Research Areas & Groups

List of available PhD projects in our current recruitment round (July 15 – September 13, 2024)

Alim, Karen: Learning in living adaptive networks
Braun, Dieter: Recreating the formation of the first cells using PURE TxTl system
Frey, Erwin: Self-organization and pattern formation of living systems
Hornung, Veit: Project focused on innate immunity, details can be found on the group webpage
Jae, Lucas: Project 1 Causes, Consequences and Correction of Mitochondrial Protein Misfolding
Jae, Lucas: Project 2 Genetic Dissection of the Mitochondrial Integrated Stress Response (mitoISR)
Khmelinskaia, Alena: Computational design of functional protein assemblies
Milles, Lukas: Project 1 Creating synthetic “harpoons”
Milles, Lukas: Project 2 Designing self-strengthening catch-bonds
Rädler, Joachim: Single Cell Behaviour in Confined Micropatterns
Sabass, Benedikt: Microscopic Insights into the Mechanical Biology of the Actin Cytoskeleton in Toxoplasma gondii
Schwille, Petra: Project 1 Reconstitution and functional analysis of a minimal extracellular matrix
Schwille, Petra: Project 2 Relevance of condensates in minimal cell division

Establishing close interactions among a group of researchers with very different backgrounds, expertise, and approaches requires some form of common intellectual focus and interest. Given the necessary and present methodological diversity within QMB, the focus is on one fundamental and encompassing biological problem – the control of gene expression in all its aspects, and the interplay of the different control mechanisms in regulatory networks.

The participating biochemists (Beckmann, Förstemann, Hopfner, Imhof, Jae, Jung, Klughammer, Ladurner, Stingele) study the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation in all its aspects, ranging from transcription to RNA transport and degradation, and from translation to protein folding, transport and degradation.

The biophysicists participating in QMB (Braun, Khmelinskaia, Rädler, Sabass, Schwille, Simmel, Stigler, Tinnefeld) bring a wealth of advanced expertise and novel methodologies, permitting the high-resolution quantitative and dynamic analysis of regulatory processes, including protein folding/conformation and the interaction of proteins with small molecules, nucleic acids, or other proteins in different settings (single molecule, purified/crude extracts).

The theoreticians in QMB (Alim, Frey, Gagneur, Gerland, Theis) bring the deep experience and expertise necessary to analyze and model the data produced by the experimentalists, encompassing the bioinformatic/statistical analysis of regulatory sequence and genomic data, as well as dynamical systems, network theory, and stochastic and thermodynamic modeling.

We also seek to translate concepts and methods of basic science into medicine. The biomedical-scientists (Hornung, Klughammer, Mages, Reichart, Wolf) are working on programming and differentiation in embryonic development, maturation of immune cells, the innate immune system and disease genetics.