Our long-term goal is to analyze and understand specific cellular processes from the single molecule level up to an entire cellular response. We currently investigate the molecular mechanics of microtubules, the nano-mechanics of vesicle fusion mediated by the SNARE complex, mechanics of molecular motors, elementary steps in molecular recognition, lateral organization of the plasma membrane (“lipid rafts”) and membrane bound signal transduction by receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs).

Our work includes the development of novel types of high-resolution microscopes for single molecule and single cell studies and their combination with conventional light microscopic and scanning probe techniques.Together with our collaborators in molecular biology, cell biology, and theoretical physics, we aim to get a complete picture of selected processes from modeling molecular events (molecular dynamic simulations) to the description of complex behavior of biological material.