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Other Groups at ITP

Falko Ziebert

Research Interests

Nonlinear dynamics and non-equilibrium physics in soft matter and biological systems

• processes:
- dynamics; especially pattern formation, active systems and self-propulsion
- collective effects, confinement effects
• systems:
- cellular biophysics: cells and tissues, bacteria, viruses
- soft matter: complex fluids, liquid crystals, elastomers, polymers, membranes

Publications

76.
Active gel theory for cell migration with two myosin isoforms
N. O. Winkler, O. M. Drozdowski, F. Ziebert & U. S. Schwarz
submitted (2025)

75.
Three-dimensional chiral active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model for helical motion of microorganisms
L. Lettermann, F. Ziebert, M. Singer, F. Frischknecht & U.S. Schwarz
submitted (2025)

74.
The positioning of stress fibers in contractile cells minimizes internal mechanical stress
L. Riedel, V. Wössner, D. Kempf, F. Ziebert, P. Bastian & U. S. Schwarz
J. Mech. Phys. Solids 195, 105950 (2025)

73.
Alignment and Actuation of Liquid Crystals via 3D Confinement and Two-Photon Laser Printing
L.-Y. Hsu, S. Gomez Melo, C. Vazquez-Martel, C. A. Spiegel, F. Ziebert, U. S. Schwarz & E. Blasco
Sci. Adv. 36, eadq2597 (2024)

72.
Reshaping and Enzymatic Activity allow Viruses to move through the Mucus
F. Ziebert, K. G. Dokonon & I. M. Kulic
Soft Matter 20, 7185 (2024)

71.
Active gel model for one-dimensional cell migration coupling actin flow and adhesion dynamics
V. Wössner, O. M. Drozdowski, F. Ziebert & U. S. Schwarz
New. J. Phys. 26, 073039 (2024)

70.
How cell shape and surface flows determine gliding motility
L. Lettermann, F. Ziebert & U. S. Schwarz
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 121, e2410708121 (2024)

69.
The role of the nucleus for cell mechanics: an elastic phase field approach
R. Chojowski, U. S. Schwarz & F. Ziebert
Soft Matter 20, 4488 (2024)

68.
Two-fluid variable length model for cell crawling
R. Gonzalez-Albaladejo, F. Ziebert & A. Carpio
Proceedings of the XVIII International Conference on Hyperbolic Problems:
Theory, Numerics, Applications (HYP2022) (2024)

67.
Physical phase field model for phagocytosis
B. Winkler, M. Abu Hamed, A. A. Nepomnyashchy & F. Ziebert
New. J. Phys. 26, 013029 (2024)

66.
Coarse-graining the vertex model and its response to shear
G. Triguero-Platero, F. Ziebert & L. L. Bonilla
Phys. Rev. E 108, 044118 (2023)

65.
Optogenetic control of migration of contractile cells predicted by an active gel model
O. M. Drozdowski, F. Ziebert & U. S. Schwarz
Comms. Phys. 6, 158 (2023)

64.
Physics of self-rolling viruses
P. A. Soria Ruiz, F. Ziebert & I. M. Kulic
Phys. Rev. E 105, 054411 (2022)

63.
Spontaneous polarization and cell guidance on asymmetric nanotopography
C. Herr, B. Winkler, F. Ziebert, I. S. Aranson, J. T. Fourkas & W. Losert
Comms. Phys. 5, 114 (2022)

62.
Emergent conformational properties of end-tailored transversely propelling polymers
K. R. Prathyusha, F. Ziebert & R. Golestanian
Soft Matter 18, 2928 (2022)

61.
Optogenetic control of intracellular flows and cell migration:
a comprehensive mathematical analysis with a minimal active gel model
O. M. Drozdowski, F. Ziebert & U. S. Schwarz
Phys. Rev. E 104, 024406 (2021)

60.
How Influenza's Spike motor works
F. Ziebert & I. M. Kulic
Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 218101 (2021)

59.
Reversible elastic phase field approach and application to cell monolayers
R. Chojowski, U. S. Schwarz & F. Ziebert
Eur. Phys. J. E 43, 63 (2020)

58.
Dynamics of Fiberboids
A. Bazir, A. Baumann, F. Ziebert & I. M. Kulic
Soft Matt. 16, 5210 (2020)

57.
Nonlinear patterns shaping the domain on which they live
M. Ruppert, F. Ziebert & W. Zimmermann
New. J. Phys. 22, 052001 (2020)

