SFB 937:  Collective Behaviour of Soft and Biological Matter

• Subject Area: Physics ; Biology
• Term: from 2011 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 178321814

Living systems are structurally complex, heterogeneous, and by definition out of thermodynamic equilibrium. In condensed matter physics, the complex behavior of many-particle systems has been very successfully analyzed with the concepts of statistical physics. The strength of a statistical approach is the capability to efficiently describe the collective behavior of large systems with many interacting degrees of freedom. In recent years, non-equilibrium soft-matter systems - short “active matter” -, especially as found in biology, has rapidly moved into the focus of interest. A prominent example are the materials cells are made from. Understanding how a living cell functions or an organism develops requires a statistical description that goes beyond well-established equilibrium statistical physics. The rapid development of experimental techniques has given unprecedented access to physical properties of molecules, macromolecular aggregates, cells and tissues. Against this background it is timely to ask questions beyond the molecular level of organization in soft and biological matter and to pursue an integrative approach to understand collective non-equilibrium physical phenomena on the microscopic to the mesoscopic or even macroscopic level by applying a broad range of experimental, numerical and theoretical tools. The collaborative research center CRC 937 aims at a quantitative understanding of the physical mechanisms at work when soft and biological matter self-organizes into complex structures to perform dynamic functions such as cell division, cell locomotion or tissue development. With this goal in mind, we plan to analyze the ways, in which macromolecules and cells interact physically, exert forces, respond viscoelastically, move each other, and self-organize into complex functional patterns on all length scales, ranging from polymers, lipid membranes over cells to tissues. We combine physics, chemistry, biology and medicine, as well as theory, modeling and experiment and employ a two-pronged approach, studying simplified model systems, on the one hand, and whole organisms and tissues on the other hand.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Completed projects

• A01 - Elasticity of anisotropic macromolecular networks (Project Heads Heußinger, Claus ;  Zippelius, Annette )
• A02 - Active model biopolymer networks in vitro and in vivo (Project Head Schmidt, Christoph Friedrich )
• A03 - Wetting induced structure formation in elastic porous media (Project Heads Brinkmann, Ph.D., Martin ;  Herminghaus, Stephan )
• A04 - Dynamics and non-equilibrium states of randomly cross-linked block copolymer melts (Project Heads Müller, Marcus ;  Vana, Philipp ;  Zippelius, Annette )
• A05 - Polymer brushes in motion (Project Heads Enderlein, Jörg ;  Müller, Marcus ;  Vana, Philipp )
• A06 - Pattern formation in membranes with quenched disorder (Project Heads Eggeling, Christian ;  Vink, Richard L.C. )
• A07 - Membrane organization under strong curvature (Project Heads Enderlein, Jörg ;  Müller, Marcus ;  Salditt, Tim )
• A08 - Mechanics and dynamics of biological adhesion (Project Heads Janshoff, Andreas ;  Tarantola, Marco )
• A09 - Oscillatory instabilities of intracellular fiber networks (Project Heads Beta, Carsten ;  Bodenschatz, Eberhard )
• A10 - Self-organization of the nuclear array in early Drosophila embryos (Project Heads Aspelmeier, Timo ;  Großhans, Jörg ;  Schmidt, Christoph Friedrich ;  Zippelius, Annette )
• A11 - Pattern formation in the actin cortex of motile cells (Project Heads Bodenschatz, Eberhard ;  Enderlein, Jörg ;  Salditt, Tim )
• A12 - Spreading dynamics and force generation in blood platelets (Project Head Köster, Sarah )
• A13 - Morphogenesis of the force-generating machinery in cells (Project Heads Rehfeldt, Florian ;  Schmidt, Christoph Friedrich )
• A14 - Dynamics and mechanics of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (Project Heads Chizhik, Alexey ;  Janshoff, Andreas ;  Samwer, Konrad )
• A15 - Forces in cellular growth and division (Project Heads Hallatschek, Oskar ;  Herminghaus, Stephan )
• A16 - Reversible crosslink binding in cytoskeletal filament bundles and networks (Project Head Heußinger, Claus )
• A17 - Self-organization and mechanics of actomyosin networks attached to artificial and cellular plasma membranes (Project Heads Janshoff, Andreas ;  Steinem, Claudia )
• A18 - Soft matter guided self-assembly of oscillating heart cells into functional macro-myocardium (Project Heads Luther, Stefan ;  Parlitz, Ulrich ;  Zimmermann, Wolfram-Hubertus )
• A19 - Morphogenesis control by mechanical stresses (Project Head Alim, Karen )
• A20 - Biofilm growth of exoelectrogens (Project Heads Herminghaus, Stephan ;  Mazza, Ph.D., Marco )
• A21 - Active processes in crowded environments (Project Head Klumpp, Stefan )
• Z - Central administration and project coordination of the CRC (Project Heads Köster, Sarah ;  Schmidt, Christoph Friedrich ;  Zippelius, Annette )

• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Participating Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation (MPIDS)
• Participating University: Universität Potsdam
• Spokespersons: Professorin Dr. Sarah Köster, since 11/2017; Professor Dr. Christoph Friedrich Schmidt, until 11/2017; Professorin Dr. Annette Zippelius, until 9/2013