Zwicker Group
@zwickergroup.bsky.social
Theoretical biophysics group at MPI-DS, Göttingen. We study the spatiotemporal organization of soft matter in cells, tissues, and synthetic systems; see www.zwickergroup.org
Pinned
Zwicker Group
@zwickergroup.bsky.social
· Jan 24
We wrote a review on the "Physics of droplet regulation in biological cells": arxiv.org/abs/2501.13639 Beside the basic #physics of phase separation, we discuss three aspects that separate cellular from traditional droplets:
Another pre-print from our group see's the light of day! 🎉 This time we how the coarsening of droplets is affected by advection and reactions: arxiv.org/abs/2510.00827 @stefankoestler2025.bsky.social describes our surprising findings in the thread below ⤵️
October 2, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Another pre-print from our group see's the light of day! 🎉 This time we how the coarsening of droplets is affected by advection and reactions: arxiv.org/abs/2510.00827 @stefankoestler2025.bsky.social describes our surprising findings in the thread below ⤵️
Our latest work from a stimulating collaboration with @jerelleaj.bsky.social and @nathanieldhess.bsky.social is out now!
Out now in #ACSMacroLett: we demonstrate how molecular charge asymmetry can control the size of condensates! Work done in collaboration with @zwickergroup.bsky.social!!
Theory led by Chengjie Luo and simulations by @nathanieldhess.bsky.social!!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Theory led by Chengjie Luo and simulations by @nathanieldhess.bsky.social!!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Theory of Condensate Size Control by Molecular Charge Asymmetry
Biomolecular condensates are complex droplets comprising diverse molecules that interact by various mechanisms. Condensation is often driven by short-range attraction, but net charges can also mediate...
pubs.acs.org
September 30, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Our latest work from a stimulating collaboration with @jerelleaj.bsky.social and @nathanieldhess.bsky.social is out now!
A great example of a totally unplanned discovery in our group, spearheaded by a Bachelor and a PhD student! Curiosity wins 🥳
New preprint 🎉
What began as Frieder Johannsen’s bachelor thesis in the @zwickergroup.bsky.social (which I had the pleasure to supervise) evolved into our latest paper: “Chemically Active Liquid Bridges Generate Repulsive Forces” — unlike passive ones, which attract.
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2509.18777
What began as Frieder Johannsen’s bachelor thesis in the @zwickergroup.bsky.social (which I had the pleasure to supervise) evolved into our latest paper: “Chemically Active Liquid Bridges Generate Repulsive Forces” — unlike passive ones, which attract.
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2509.18777
September 29, 2025 at 5:31 PM
A great example of a totally unplanned discovery in our group, spearheaded by a Bachelor and a PhD student! Curiosity wins 🥳
Reposted by Zwicker Group
New preprint 🎉
What began as Frieder Johannsen’s bachelor thesis in the @zwickergroup.bsky.social (which I had the pleasure to supervise) evolved into our latest paper: “Chemically Active Liquid Bridges Generate Repulsive Forces” — unlike passive ones, which attract.
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2509.18777
What began as Frieder Johannsen’s bachelor thesis in the @zwickergroup.bsky.social (which I had the pleasure to supervise) evolved into our latest paper: “Chemically Active Liquid Bridges Generate Repulsive Forces” — unlike passive ones, which attract.
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2509.18777
September 29, 2025 at 5:17 PM
New preprint 🎉
What began as Frieder Johannsen’s bachelor thesis in the @zwickergroup.bsky.social (which I had the pleasure to supervise) evolved into our latest paper: “Chemically Active Liquid Bridges Generate Repulsive Forces” — unlike passive ones, which attract.
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2509.18777
What began as Frieder Johannsen’s bachelor thesis in the @zwickergroup.bsky.social (which I had the pleasure to supervise) evolved into our latest paper: “Chemically Active Liquid Bridges Generate Repulsive Forces” — unlike passive ones, which attract.