56.
Dynamics of particle uptake at cell membranes
F. Frey, F. Ziebert & U. S. Schwarz
Phys. Rev. E 100, 052403 (2019)

55.
Confinement and substrate topography control cell migration in a 3D computational model
B. Winkler, I. S. Aranson & F. Ziebert
Commun. Phys. 2, 82 (2019)

54.
Stochastic Dynamics of Nanoparticle and Virus Uptake
F. Frey, F. Ziebert & U. S. Schwarz
Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 088102 (2019)

53.
Rotating lamellipodium waves in polarizing cells
C. Reeves, B. Winkler, F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
Commun. Phys. 1, 73 (2018)

52.
Frustriert in Bewegung (`Motion by frustration', in German)
F. Ziebert & I. M. Kulic
Physik Journal (Wiley-VCH), 11/2018

51.
Continuous-time random-walk approach to supercooled liquids:
Self-part of the van Hove function and related quantities
J. Helfferich, J. Brisch, H. Meyer, O. Benzerara, F. Ziebert, J. Farago & J. Baschnagel
Eur. Phys. J. E 41, 71 (2018)

50.
Motorizing fibres with geometric zero energy modes
A. Baumann, A. Sanchez-Ferrer, L. Jacomine, P. Martinoty, V. Le Houerou, F. Ziebert & I. M. Kulic
Nat. Mater. 17, 523 (2018)

49.
When tissues collide
U. S. Schwarz & F. Ziebert
Nat. Mater. (News & Views) 16, 972 (2017)

48.
Relaxing non-equilibrated polymers in thin films at temperatures slightly above the glass transition
M. Chowdhury, S. Al-Akhrass, F. Ziebert & G. Reiter
J. Polym. Sci. B, 55, 515, (2017)

47.
Intrinsic stresses in thin glassy polymer films revealed by crack formation
M. Chowdhury, X. Sheng, F. Ziebert, A. C.-M. Yang, A. Sepe, U. Steiner & G. Reiter
Macromolecules 49, 9060 (2016)

46.
Semiflexible Chains at Surfaces: Worm-Like Chains and beyond
J. Baschnagel, H. Meyer, J. Wittmer, I. Kulic, H. Mohrbach, F. Ziebert, N.-K. Lee, G.-M. Nam & A. Johner
Polymers 8, 286 (2016)

45.
Computational approaches to substrate-based cell motility
F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson;
npj Computational Materials 2, 16019 (2016)

44.
Editorial to the Special Issue 'Nonlinear Models in Molecular and Cell Biology'
F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
Physica D 318-319, 1 (2016)

43.
On complex, curved trajectories in microtubule gliding
P. Gosselin, H. Mohrbach, I. M. Kulic & F. Ziebert
Physica D 318-319, 105 (2016)

42.
Membrane tension feedback on shape and motility of eukaryotic cells
B. Winkler, I. S. Aranson & F. Ziebert
Physica D 318-319, 26 (2016)

41.
Macroscopic model of substrate-based cell motility
F. Ziebert, J. Löber & I. S. Aranson
in I. S. Aranson, Ed.: Physical Models of Cell Moility, Springer (DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-24448-8_1) 2016

40.
A nonequilibrium power balance relation for analyzing dissipative filament dynamics
F. Ziebert, H. Mohrbach & I. M. Kulic
Eur. Phys. J. E 38, 129 (2015)

39.
Emergence of Stable Branched Patterns in Anisotropic Inhomogeneous Systems
B. Kaoui, A. Guckenberger, A. Krekhov, F. Ziebert & W. Zimmermann
New J. Phys. 17, 103015 (2015)

38.
Why Microtubules run in Circles - Mechanical Hysteresis of the Tubulin Lattice
F. Ziebert, H. Mohrbach & I. M. Kulic
Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 148101 (2015)

37.
Collisions of deformable cells lead to collective migration
J. Löber, F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
Sci. Rep. 5, 9172 (2015)

36.
Glass formers display universal non-equilibrium dynamics on the level of single-particle jumps
J. Helfferich, K. Vollmayr-Lee, F. Ziebert, H. Meyer & J. Baschnagel
EPL 109, 36004 (2015)

