Highlights

Application deadline: 25 November 2020. Distinguished PKS postdoctoral fellows appear personally along with the departments and groups on the main research page of the institute and are expected to have at least one year of postdoctoral experience at an institution other than the one at which their PhD was awarded. Applications for this fellowship directly after completion of the PhD might be considered in exceptional cases. Please click on the link- button to see the full advertisement!

Starting in January 2021, Pierre Haas will lead the research group 'Self-organization of Multicellular Systems' at the Center for Systems Biology Dresden. The research of the group will focus on the mechanics of cells and tissues, with a particular interest in deriving the continuum theories that represent the rich mechanical behaviour of tissues during development, and to understand how robust development is compatible with mechanical constraints and variability. While the research of the group is theoretical, it will work in close collaboration with experimental groups at MPI-CBG and beyond.

Application deadline: 25 September 2020. The ELBE program seeks outstanding external candidates who are passionate about bringing new ideas, concepts, or systems to the Center. ELBE postdoctoral fellows pursue an interdisciplinary research project in collaboration with members of the CSBD. They are encouraged to develop and use theoretical or computational approaches to study biological systems in close collaboration with experimental groups at the MPI-CBG and the TU Dresden. Ideal candidates should have backgrounds in physics, computer science, mathematics or a related discipline, with a strong interest in working in a cross-disciplinary life-science environment. In some exceptional cases, ELBE fellows can be analytically-minded experimentalists in the field of cell or developmental biology, who work between a lab and a CSBD research group. Please click on the link- button to see the full advertisement!

Our institute now offers Postdoc and PhD fellowships for scientists who were planning to leave Europe and take up their next position outside of Europe but currently cannot do so due to the covid19 pandemic. Applications are reviewed regularly, with the next deadline on 7. July 2020.

In times of severe travel constraints or even lockdowns, MPI-PKS is determined to provide opportunities for scientists to meet, now remotely. As a pilot event, we are launching a two-day virtual workshop jointly with ICTP in Trieste, focusing on Real-time Dynamics in Strongly correlated Quantum Matter.

The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) announced the new Clusters of Excellence in the framework of the Excellence Strategy of the German Federal and State Governments. The TU Dresden received three new Clusters of Excellence: "Physics of Life", "Center for Tactile Internet", and "Complexity and Topology in Quantum Materials" jointly with the University of Würzburg. The Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems is involved in two of the new Dresden Clusters: "Physics of Life" and “Complexity and Topology in Quantum Materials".
- "Physics of Life"
- “Complexity and Topology in Quantum Materials"

Welcome David Luitz! David heads the new research group "Computational Quantum Many-Body Physics" which will study strongly interacting quantum matter and in particular phenomena that arise due to the presence of many particles. Using computational many-body techniques such as exact diagonalization and tensor network methods, both equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties of strongly interacting quantum systems will be investigated, in particular in the context of periodic driving, dissipation and strong disorder.

We are glad to announce the arrival of Dr. Christoph A. Weber, who heads the research group ‘Mesoscopic Physics of Life' since March 1, 2018. The group is interested in intra-cellular organisation and aims in particular to understand the role of phase transitions inside cells, including the impact of phase separation and protein aggregation during development and in the context of disease. Further interests are to unravel physical principles underlying the early formation of proto-cells at the origin of life.

We welcome Inti Sodemann as new research group leader! The group will investigate a broad range of topics in quantum matter involving strong interactions, fractionalization, topology, and novel phenomena on spin and charge transport. The problems will be often inspired by experiments. One of the main goals is to develop new approaches to deal with strong interactions and fractionalization in gapless phases of matter.