🏛️ 200 Years of LMU in Munich 🎓 Founded in 1472, relocated from Landshut to Munich in 1826 — today LMU celebrates 200 years in Munich and inaugurates Prof. Dr. Matthias H. Tschöp as President.

Deep thought needs more than 30 seconds ;) Enjoy.

Mehran Kardar’s Sommerfeld Lectures at LMU Munich are now available online.

Watch the full series here:
lnkd.in/dnuF2Rg6
(Click on a talk to access the video link.)

Many thanks again to Mehran for an outstanding set of lectures, and to everyone who joined us in Munich.

Applications open: Biopatterning—Patterning principles in biophysics (school). Beg Rohu, Quiberon (Brittany, FR), 25–29 May 2026. For PhD students/postdocs/ECR. Deadline: 15 Mar 2026. Fee 300€ incl lodging+meals. biopatterning.sciencesconf.org/?lang=en Please RT/share!

Thrilled to attend the meeting—looking forward to the talks and discussions with colleagues. berkeleystatmech.org/index.html

Next week at LMU Munich: the 32nd Arnold Sommerfeld Lecture Series with Mehran Kardar (MIT)—from KPZ and nonequilibrium physics to active matter, disorder, and soft matter.

Programme: www.theorie.physik.uni-muenchen.de/activities/l...

Still time to apply until January, 19th!

https://www.birs.ca/

Excited to announce that our Econophysiology workshop has been accepted at the BIRS in 2027 🇨🇦

Co-organized with Hidde de Jong, Edda Klipp, & Matt Scott, we will bring economists, biologists, and physicists together to build a shared conceptual language across disciplines.

Stay tuned!
www.birs.ca

Join us for #MECO51 (51st Middle European Cooperation in Statistical Physics), 18–22 May 2026 in Pont-à-Mousson, France (Abbaye des Prémontrés). Invited & contributed talks, posters & best-poster prize. meco51.sciencesconf.org

New review out: "Pattern Formation Beyond Turing: Physical Principles of Mass-Conserving Reaction–Diffusion Systems". A unifying framework for protein pattern formation, from Min oscillations to Turing foams. arxiv.org/abs/2512.12558

Transfer: LMU-Ausgründung Amplifold erzielt Neufinanzierung für die Entwicklung besserer Schnelltests Das Start-up verbindet DNA-Origami-Nanotechnologie mit günstigen Schnelltests – die neue Finanzierung in Höhe von fünf Millionen Euro soll helfen, die ultrasensitiven Tests auf den Markt zu bringen.

🚀 Transfer, der Wirkung zeigt: Die LMU-Ausgründung #Amplifold sichert sich 5 Mio. Euro Seed-Finanzierung, um ultrasensitive Schnelltests auf Basis von #DNA-Origami-Nanotechnologie auf den Markt zu bringen.

📢 New extended abstract submission deadline: 6 January 2026! Outstanding speaker list, plus many slots for short talks by students, postdocs, and junior PIs. Join us in March in Barcelona! events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...

Engineering Synthetic Cells Responsibly: Insights from EVOLF How can we ensure that synthetic cells are engineered responsibly? Learn from Lotte Asveld, who, within the EVOLF research programme, is developing guidelines for the responsible creation and control ...

How can we ensure that #SyntheticCell/ #SynCell research is conducted responsibly?

The EVOLF research programme is developing guidelines for the responsible creation and control of synthetic cells.

Discover how EVOLF intends to shape the future of this research: edu.nl/8yxax

#Bioethics

Arrived in Stellenbosch and ready for a week of deep discussions on the physics of living systems with colleagues and friends. www.greenbuildingafrica.co.za/wp-content/u...

Generative epigenetic landscapes map the topology and topography of cell fates | PNAS Epigenetic landscapes were proposed by Waddington as the central concept to describe cell fate dynamics in a locally low-dimensional space. In mode...

Very happy to share our 'Evoscape' paper, now published in PNAS ! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

🧪⚛️ “Turing foams” in the Min system—now seen in experiment. Non-equilibrium protein currents create foam-like interfaces obeying Plateau laws and even splitting like tiny dividing cells. Stunning video from Petra Schwille’s lab; the whole story is here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Protein pattern morphology and dynamics emerging from effective interfacial tension - Nature Physics Protein patterns enable cellular processes. A general theory now identifies a non-equilibrium mechanism that generates an effective interfacial tension, shaping the geometry and intrinsic length scale...

Here the correct link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧪⚛️ Surface tension—driven by non-equilibrium currents not forces—in pattern formation leads to the same type of interface laws as in liquid foams: Plateau laws, von Neumann evolution; and a new emergent phenomenon: domain splitting akin to cell division. nature.com/articles/s4156…

Liquid gears and conveyor belts: We show how the interplay between phase-separation and chemotactic interactions gives rise to persistent capillary waves that drive the formation of active “gears” and “conveyor belts”. link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...

🧪 Geometry beats chemistry: we show that self-assembly can be controlled by tuning large-scale geometric parameters rather than molecular binding energies.
PNAS: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Video summary: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FS3...
#SelfAssembly #Biophysics #PhysicsOfLife

Colloquium October 23 - Emergence and Self-Organisation in Biological Systems Speaker: Prof. Erwin Frey Affiliation: Chair for Statistical and Biological Physics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Date: October 23rd, 2025, 3 p.m. Where: Aula Rostagni Abstract: Isolat...

Was great fun to give the physics colloquium at the University of Padova. indico.dfa.unipd.it/event/1570/

📌 Join us for the next klogW seminar on October 21st at 12PM EST (register below) by Erwin Frey @physicsoflifelmu.bsky.social on "Emergence and Self-organization in Biological Systems".
Registration link:
apsphysics.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

WORK!

I currently have 5 (!) open positions for postdocs/PhD students in our CDlab for projects:

- Nanopore protein sequencing
- Archaeal CDV cell division
- Microfluidics for synthetic cells
- Nuclear Pore Complex
- Origami mimics of peroxisomes

Please apply! ceesdekkerlab.nl/come-join-us/

RT=👍

do not think twice. Apply. 👇🏼

Interested in learning about #intelligent #active #matter? We have three open spots for presenting a poster at an international conference close to Munich. Please send an email to frey@lmu.de before Friday noon (25.7) iam.physik.lmu.de

📣Book alert📣

Finally out with Cambridge University Press: the book by Udo Seifert on "Stochastic thermodynamics". It comprehensively covers many topics, from an introduction to statistical physics to many special subjects such as reaction networks and active particles. Highly recommended 👍👍👍

I am a theoretical physicist working in biological physics.

I am a theoretical physicist at LMU Munich.

Basic interactions responsible for thymus function explain the convoluted medulla shape | PNAS The thymus is one of the most important organs of the immune system. It is responsible for both the production of T cells and the prevention of the...

We present a theory explaining how the thymic medulla acquires its morphology. Our model shows that key interactions—thymocyte chemotaxis, selection, and signaling to epithelial cells—are sufficient to generate the observed spatial organization.
| PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Exakt!