We do research at the intersection of chemistry, physics and biology, investigating dynamics at a molecular level. As a member of our group you will have the possibility to work on projects combining ingredients from these different fields. Our group offers prospective students and postdocs the chance to play an important part in the development of new research directions.
The systems we are studying range from the smallest molecules to large biomolecular complexes. Structure changes in such systems occur over an incredible range of time scales from femtoseconds (1fs = 10-15s) to milliseconds and longer. How do processes on different time scales couple and give rise to complex molecular behaviour, for instance in the function of biomolecules or in chemical reactions?
Our main tool to address such questions from the molecular world is spectroscopy, mostly employing ultrafast lasers. We develop and build many of our instruments ourselves. You will have the chance to learn about and contribute to laser technology, nonlinear optics and ultrafast spectroscopy. Also electronics and interfacing of the experiments with computers for control, data collection and analysis is an important part of the work in the lab.
Many of our projects deal with proteins. We run a molecular biology lab to design and produce protein samples for biophysical experiments. Artificial amino acids can be incorporated into proteins to serve as spectroscopic labels or to modifiy the biophysical properties of a protein. Proteins are characterized by biophysical techniques such as gel electrophoresis, mass spectroscopy, CD, UV/VIS, NMR and IR spectroscopy and calorimetry.
To gain a deeper understanding of the molecular processes measured by our experiments, support from theory is essential. Some of the theory will be done in our group, involving the description of light-matter interaction in our experiments, quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics and statistical mechanics. More challenging problems will be tackled in collaborations.
If you are interested to learn about possible research projects as a Bachelor, Master or PhD student, or want to inquire about PostDoc opportunities please contact us!