IMPRS Physics from Light to Life

Congratulations to our PI Dr. Clara Wanjura!👏

Physik-Nobelpreis: Spitzenforschung zur Quantentechnologie auch in Erlangen Im Jahr der Quantenforschung werden drei Wissenschaftler aus dieser Disziplin ganz besonders geehrt: Sie erhalten den Nobelpreis für Physik. Die Forscher schufen eine Grundlage für die Entwicklung der...

Der Nobelpreis für Physik ging an Forscher, die den Grundstein für supraleitende Quantenprozessoren legten. An der FAU und dem @mpi-scienceoflight.bsky.social wird ebenso zu Themen wie Quantencomputer und Quantensensoren geforscht.

Unsere Forschenden erklären mehr: go.fau.de/1cbae

Our PI, Jochen Guck, has sadly passed away. We'd like to express our heartfelt gratitude to him. With his passing, we've lost a supportive and inspiring mentor whose expertise, experience, and genuine humanity will be greatly missed. Thank you Jochen for the lasting impact you’ve had on all of us.

📢 IMPRS OOF lecture today, on October 7.

1.
Dr. Felix Reichel will talk about "Probing physical properties of cells to generate biologically relevant models: Deformability Cytometry".

2.
Prof. Dr. Florian Marquardt will talk about the "Basics of Machine Learning".

@mpi-scienceoflight.bsky.social

Stylized image of a head containing a neural network, overlaying a gallery of images from scientific exploration (plots of curves and wave fields).

Scientific discovery relies on a cycle of observations, analysis, and coming up with new hypotheses. Can a computer mimic that cycle and explore an unknown system in this way?

We introduce #SciExplorer, which for the first time employs agentic behaviour in […]

[Original post on fediscience.org]

📣 IMPRSinternships

For Bachelor students in the fields of Physics, Engineering, Biology and Medicine.

Application deadline: November 15

More information you can find at mpl.mpg.de/study-work-o...

@mpi-scienceoflight.bsky.social @fau.de

📣Job alert!

PhD Position in Theoretical and Computational Membrane Biophysics with Prof. Dr. Rainer Böckmann (FAU). @biomemphys.bsky.social

More information about the Böckmann Lab: www.biomemphys.nat.fau.de

Application via mpl.mpg.de/study-work-o...

The lecture will take place at MPZPM. It will also be streamed via Zoom, as well as recorded and added to our YouTube channel for anyone who misses the talk. ▶️ Radical bursts from tissue stretch? New mechanobiology uncovered by experiments and AI 🕒 Thursday, September 18 at 3 pm CET 📍 Seminar Room 0.125 at the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin, Erlangen

Lectures on Physics and Medicine

Prof. Frauke Gräter, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, will give her fascinating talk on September 18 at 3 pm CET.

👉 Zoom access:

eu02web.zoom-x.de/j/6249564969...
Meeting-ID: 624 9564 9691
Identification code: 582716

The complex microscopic dynamics of cells in high-density epithelial tissues Epithelial tissues line the surfaces of vital organs and are often densely packed in a disordered, mechanically arrested state, referred to as jammed or glassy state. While collective migration at low...

Very happy to share our new study from CAM team @ijmonod.bsky.social and @mpi-scienceoflight.bsky.social (MPZPM) on the unanticipated “hidden fluidity” in jammed epithelia. Congrats to Yuan Shen and great collaboration with Walter Kob.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We're hiring! Join our team at @fau.de ! We are seeking an enthusiastic candidate for a PhD position in our lab specializing in cutting-edge theoretical and computational membrane biophysics.
Please send your CV, and a statement of research interests via email.
www.biomemphys.nat.fau.de/jobs/

Bottom-up Investigation of Spatiotemporal Glycocalyx Dynamics with Interferometric Scattering Microscopy Over recent decades, the glycocalyx, an extracellular organelle composed of a multitude of glycolipids, glycoproteins, proteoglycans, and glycoRNA, has gained considerable interest in cellular biology...

Excited to see this one out in JACS! We analyzed how molecular interactions lead to self-organization of glycolipids down to microseconds and nanometer spatiotemporal scales. Amazing collaboration with the Sandoghdar lab, @biomemphys.bsky.social, and Thisbe Lindhorst!

pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Prof. Vahid Sandoghdar shares in a recent interview what makes the two Symposia unique and introduces the concept of ›near-field cell biology‹.

🧬 ›Symposium on Virus Entry and Egress‹
👉 indico.mpl.mpg.de/event/21/

🧬 ›Symposium on Near-Field Cell Biology‹
👉 indico.mpl.mpg.de/event/23/

We also welcome our new PI, Viola Introini!😊

New research group at MPZPM investigates cancer biomechanics Eleni Dalaka researches how physical forces and mechanical properties of cells influence cancer, from its initiation to its invasion and metastasis. In this context, she wants to understand why some cells metastasise and others don’t, and what the mechanical properties of these aggressive cells are, among other things. With that, she aims to develop new therapeutic approaches based on cancer biomechanics.

Eleni Dalaka researches how physical forces and mechanical properties of cells influence cancer, from its initiation to its invasion and metastasis.

Read more about Eleni Dalaka and her research group ›Cancer Biomechanics‹ here: 👉 mpzpm.mpg.de/news/news-de...

After some silence, we will soon be announcing exciting developments, including openings at the postdoctoral and Ph.D. levels. Stay tuned!

Two related symposia will bring together experts at the interface of virology, cell biology, and biophysics to explore fundamental processes at the cell surface.