35.
Phase-field description of substrate-based motility of eukaryotic cells
I. S. Aranson, J. Löber & F. Ziebert
In A. Mikhailov and G. Ertl, editors: Engineering of Chemical Complexity II,
World Scientific Lecture Notes in Complex Systems, Singapore, 2014, pp. 93-104

34.
Reply to comment by Baohua Ji
F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
Eur. Phys. J. ST 223, 1407 (2014)

33.
Comment on Falcke et al., Polymerization, bending, tension: What happens at the leading edge of motile cells?
F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
Eur. Phys. J. ST 223, 1431 (2014)

32.
Modular approach for modeling cell motility
F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
Eur. Phys. J. ST 223, 1265 (2014)

31.
Continuous-Time Random Walk Approach to supercooled liquids:
II. Mean-Square Displacements in polymer melts
J. Helfferich, F. Ziebert, S. Frey, H. Meyer, J. Farago, A. Blumen & J. Baschnagel
Phys. Rev. E 89, 042604 (2014)

30.
Continuous-Time Random Walk Approach to supercooled liquids:
I. Different definitions of particle jumps and their consequence
J. Helfferich, F. Ziebert, S. Frey, H. Meyer, J. Farago, A. Blumen & J. Baschnagel
Phys. Rev. E 89, 042603 (2014)

29.
Modeling crawling cell movement on soft engineered substrates
J. Löber, F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
Soft Matt. 10, 1365 (2014)

28.
Electro-hydrodynamic instability of stressed viscoelastic polymer films
F. Closa, E. Raphaël & F. Ziebert
Eur. Phys. J. E 36, 124 (2013)

27.
Effects of adhesion dynamics and substrate compliance on the shape and motility of crawling cells
F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
PLOS ONE 8, e64511 (2013)

26.
Segmental Relaxations Have Macroscopic Consequences in Glassy Polymer Films
M. Chowdhury, P. Freyberg, F. Ziebert, A. C.-M. Yang, U. Steiner & G. Reiter
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 136102 (2012)

25.
Effects of in-plane elastic stress and normal external stress on viscoelastic thin film stability
F. Closa, F. Ziebert & E. Raphaël
Math. Model. Nat. Phenom. 7, 6 (2012)

24.
Model for self-polarization and motility of keratocyte fragments
F. Ziebert, S. Swaminathan & I. S. Aranson
J. R. Soc. Interface 9 (70), 1084 (2012)

23.
A Planar Lipid Bilayer in an Electric Field: Membrane Instability, Flow Field, and Electrical Impedance
F. Ziebert & D. Lacoste
In Ales Iglic, editor: Advances in Planar Lipid Bilayers and Liposomes, Vol. 14,
Burlington: Academic Press, 2011, pp. 63-95

22.
Viscosity of bacte-rial suspensions: Hydrodynamic interactions and self-induced noise
S. Ryan, B. M. Haines, L. Berlyand, F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
Phys. Rev. E 83, 050904(R) (2011)

21.
Interplay of internal stresses, electric stresses and surface diffusion in polymer films
F. Closa, F. Ziebert & E. Raphaël
Phys. Rev. E 83, 051603 (2011)

20.
Motor-mediated microtubule self-organization in dilute and semi-dilute filament solutions
S. Swaminathan, F. Ziebert, I. S. Aranson & D. Karpeev
Math. Model. Nat. Phenom. 6, 119 (2011)

19.
A Poisson-Boltzmann approach for a lipid membrane in an electric field
F. Ziebert & D. Lacoste
New J. Phys. 12, 095002 (2010)

18.
Patterns and intrinsic fluctuations in semi-dilute motor-filament systems
S. Swaminathan, F. Ziebert, I. S. Aranson & D. Karpeev
EPL 90, 28001 (2010)

17.
Effective zero-thickness model for a conductive membrane driven by an electric field
F. Ziebert, M. Z. Bazant & D. Lacoste
Phys. Rev. E 81, 031912 (2010)

16.
Simple view on fingering instability of debonding soft elastic adhesives
T. Vilmin, F. Ziebert & E. Raphaël
Langmuir 26, 3257 (2010)

15.
Dewetting of thin polymer films: Influence of interface evolution
F. Ziebert & E. Raphaël
EPL 86, 46001 (2009)

14.
Collective alignment of polar filaments by molecular motors
F. Ziebert, M. Vershinin, S. P. Gross & I. S. Aranson
Eur. Phys. J. E 28, 401 (2009)

