysics & Synthetic Biology
Cell and Membrane Biophysics & Synthetic Biology
Christine Selhuber-Unkel
MtL research focus:
Molecular Systems Engineering - Materials and Bioenvironments
Copyright picture: Universität Heidelberg, Kommunikation und Marketing
Molecular Systems Engineering - Materials and Bioenvironments
Copyright picture: Universität Heidelberg, Kommunikation und Marketing
Joachim Spatz
MtL research focus:
Cellular Biophysics - Engineering of Synthetic Cells
Cellular Biophysics - Engineering of Synthetic Cells
Oskar Staufer
MtL research focus:
Synthetic immunology, cancer immune evasion, synthetic tissues
Synthetic immunology, cancer immune evasion, synthetic tissues
Jörg Stülke
MtL research focus:
Our research focuses on the holistic understanding of a simple organism, the model bacterium Bacillus subtilis. We try to achieve this goal by a combination of different approaches:
- Reduction of the genome to the possible minimum
- Investigation of unknown proteins and functions
- Identification and characterization of protein-protein interactions at a global scale
- Development of genome annotation tools and databases
Kai Sundmacher
MtL research focus:
Biosystems engineering and artificial life-like systems
Biosystems engineering and artificial life-like systems
Franziska Thomas
MtL research focus:
Functional Materials, Miniproteins and Protein Aggregation
Functional Materials, Miniproteins and Protein Aggregation
Silvia Vignolini
MtL research focus:
Biomaterials, Biomimetics and Nanomaterials
Biomaterials, Biomimetics and Nanomaterials
Hans-Robert Volpp
MtL research focus:
Analysis of homogeneous and heterogeneous chemical reaction systems
Analysis of homogeneous and heterogeneous chemical reaction systems
Andreas Walther
Seraphine Wegner
MtL research focus
Spatiotemporal Regulation of Synthetic and Living Cells with Light; Optogenetics
Spatiotemporal Regulation of Synthetic and Living Cells with Light; Optogenetics
Tanja Weil
MtL research focus:
Supramolecular Biomaterials to Control Cellular Functions
Supramolecular Biomaterials to Control Cellular Functions
Richard Wombacher
MtL research focus:
Selective Protein Labeling & Bioorthogonal Chemistry
Copyright picture: Marie Staggat
Selective Protein Labeling & Bioorthogonal Chemistry
Copyright picture: Marie Staggat
Martin Zacharias
Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann
MtL research focus:
Engineering of Organotypic Tissue Models from Pluripotent Stem Cells
Engineering of Organotypic Tissue Models from Pluripotent Stem Cells
David Zwicker
MtL research focus:
Theoretical Biophysics: Self-Organization and Pattern Formation of Soft Matter
Theoretical Biophysics: Self-Organization and Pattern Formation of Soft Matter