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2509.18777
It was fun to do a little interview and think about the relevance of our work for a more experimental and engineering inclined community.
David Zwicker, theoretical physicist and SynCellEU community member, explores how biological soft matter organises itself in space and time.
In our new article, we discuss his work, his contribution to #syncell research, and his advice to early-career researchers.
syntheticcell.eu/david-zwicke...
In our new article, we discuss his work, his contribution to #syncell research, and his advice to early-career researchers.
syntheticcell.eu/david-zwicke...
Meet the Community - David Zwicker
Theoretical physicist David Zwicker leads a research group that explores how biological soft matter organises itself in space and time
syntheticcell.eu
September 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
It was fun to do a little interview and think about the relevance of our work for a more experimental and engineering inclined community.
Reposted by Zwicker Group
We have developed a new workflow to map whole human organs at single-cell resolution, while integrating spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics.
We applied this workflow to map precancerous lesions of the fallopian tubes.
More here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We applied this workflow to map precancerous lesions of the fallopian tubes.
More here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 22, 2025 at 11:48 AM
We have developed a new workflow to map whole human organs at single-cell resolution, while integrating spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics.
We applied this workflow to map precancerous lesions of the fallopian tubes.
More here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We applied this workflow to map precancerous lesions of the fallopian tubes.
More here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In other news, we welcome Mengmeng Wu 🇨🇳 and Lukas Kristensen 🇩🇰 to our group! 🥳 Mengmeng is a postdoc who will combine particle-based simulations with analytical theory to study chemically active droplets. Lukas visits us for three months and will work on anchored active droplets. Welcome aboard! 🎉
September 12, 2025 at 7:19 AM
In other news, we welcome Mengmeng Wu 🇨🇳 and Lukas Kristensen 🇩🇰 to our group! 🥳 Mengmeng is a postdoc who will combine particle-based simulations with analytical theory to study chemically active droplets. Lukas visits us for three months and will work on anchored active droplets. Welcome aboard! 🎉
We were exceptionally effective at finishing manuscripts in the last weeks and couldn't keep up with describing pre-prints here. This thread summarizes the main results of our recent works:
September 12, 2025 at 7:16 AM
We were exceptionally effective at finishing manuscripts in the last weeks and couldn't keep up with describing pre-prints here. This thread summarizes the main results of our recent works:
This is a great opportunity to start an independent group in one of the best research environments you could think of!
Springboard for an international scientific career! 🧬🧪🔭⚛️🧠🌱 Call for #MaxPlanckResearchGroups launched; applications are possible until October 14, 2025 www.mpg.de/max-planck-r... #ScienceCareer
September 10, 2025 at 4:51 AM
This is a great opportunity to start an independent group in one of the best research environments you could think of!
Reposted by Zwicker Group
Interested in doing a PhD in my group? I have an opening for a PhD student to work on understanding and designing nanomedicine-membrane interactions! Apply here:
careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Leiden-P...
careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Leiden-P...
PhD position in understanding and designing nanomedicines-membranes interaction
PhD position in understanding and designing nanomedicines-membranes interaction
careers.universiteitleiden.nl
September 6, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Interested in doing a PhD in my group? I have an opening for a PhD student to work on understanding and designing nanomedicine-membrane interactions! Apply here:
careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Leiden-P...
careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Leiden-P...
Looking forward to discussing our little active droplet theories with students!
Can tiny droplets hold clues to the origin of life? 🙌
The MtL Lecture Series continues with a talk on “Droplets Come to Life” by MtL Fellow David Zwicker @zwickergroup.bsky.social from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization! 🎉
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
The MtL Lecture Series continues with a talk on “Droplets Come to Life” by MtL Fellow David Zwicker @zwickergroup.bsky.social from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization! 🎉
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
September 5, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Looking forward to discussing our little active droplet theories with students!
