SFB 1551

SFB 1551 Student Seminar Series Event - Samuel Shoup & Lucia Baltz
2024-10-22 12:30 - 13:30 UTC | Biocenter 2, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 17, Mainz
Talk annoucement for Samuel Shoup & Lucia Baltz

SFB 1551 Annual Retreat 2024
2024-11-04 08:30 - 2024-11-05 16:30 | Gonsberg Lounge, Im Niedergarten 16, Mainz, 55124, Germany
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SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Binder
2024-11-14 10:30 - 11:30
Modulating aggregation & folding: photoswitchable amyloids & designed nano-compartimentized single chain nanoparticles
By Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Binder
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg · Macromolecular Chemistry

SFB 1551 Student Seminar Series Event - Adrian Pinto
2024-11-19 12:30 - 13:30 | Biocenter 2, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 17, Mainz
A coarse-grained model for SMC mediated loop extrusion.

Joint SFB 1551 & GRK2516 Seminar - Prof. Dr. Ir. Jurriaan Huskens
2024-11-28 10:30 - 11:30
Multivalent Interactions: from bio-inspiration to bio-application
By Prof. Dr. Ir. Jurriaan Huskens
University of Twente · Department for Molecules & Materials

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - René Ketting
2024-12-05 10:30 - 11:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Talk announcement for René Ketting.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Helle Ulrich
2024-12-12 10:30 - 11:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Getting to know the ubiquitin family – analysis & manipulation
Posttranslational modifications of proteins play essential regulatory roles in cells as they modulate their targets’ interactions, localization, and stability. This is achieved either by changing the biophysical properties of the targets or by providing interaction surfaces for dedicated receptors that elicit a biological signal. In this lecture, I will give a brief overview over the family of ubiquitin-like modifiers, their biochemical and biological properties, their enzymatic machinery, and their signalling functions in the cell. I will also cover established and innovative techniques to analyse and manipulate their activities in cells.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Julian König
2025-01-23 10:30 - 11:30
RNA Technologies
Thema: SFB1551 Seminar Series – Methods talk by Julian König
Zeit: 23.Jan. 2025 10:30 AM Amsterdam, Berlin, Rom, Stockholm, Wien
An Zoom-Meeting teilnehmen
https://uni-mainz-de.zoom.us/j/66599643238
Meeting-ID: 665 9964 3238

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Dr. Sam Wilken
2025-02-13 10:30 - 11:30
Quantifying biophysical phenomena: image analysis techniques for fluorescent microscopy
By Dr. Sam Wilken
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Susanne Gerber
2025-02-20 09:30 - 10:30
Talk announcement for Susanne Gerber

"Next Level Productivity and Quality in Science using AI-Assistants" - PD Dr. Daniel Mertens
2025-02-26 14:00 - 15:15
We are happy to announce the upcoming online research ethics lecture, with a specific focus on AI tools and their use, on Wednesday, 26 February at 14:00-15:15.
PD Dr Daniel Mertens (DKFZ Heidelberg & Universitätsklinikum Ulm) will give a talk entitled “Next Level Productivity and Quality in Science using AI-Assistants”.
All are welcome to attend, and registration is not required (zoom link sent via email)
This event is co-organised by IMB’s Professional Development Office with SFB 1361, SFB 1551, SFB 1552, GenEvo and 4R.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Volker Dötsch
2025-02-27 10:30 - 11:30
2 inactive 4 destruction: Mechanism of genetic quality control in germ cells
By Prof. Dr. Volker Dötsch
Goethe University Frankfurt · Institute of Biophysical Chemistry

SFB1551 in the Mainz Carnival
2025-03-03
We are very excited to announce that the SFB1551 will be taking part in the Mainzer Fastnacht Rosenmontag Parade! Fastnacht (Carnival) in Mainz is one of the biggest yearly events in the area. Contact us for more information.
The featured image was found here.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Katharina Landfester
2025-03-06 10:30 - 11:30
Methods talk by Prof. Dr. Katharina Landfester, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Title: “Polymer- and peptide-based coacervates in polymeric vesicles“.
Date: Thursday, 6 March, 2025
Time: 10:30 – 11:30
Room: BZ1 Room 00.187
Abstract:
Synthetic vesicles and coacervates have been gaining attention in recent years due to their ability to create systems that emulate the structural and functional characteristics of natural cells. To achieve this, it is of interest to combine tools from chemistry, materials science, engineering, computing and biochemistry to develop structural building blocks for the construction of synthetic cell-like systems. The multitude of strategies and materials that have been developed in recent decades have enabled scientists to engineer synthetic cells and organelles that mimic the essential functions and behaviours of natural cells. However, the existing literature continues to rely extensively on natural components for the formation of these synthetic systems, which are highly susceptible to external stimuli and may result in unintended outcomes during experimentation. Within the methods talk I will concentrate from the chemist’s point of view on the creation of synthetic cell-like systems with polymer- or peptide-based coacervates of increased complexity, composed primarily of synthetic (polymeric) materials, which can self-assemble from the bottom up into diverse and functional compartments for application specifically in biocatalysis, drug delivery, fiber formation and engineering of artificial cells

