Funding for training and research in biological complexity

(Press-News.org) Complex biological systems are more than the sum of their parts – their properties emerge from the dynamic interaction of their components, such as molecules or cells. PhD researchers now have the opportunity to develop their own theoretical perspective on these systems as part of an international Doctoral Network. A European consortium initiated by researchers from the University of Göttingen, the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS), and the University of Edinburgh has been awarded €4.5M by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions to coordinate the network. The network consists of twelve European universities and research centres along with a number of partners outside academia. It is coordinated by the University of Edinburgh.

 

The new network – “Coherent Analysis Framework for Emergence in Biological Systems” or “CAFE-BIO” for short – will recruit and train fifteen PhD researchers, each gaining a distinct theoretical perspective on complex biological systems. A significant feature of the programme is that each PhD researcher will collaborate with scientists from two different academic institutions, combining previously separate techniques in innovative ways. Each institution will take a lead on different research questions inspired by biological systems. For example, one group, led by Barcelona, will develop new models to describe the full complexity of living matter, incorporating interactions that are absent in traditional condensed matter systems. A second group, led by Leiden, will develop reliable methods to determine how such interactions play out at a macroscopic level, meaning observable by the naked eye, and govern an organism’s function. Thirdly, a group led by Warsaw will apply state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to aid the design of predictive models of complex biological systems.

 

The combined effects of these endeavours will create a framework, firmly grounded in the principles of physics, that can be applied systematically to understand the many and varied forms of biological complexity. PhD researchers will benefit from training provided by several partners outside academia, including IndiScale, a spin-out company from MPI-DS in Göttingen that focuses on research data management. Recruitment for the fifteen positions will open in February 2026 with research commencing in autumn 2026.

 

Göttingen and Edinburgh are the two major hubs in the new network, with five principal investigators across the Göttingen campus: Professors Stefan Klumpp and Peter Sollich (Göttingen University), together with Dr Philip Bittihn, Professor Ramin Golestanian and Dr David Zwicker (MPI-DS). The Doctoral Network is supported by the EU’s flagship funding programme Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. The initial collaboration was made possible thanks to seed funding from the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

 

Contact:

Professor Peter Sollich

University of Göttingen

Institute of Theoretical Physics

Friedrich Hund Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Email: peter.sollich@theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de

www.uni-goettingen.de/en/583011.html

 

Professor Stefan Klumpp

University of Göttingen

Institute for the Dynamics of Complex Systems

Friedrich Hund Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Tel: +49 (0)551/3926942

Email: stefan.klumpp@phys.uni-goettingen.de

www.uni-goettingen.de/en/527801.html

 

Dr Philip Bittihn

Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization

Am Faßberg 17, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Tel: +49 (0) 551 5176-155

Email: philip.bittihn@ds.mpg.de

www.ds.mpg.de/lmp/bittihn

 

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