Reposted by Zwicker Group
Join my team for a PhD in Learning in living adaptive networks (Theory). Apply by October 7th through www.portal.graduatecenter.lmu.de/ocgc/qmb
August 31, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Join my team for a PhD in Learning in living adaptive networks (Theory). Apply by October 7th through www.portal.graduatecenter.lmu.de/ocgc/qmb
It was a lot of fun to write this little piece on using phase transitions to process cellular information! We probably pose more questions than we give answers, but that’s exciting.
🚨 New preprint!
Could living cells use phase transitions to process information?
We explore computational aspects of biomolecular condensation — from classification to control — while posing questions on expressivity (problems they solve) and learning (how they adapt).
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2507.23384
Could living cells use phase transitions to process information?
We explore computational aspects of biomolecular condensation — from classification to control — while posing questions on expressivity (problems they solve) and learning (how they adapt).
📄 arxiv.org/abs/2507.23384
August 22, 2025 at 1:57 PM
It was a lot of fun to write this little piece on using phase transitions to process cellular information! We probably pose more questions than we give answers, but that’s exciting.
Our institute turned 100 years today! We had a fantastic celebration with scientific talks by Howard Stone and Christina Marchetti. 🎉
Das Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation in Göttingen feiert am 16. Juli seinen 100. Geburtstag. Ein Blick auf die Geschichte des Instituts und die Verantwortung, die daraus erwächst. www.mpg.de/25050354/100... #Wissenschaftsgeschiche #Physik
Große Physik und große Verantwortung
Vor hundert Jahren nahm das Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Strömungsforschung seine Arbeit auf. Aus ihm wurde das heutige Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation, das grundlegende Fragen d...
www.mpg.de
July 16, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Our institute turned 100 years today! We had a fantastic celebration with scientific talks by Howard Stone and Christina Marchetti. 🎉
This workshop was just exceptional! Thanks to everyone for making it such a success
And that concludes our #kitp program on biomolecular condensates 😢 Wow, what an *incredible* experience, and unique place to learn and think and grow! 🤓
July 12, 2025 at 11:58 AM
This workshop was just exceptional! Thanks to everyone for making it such a success
Reposted by Zwicker Group
Took us until the end of Week 5 to take a group picture 🤦♀️, so we're missing a number of key participants. But what a wonderful group of thoughtful and creative people to talk science with! Thanks for joining us at #KITP! 🤓
June 28, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Took us until the end of Week 5 to take a group picture 🤦♀️, so we're missing a number of key participants. But what a wonderful group of thoughtful and creative people to talk science with! Thanks for joining us at #KITP! 🤓
Glad to see our paper out in press! The long delay to publication emphasizes the role of pre-prints, and I'm happy that people were able to read about our ideas years before they appear in a journal.
Very happy (and frankly relieved) to see this paper finally out in peer-reviewed form. (Preprint was posted in August 2021, but this is the world we live in now). rdcu.be/erMk6
Crossover patterning through condensation and coarsening of pro-crossover factors
Nature Cell Biology - Zhang et al. provide evidence that, during meiosis, recombination proteins assemble into active droplets, the coarsening of which partially explains the phenomenon of...
rdcu.be
June 19, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Glad to see our paper out in press! The long delay to publication emphasizes the role of pre-prints, and I'm happy that people were able to read about our ideas years before they appear in a journal.
It's sad that our conference on biomolecular condensates is already over. On the flip side, you can watch almost all talks online to relive the stimulating vibe! Thanks again to all speakers for delivering clear talks, and to the audience for asking great questions!
The Biological Physics of Biomolecular Condensates: Bridging Theory and Experiment (#biomol-c25) conference has concluded today, but the associated program continues next week! Learn more at buff.ly/Us4nwg3
Watch all conference talks at buff.ly/pksEEXt or on our YouTube channel buff.ly/c3Vzp02 🧪
Watch all conference talks at buff.ly/pksEEXt or on our YouTube channel buff.ly/c3Vzp02 🧪
June 19, 2025 at 4:16 PM
It's sad that our conference on biomolecular condensates is already over. On the flip side, you can watch almost all talks online to relive the stimulating vibe! Thanks again to all speakers for delivering clear talks, and to the audience for asking great questions!
