Date: 12.05.2023, Time: 15:30h

Location: Kleiner Physikhörsaal N020, Fakultät für Physik
The talk will also be streamed online.

Prof. Frank Jülicher
MPI for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden

When viewed under a microscope, the extraordinary dynamics of living cells are striking.
Cells are a form of active soft matter where complex spatiotemporal dynamics, hydrodynamic flows and symmetry breaking patterns emerge from the collective action of molecular processes that are maintained away from thermodynamic equilibrium by a supply of chemical free energy. I will highlight such processes during the establishment of cell polarity in the C. elegans embryo and discuss general concepts ranging from mechano-chemical patterning to chemically active droplets. Such concepts are key to identify generic features of cellular dynamics as they emerge from physical laws.