In a living organism, numerous inanimate biomolecules and their inherently stochastic interactions are precisely orchestrated and organized in space and time, together enabling the enigma of life. We strive to understand these molecular interactions and the mechanisms that control them, to learn more about life processes, their underlying physical principles and the bases of disease in case of malfunction.

We use and develop techniques such as single molecule fluorescence microscopy, super-resolution microscopy or force spectroscopy to follow the operation of individual molecules inside living cells and organisms or in reconstituted systems. Thus we extract quantitative kinetic and structural information that enables us to build models of molecular interactions and biological mechanisms.