Our conference bringing together theorists and experimentalists to discuss biomolecular condensates started today! Looking forward to three intensive days of stimulating discussion.
Welcome to the Biological Physics of Biomolecular Condensates: Bridging Theory and Experiment (#biomol-c25) Conference at #KITP
Learn more at: buff.ly/HHQAdGh
If you are unable to attend in person or want to revisit any talks, recorded sessions are available to watch at: buff.ly/ufXjSxG 🧪
Learn more at: buff.ly/HHQAdGh
If you are unable to attend in person or want to revisit any talks, recorded sessions are available to watch at: buff.ly/ufXjSxG 🧪
June 16, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Our conference bringing together theorists and experimentalists to discuss biomolecular condensates started today! Looking forward to three intensive days of stimulating discussion.
Reposted by Zwicker Group
@jerelleaj.bsky.social, master painter 👩🏽🎨 of the blackboard 👩🏽🏫, in action! 🤩 She is amazing at capturing the essence of our complex, meandering (and sometimes contentious) discussions @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social
June 13, 2025 at 11:16 PM
@jerelleaj.bsky.social, master painter 👩🏽🎨 of the blackboard 👩🏽🏫, in action! 🤩 She is amazing at capturing the essence of our complex, meandering (and sometimes contentious) discussions @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social
This was an excellent blackboard presentation of the physics of condensates!
Check out the video of Shura's Blackboard talk 💧👨🏫
Watch the latest Blackboard Lunch talk on "Liquid-liquid phase separations and condensates in and out of equilibrium" by Shura Grosberg (#NYU), from the ongoing #KITP Program: Physical Principles Shaping Biomolecular Condensates #biomol25 buff.ly/Qmu5521 🧪
June 10, 2025 at 3:02 AM
This was an excellent blackboard presentation of the physics of condensates!
Reposted by Zwicker Group
Shura Grosberg (NYU) gives a fantastic blackboard talk @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social on liquid-liquid phase separation in and out of equilibrium 👨🏫
June 2, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Shura Grosberg (NYU) gives a fantastic blackboard talk @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social on liquid-liquid phase separation in and out of equilibrium 👨🏫
It’s been a lot of fun talking about chemically active condensates to such an attentive and motivated crowd!
David @zwickergroup.bsky.social gives the first tutorial of the biomol25 program @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social, reminding us that phase equilibria and chemical equilibria are coupled by thermodynamics
May 29, 2025 at 11:52 PM
It’s been a lot of fun talking about chemically active condensates to such an attentive and motivated crowd!
We updated our pre-print on equilibria in multicomponent mixtures: arxiv.org/abs/2405.01138 In particular, we added the figure below, which shows that such mixtures exhibit countless metastable states between a metastable homogeneous state and the equilibrium with many phases.
May 28, 2025 at 3:12 AM
We updated our pre-print on equilibria in multicomponent mixtures: arxiv.org/abs/2405.01138 In particular, we added the figure below, which shows that such mixtures exhibit countless metastable states between a metastable homogeneous state and the equilibrium with many phases.
Reposted by Zwicker Group
Biomolecular condensates are critical for organizing cellular contents, but most studies focus on phase separation driven by salt, pH, or temperature.
But what if intracellular movement also matters?
Here, we explore motility-induced condensation in the cell.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
But what if intracellular movement also matters?
Here, we explore motility-induced condensation in the cell.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Active transport enables protein condensation in cells
The force generated by active transport modulates protein condensation.
www.science.org
May 23, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Biomolecular condensates are critical for organizing cellular contents, but most studies focus on phase separation driven by salt, pH, or temperature.
But what if intracellular movement also matters?
Here, we explore motility-induced condensation in the cell.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
But what if intracellular movement also matters?
Here, we explore motility-induced condensation in the cell.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...