I earned my bachelor's degree from RWTH Aachen University, where my thesis focused on analyzing structure formation in cosmological systems with perturbed forces. In October 2024, I joined the group of David Zwicker as an intern. I am particularly interested in applying concepts from statistical physics to better understand phase separation in biological systems. My current project investigates the surface tension of droplets in a three-component system. Outside of work I enjoy staying active through handball and bouldering.

henri.schmidt@ds.mpg.de

Henri studied in Heidelberg, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark before joining the Zwicker lab as a PhD candidate in 2024. While for his undergraduate studies he focused on cell motility utilizing phase fields as well as optimal transport and Wasserstein distances, he investigated active turbulences modeled by nematics at the Niels-Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. Continuing researching on soft matter physics, he nowadays takes interest in phase separation within multi-component systems, e.g., inside cells, where a multitude of proteins interact with each other. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, acting, rowing and sailing  as well as generally speaking being outside.

filipe.thewes@ds.mpg.de

Before joining the Zwicker group as a postdoc in October 2024, I obtained my Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen, where I worked on the interplay between kinetic timescales and thermodynamic driving forces in multi-component mixtures. Currently, I am interested in the theoretical description of multi-component systems in biological contexts, where phase separation is combined with other biochemical/physical processes to achieve functionality. My aim is to learn how to control structure formation in biological condensates. Outside of work, you'll find me either playing chess or playing jazz.

guido.kusters@ds.mpg.de

Guido obtained his PhD degree from Eindhoven University of Technology, where he worked on modeling the (non-)equilibrium behavior of various soft and responsive materials. During this time he was also a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford and Harvard University, where he explored excursions to active matter and nanocomposite self-assembly, respectively. Having recently become increasingly interested in biological systems, he joined the Zwicker group in the autumn of 2024 to study the spatiotemporal organization of biomolecular condensates.

I am currently pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in Physics at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and have joined the Zwicker Group to complete my thesis. My project focuses on phase separation and coarsening of droplets involved in meiosis. I am primarily interested in theoretical physics, particularly as it applies to biological systems. In my free time, I enjoy doing various sports as well as spending time outside.

I obtained my bachelor's in systems biology from the University of Hyderabad, India. During my undergraduate research, I worked on developing a mathematical model to understand the immune suppressive effects of steroids and cancer cells. I am currently a Max Planck School Matter to Life master's student with a focus on complex systems and biological physics at the University of Göttingen, Germany. In 2024, I joined the Zwicker group as an intern, and I am currently working on understanding the phase separation of multicomponent mixtures to gain more insight into properties that stabilize biological condensates.

I studied Physics at the University of Bayreuth, with a strong focus on condensed matter systems and non-equillibrium dynamics. For my Bachelor’s thesis, I investigated the effect of temperature on the dispersion of surface plasmons. For my Master’s thesis, I theoretically described pattern formation and dynamic defects in ferromagnetic superconductors. I joined the group of David Zwicker as a Ph.D. student in December 2023 and am interested in the principles and applications of controlling the motion of biomolecular condensates.

I obtained my Ph.D. degree at Ecole Normal Superieure (ENS) Paris where I worked on disordered systems and avalanche dynamics with Prof. Kay Wiese. I then moved to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at Cambridge University for a 1 year postdoc in the group of Prof. Mike Cates. At DAMPT I worked with dr. Ronojoy Adhikari on stochastic dynamics, in particular the tubular ensemble to quantify path probabilities and studying this in the context of underdamped dynamics. I joined the group of David Zwicker as a postdoc in November 2023.

Oliver previously studied for his Masters and D.Phil (PhD) degrees at the University of Oxford, before joining the Zwicker Group as a postdoc in 2023. Broadly, he is interested in fluid dynamics and soft matter physics, and their application to both biological and geophysical systems. During his D.Phil, he studied multiphase fluid flow through soft porous media, with a specific focus on the formation and collapse of ‘non-wetting cavities’ in poroelastic materials. His current research concerns phase separation in soft systems, with application to the behaviour of biomolecular condensates in cells. In his free time, Oliver can be found running around the hills and forests surrounding Göttingen.

yicheng.qiang@ds.mpg.de

Yicheng received his Ph.D. degree from Fudan University. There, he worked on the self-assembly behavior of block copolymers and high-performance algorithms for the self-consistent field theory. He joined the Zwicker Group as a postdoc in 2022. Now he focuses on the phase separation of multicomponent mixtures, hoping to learn how to achieve robust control over the properties of biological condensates.

riccardo.rossetto@ds.mpg.de

I studied Physics of Complex Systems at Politecnico di Torino. For my master thesis, I worked on a model of phase separation on fluid membranes, which coupled the self-aggregation process with surface fluctuations. I joined David Zwicker’s group Theory of Biological Fluids as a PhD student in the fall of 2022. I am interested in statistical physics applications to biological systems, both from a theoretical and a computational perspective.

gerrit.wellecke@ds.mpg.de

I studied Physics at the Georg-August-University Goettingen. For my bachelor’s thesis, I worked with Prof. Dr. Peter Sollich on a coarse-graining approach for stochastic dynamics. For my master’s thesis, I investigated the relaxation of driven diffusive systems in the Mathematical bioPhysics Group of Aljaz Godec at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences. I joined the group of David Zwicker as a Ph.D. student in the autumn of 2022 and am interested in statistical physics and thermodynamics and how these frameworks can describe biological phenomena, such as phase separation.

chengjie.luo@ds.mpg.de
Personal webpage

Chengjie focuses on systems that are out of thermodynamic equilibrium, including supercooled liquids, glasses, and living cells. He develops theories and simulations to better understand the underlying principles of these systems comprising soft and active matter. Recently, he became interested in theories describing biomolecular condensates and phase separation.

marcel.ernst@ds.mpg.de

Marcel studied Physics at the Georg-August-University Göttingen. For his Master's thesis at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization he was researching the stability and numerical simulation of convection in dry salt lakes aiming to understand the origin of characteristic polygonal patterns in salt playa. After several years at the University of Kassel working on simulations of electrical grids and especially the integration of eMobility he joined the group of David Zwicker as a Ph.D. student. Interested in more theoretical approaches in fluid physics he works on the physical description of condensates involved in meiosis. In his free time he likes to go bouldering, hiking and generally being outside.

nziethe@ds.mpg.de

Noah studied Physics at the Georg-August-University Göttingen. For his Bachelor thesis, he joined the group of Biological Physics and Morphogenesis at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization. There, he worked on automated image analysis of biological networks. For his Master's thesis, he turned to a combination of theoretical and experimental methods investigating the role of shear stress on the growth in Physarum polycephalum in the same group and received his degree in 2019. Interested in more theoretical approaches in biological physics, he started his Ph.D. in the group Theory of Biological Fluids and investigates the influence of fluctuation on chemically driven droplets.