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Physics of Life

The Physics of Life theme represents an emerging field that is revolutionising the way we perceive and think about biology and biological processes. It emphasises the elegance and explanatory power of physics to interpret and manipulate the most complex systems we know - the living ones. Conversely, we turn to the living world as a source of fascinating phenomena that can in turn inspire new physics.

The deep physical principles that underlie living systems extend over spatial and temporal scales. Consequently, we explore dynamic processes spanning biomolecules, organelles, cells, organoids, whole organisms and populations on timescales from nanoseconds to evolutionary time, using diverse model and non-model species. 

We investigate cellular behaviour during signalling, sensing, growth, differentiation, and development. We explore the emergence of dynamics in neural circuits in animal and human models, and ask how these can fail in disease, or be modified by stimuli. We seek to describe the assembly, function and organisation of important cellular organelles in microbial and animal species, particularly, the role of cellular protrusions and appendages (cilia, flagella, archaella, pili) for cell motility and genetic exchange. Delving down to the sub-molecular scale, we explore the quantum mechanical nature of biological processes such as magnetoreception and biological magnetosensitivity.

We emphasise and encourage interplay between theory and experiment to achieve deep understanding of biophysical mechanisms: 

Experimental aspects - We create novel biosensing technologies, advancing the frontiers of spatial resolution with light microscopy and spectroscopy, atomic resolution with cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, temporal resolution with millisecond hydrogen/deuterium-exchange mass spectrometry, and sensitivity with novel single-molecule and single-cell detection methods.

Theoretical and computational aspects - We develop and apply quantitative, data-driven biophysical descriptions of cellular processes and behaviour, such as molecular dynamics simulations of cellular machinery hydrodynamic modelling of fluid-structure interactions, evolutionary dynamics of expanding microbial populations and dynamics of open spin systems to decipher quantum biological phenomena.

Daum Group

Daum Group

CryoEM of protein assemblies and molecular machines

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Gielen Group

Gielen Group

high-throughput microfluidic imaging

 

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Gold Group

Gold Group

Structural Cell Biology 

 

 

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Goodfellow  Group

Goodfellow Group

Mathematical modelling and analysis for living systems

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Jekely Group

Jekely Group

Neural circuits and behaviour

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Kattnig Group

Kattnig Group

Quantum Biology and Computational BioPhysics

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Moebius Group

Moebius Group

Effects of the physical world on dynamics in biological systems

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Pagliara Group

Pagliara Group

Membrane transport in living systems

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Phillips Group

Phillips Group

Protein choreography group

 

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Ryu Group

Ryu Group

Developmental neurobiology of stress response

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Scholpp Group

Scholpp Group

Contact-mediated signalling in development and disease

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Vollmer Group

Vollmer Group

Optical microsensors for detecting physical, chemical and biological properties of single molecules

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Wan Group

Wan Group

Biophysics of microbial motility and behaviour 

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Wedgwood Group

Wedgwood Group

Collective dynamics in biological networks

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Williams Group

Williams Group

Microsporidia diversity and host-parasite interactions

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Richards Group

Richards Group

Mathematical Modelling of Living Systems 

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