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Paolo Arosio
2025-03-20 10:30 - 11:30
Engineering Enzymatic Reactions and Protein Aggregation with Biomolecular Condensates
By Prof. Dr. Paolo Arosio
ETH Zurich · Department of Chemistry and Applied Sciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Ali Miserez
2025-04-02 10:30 - 11:30
Peptide Coacervates with Tunable Biophysical Properties for Programmable Intracellular Delivery of Macromolecules
By Prof. Dr. Ali Miserez
Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore · Center for Sustainable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering
Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore · School of Biological Sciences

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Dr. Michael Landreh
2025-04-03 10:30 - 11:30
Disentangling liquid-liquid phase separation with mass spectrometry
By Dr. Michael Landreh
Uppsala University · Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm · Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology

SFB 1551 Laboratory of Theatrical Practices 2025
2025-04-28 14:00 - 2025-04-30 18:00 | Biocenter 1 – Johannes Gutenberg University, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, 55128, Germany

Using AI Assistants to increase productivity by Daniel Mertens
2025-05-06 - 2025-05-07 | IMB Seminar Room, Ackermannweg 4, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Using AI Assistants to increase productivity by Daniel Mertens
Date & Time: 6 + 7 May 2025; 09:00-16:30
Location: IMB Seminar Room
Target audience: All interested scientists; For beginners (previous knowledge is not required).
Description: There are many AI assistants currently available to use for writing, brainstorming, exploratory data analysis and so on. Have you wanted to try using such tools to increase your productivity? This workshop will look at several AI assistants (e.g. Perplexity, You.com, Storm, ChatGPT, Claude, Anthropic, etc) and how to use them for writing, brainstorming, exploratory data analysis, introspection, and more.
For more information on topics covered and to register, please see our course website.
Registration is open until 15:00 on 28 April 2025.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact sfb1361@imb.de
This workshop is jointly organised by SFB 1551, SFB 1552, GenEvo, 4R, IPP, and IPPro.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Dr. Oleksandra Kukharenko
2025-06-05 10:30 - 11:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Methods talk by Dr.Olksandra Kukharenko, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Title: Bridging Scales in Molecular Dynamics Simulations with Machine Learning
Abstract:
Grasping the behavior of biomolecules across diverse length and time scales is a persistent challenge in molecular biophysics. While atomistic simulations provide detailed molecular insights, their high computational cost limits their applicability. Coarse-grained models, on the other hand, allow access to longer timescales and larger systems but often sacrifice resolution and accuracy. To connect these approaches meaningfully, it is essential to develop strategies that can bridge the scales and preserve key thermodynamic properties.
In this talk, I will showcase recent advances in leveraging machine learning for the analysis of free energy landscapes. I will demonstrate how tools such as dimensionality reduction and clustering can uncover key collective variables and metastable states from high-dimensional simulation data. Moreover, I will explore how these learned representations can facilitate the transfer of insights between different modeling resolutions, enabling seamless integration of coarse-grained and atomistic simulations. Applications to systems with complex multi-body interactions will illustrate the power of this multiscale, data-driven perspective.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Tuomas Knowles
2025-06-10 11:30 - 12:30
Protein phase transitions in health, disease, and new materials
By Prof. Dr. Tuomas Knowles
University of Cambridge, UK · Department of Physical Chemistry and Biophysics
This talk describes our efforts to measure, quantify, understand and modulate at the molecular level the processes that govern protein phase separation and aggregation. We bring together theory, computation and experiments to discover the molecular mechanisms of aggregation and phase separation. I will discuss how controlling transitions between such phases can help us ameliorate biological malfunction when it occurs in disease, and well as develop new classes of functional materials.