Symposium on Virus Entry and Egress
👉 indico.mpl.mpg.de/event/21/

Symposium on Near-Field Cell Biology
👉 indico.mpl.mpg.de/event/23/

🌍 ›International Youth Day‹ – 12 August 2025 ›International Youth Day‹ was established by the United Nations to draw attention to the significance, opportunities, and challenges faced by young people worldwide. Young people, with their questions, ideas, and creativity, shape the science of tomorrow. This is precisely where the ›Stiftung Jugend forscht e. V.‹ comes in, fostering the spirit of discovery in school students and opening doors to current scientific topics. In this context, we would like to highlight an exciting event organised by the Foundation: 📅 On 25 September 2025 at 3:30 p.m., our research group leader Prof. Christoph Marquardt will speak in the online series ›Wissenschaft LIVE!‹ on ›Quantum Cryptography‹. Prof. Marquardt will explain cryptographic methods and technologies for transmitting quantum keys via satellites. The event is aimed at interested school students and adults. The event will be held in German.

On 25 September 2025 at 3:30 p.m., our research group leader Prof. Christoph Marquardt will speak in the online series ›Wissenschaft LIVE!‹ on ›Quantum Cryptography‹.

👉 www.jugend-forscht.de/service/vera...

📸 MPL, Stephan Spangenberg

🚀 Biologie, Physik & Mathematik – alles in einem Studium!
🎓 Integrated Life Sciences (ILS) an der FAU: Von Zellbiologie & Programmieren bis zu Big-Data-Analyse und moderner Mikroskopie.
📅 Bewerben bis 15. August auf www.campo.fau.de – sichere dir deinen Studienplatz! @fau.de
#FAU #ILS #LifeSciences

We also welcome our new PI, Viola Introini!😊

What is a polariton? #science #physics YouTube video by IFIMAC – Condensed Matter Physics Center

🤔 Have you heard about polaritons? Do you know what they are? Vahid Sandoghdar @mpi-scienceoflight.bsky.social explains it to us. @cienciasuam.bsky.social @uam.es youtube.com/shorts/uh_OS...

Research Group Leonhard Möckl ›Physical Glycosciences‹ Natural killer cells (NK cells) are one of the essential components of the innate immune system. They recognize and eliminate diseased cells. NK cells do not have to be activated by other cells to kill a target, unlike their adaptive immune counterparts. This fast response requires their activity to be tightly regulated in the body. One mode of regulation might be glycan-protein interactions happening on the membranes of NK cells. Research in the Möckl group ›Physical Glycosciences‹ uses advanced optics to reveal the functional role of glycosylation in immune cell regulation.

Natural killer cells are key to the immune system, eliminating diseased cells. Their activity must be tightly controlled, possibly through glycan-protein interactions. Researchers use advanced optics to study how glycosylation regulates immune cells.

👉 mpl.mpg.de/research-at-...

📸 Nazlican Yürekli

Get to know our International Max Planck Research School Physics from Light to Life in Erlangen!

On May 13 our "FAU meets IMPRS" event takes place at the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin.

More information at mpl.mpg.de/study-work-o...

Get to know our International Max Planck Research School Physics from Light to Life in Erlangen!

On May 13 our "FAU meets IMPRS" event takes place at the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin.

More information at mpl.mpg.de/study-work-o...

GLYCAN ATLASSING: NANOSCALE ANALYSIS OF GLYCOCALYX ARCHITECTURE ENABLES FUNCTIONAL TRACING OF CELL STATE 🍭🔬🧬
Don’t judge a book by its cover - judge a cell by its cover! We can now trace how cell state is encoded in glycocalyx state. #glycotime #microscopy

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Yesterday, our third 'FAU meets IMPRS' event was held at MPL. The open day, targeted at BSc and MSc students, provided an opportunity to learn more about our IMPRS.

Thanks to all helpers who made this event a success. We were thrilled to welcome so many FAU students!

See you today at @mpi-scienceoflight.bsky.social

Get to know our International Max Planck Research School Physics from Light to Life in Erlangen!

On April 29th our "FAU meets IMPRS" event takes place at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light @mpi-scienceoflight.bsky.social.

More information at mpl.mpg.de/study-work-o...

Happy and honored to be among the 2024 Rising Stars in Biological, Medicinal, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry - thanks to everyone who made it possible!
tinyurl.com/fa3vyh5e

We wrote a perspective on this occasion, discussing how to bring Physics and the Clinic closer together:
tinyurl.com/mv7w2d74

American Chemical Society honors Leonhard Möckl as ›Rising Star‹ Professor Leonhard Möckl is a recipient of the ›2024 Rising Star in Biological, Medicinal, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry‹ Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS). The annual award highlights new...

"At the nexus of #physics and medicine, we are just beginning to grasp the profound significance of the glycocalyx in health and disease.”

Prof. @lmoeckl.bsky.social of #MPL received the ›Rising Star‹ Award from @acs.org, recognizing impactful new leaders in #research.

👉 mpl.mpg.de/news/article...

Mechanobiologie: Nachbarschaftsstreit unter Zellen Kräftemessen auf zellulärer Ebene: Zellen stehen im ständigen Wettbewerb miteinander und eliminieren dadurch kranke oder ungewollte Zellen. Die Konkurrenz von Zellen ist somit ein zentrales Prinzip…

Zellen stehen im ständigen Wettbewerb miteinander und eliminieren dadurch kranke oder ungewollte Zellen. Gemeinsam mit anderen Forschenden ist Humboldt-Professor Dr. Benoît Ladoux auf eine bisher unbekannte Gewinnstrategie im mechanischen Zellwettbewerb gestoßen. 🔬

go.fau.de/1bhai