SFB1551 & SPP2191 Coworker Basecamp
2025-06-16 - 2025-06-18 | Basecamp Bonn, In d. Raste 1, Bonn, 53129, Germany

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Dr. Thomas Quail
2025-06-25 14:30 - 15:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Talk by Dr.Thomas Quail, EMBL Heidelberg, Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit

Title: Molecular sociology of self-organising genomes
Abstract:
Proteins organise the genome across multiple length and time scales. How proteins collectively bridge these scales to generate structure execute enzymatic reactions remains an open question. In this talk, I will discuss our work on dissecting biophysical mechanisms of genome self-organization, and how these principles are linked to transcription. To tackle these questions, we use interdisciplinary approaches that combine single molecule biophysics, reconstitution biology, and theory. I will describe how protein condensation acts as an organizing principle of genome organization, generating forces on DNA that then act as active enzymatic scaffolds.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Dr. Martin Möckel
2025-07-03 10:30 - 11:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Methods talk by Dr. Martin Möckel, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB)
In vitro veritas – an overview on recombinant protein expression, purification and quality control
Abstract:
Recombinant proteins are critical for basic research, for example to prove molecular mechanisms, determine protein structure and study the biophysical properties of proteins in a well-defined environment. In this talk I will give you a glimpse on the art of protein production as is done in our core facility. We will start by looking at molecular cloning techniques for expression vector generation, as well as pros and cons of various expression systems, with a focus on E. coli and the baculovirus-insect cell system. This will be followed by a more detailed explanation of various chromatography techniques, before ending the talk with a short overview of possible quality control measurements.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Shikha Dhiman
2025-07-24 10:30 - 11:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Methods talk by Prof. Dr. Shikha Dhiman, Chemistry Department, Johannes Gutenberg University
Harnessing Competitive Interactions to Regulate Supramolecular Assembly
Abstract:
Understanding the interplay between supramolecular polymerization and phase separation is key to unraveling the formation of biomolecular assemblies such as protein fibers and membraneless organelles. I will present a minimal synthetic system—comprising a BTA-based monomer, surfactant, and water—that mimics biological condensates through a micelle-to-droplet-to-fiber transition. This pathway, governed by competitive interactions, is reversible under external stimuli like temperature and guest molecules. Our findings offer a framework for controlling supramolecular order and dynamics, with implications for synthetic biology and therapeutic design.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Tanja Weil
2025-08-21 10:30 - 11:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Talk announcement for Tanja Weil.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Dr. Ralf Dahm
2025-09-04 10:30 - 11:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Methods talk by Dr. Ralf Dahm, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB)
When Discovery Isn’t Enough: Why It Matters to Communicate Your Science Well
Imagine making a discovery that could change your field—only to watch it vanish into obscurity because no one quite “got it.” This happens more often than we’d like to admit. Breakthroughs don’t automatically break through; they need a voice, be well presented, and connect with the audience. Without these, even the most insightful finding risks staying a hidden gem—brilliant, but unseen.
Today, good science communication is not just a “nice-to-have” skill—it’s essential for building a successful career as a scientist. From publishing in high-impact journals and giving convincing talks to attracting collaborators and securing funding: being able to communicate well ensures that your work gets recognized.
In this talk, I will explore key aspects of how to communicate research in ways that are clear, compelling, and memorable—whether to your peers, collaborators from a different field, or the public. We will look at how to turn complex concepts into ideas people can understand, how to make your research resonate, and how to deliver your message so it sticks. By the end, you will have practical tools to help you communicate your research effectively.

Joint Sustainability Symposium
2025-09-24 | Schulz-Horner Gebäude, C02, Duesbergweg, Mainz, 55128, Germany
Event organised by the SFB1552, SFB1551, SFB1361, GRK2516, 4R and GenEvo

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck
2025-10-09 10:30 - 11:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Methods talk by Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck, Theoretical Physics Department, Stuttgart University
More is different: Statistical physics of structure formation
How can we even dare to model complex phenomena like cellular processes in biology? I will introduce the philosophy of statistical physics to approach this question through minimal models and I will illustrate the key concepts for the case of phase separation. I will then sketch the current challenges of non-equilibrium and many-component systems and how we tackle those.

SFB 1551 Seminar Series Event - Prof. Dr. Petra Beli
2025-10-23 10:30 - 11:30 | Biocenter I, EG 00.187, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz
Methods talk by Prof. Dr. Petra Beli, Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB)
Quantitative proteomics for investigations of protein-protein interactions and phosphorylation
In this methods talk, I will provide an overview of mass spectrometry based proteomics approaches for analyzing protein-protein interactions and posttranslational modifications. I will focus on new proximity-based methods for analyzing transient and low affinity interactions that are also applicable for the analysis of phase-separated membraneless compartments. In addition, I will give an overview into the quantitative analysis of posttranslational interactions with a focus on global and targeted analysis of protein phosphorylation.