13.
Motor-mediated alignment of microtubules in semi-dilute mixtures
S. Swaminathan, F. Ziebert, D. Karpeev & I. S. Aranson
Phys. Rev. E 79, 036207 (2009)

12.
Dewetting dynamics of stressed viscoelastic thin polymer films
F. Ziebert & E. Raphaël
Phys. Rev. E 79, 031605 (2009)

11.
Instabilities in a two-dimensional polar filament-motor system
V. Rühle, F. Ziebert, R. Peter & W. Zimmermann
Eur. Phys. J. E 27, 243 (2008)

10.
Pattern formation in active cytoskeletal networks
R. Peter, V. Schaller, F. Ziebert & W. Zimmermann
New J. Phys. 10, 035002 (2008)

09.
Rheological and structural properties of dilute active filament solutions
F. Ziebert & I. S. Aranson
Phys. Rev. E 77, 011918 (2008)

08.
Effects of crosslinks on filament-motor organization
F. Ziebert, I. S. Aranson & L. S. Tsimring
New J. Phys. 9, 421 (2007)

07.
Molecular motor-induced instabilities and crosslinkers determine biopolymer organization
D. Smith, F. Ziebert, D. Humphrey, C. Duggan, M. Steinbeck, W. Zimmermann & J. Käs
Biophys. J. 93, 4445 (2007)

06.
Macroscopic dynamics of polar nematic liquid crystals
H. R. Brand, H. Pleiner & F. Ziebert
Phys. Rev. E 74, 021713 (2006)

05.
On Cytoskeletal Patterns and Intrinsic Disorder Effects
F. Ziebert, M. Hammele & W. Zimmermann
Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems, 9 (2), 198 (2006)

04.
Nonlinear competition between asters and stripes in filament-motor-systems
F. Ziebert & W. Zimmermann
Eur. Phys. J. E 18, 41 (2005)

03.
Stripe-hexagon competition in forced pattern forming systems with broken up-down symmetry
R. Peter, M. Hilt, F. Ziebert, J. Bammert, C. Erlenkämper, N. Lorscheid, C. Weitenberg,
A. Winter, M. Hammele & W. Zimmermann
Phys. Rev. E 71, 046212 (2005)

02.
Comment on T. Liverpool et al., Instabilities of Isotropic Solutions of Active Polar Filaments
F. Ziebert & W. Zimmermann
Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 159802 (2004)

01.
Pattern formation driven by nematic ordering of assembling biopolymers
F. Ziebert & W. Zimmermann
Phys. Rev. E 70, 022902 (2004)

Short Vita

since 2024

Akad. Oberrat (staff) at Heidelberg University, Institute for Theoretical Physics

2019 - 2024

Akad. Rat (staff) at Heidelberg University, Germany

2019

Group leader at the 'Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization', Göttingen, Germany,

in the Department of 'Living Matter Physics' (Prof. R. Golestanian)

since July 2018

Privatdozent in Physics at Heidelberg University, Germany

2017 - 2019

senior postdoc at Heidelberg University, Institute for Theoretical Physics, in the group of Prof. U. S. Schwarz

Dec 2014

Habilitation in Physics at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany

2014 - 2017

Eigene Stelle (DFG) at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany

2011 - 2013

joint postdoc in the group 'Experimental Polymer Physics' (with Prof. G. Reiter, University of Freiburg)

and in the group 'Theory and Simulation of Polymers' (with Prof. J. Baschnagel, Institut Charles Sadron, Strasbourg, France)

2008 - 2010

postdoc, Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI), France, with Dr. E. Raphaël and Dr. D. Lacoste

2006 - 2007

postdoc, Argonne National Lab, U.S., with Dr. I. S. Aranson

2006

PhD in physics, Universität Bayreuth, Germany, with Prof. W. Zimmermann

2002

Diploma in physics, Universität des Saarlandes, Germany, with Prof. W. Zimmermann

Current (Co-)supervisions / team

• Santiago Gomez Melo, Leon Lettermann, Valentin Wössner, Niels Gieseler, Nils Winkler (PhD)
• Alex Arnhold, Mike Brandt (MSc)
• Lars Auler (BSc)

Earlier (Co-)Supervisions:

in Heidelberg:
• Malo Berthou-Guyader (internship/Erasmus 2025)
• Lukasz Adamowic (internship/Erasmus 2024)
• Nils Winkler (MSc 2024)
• Frederik Kolb (BSc 2024)
• Ceren Ayeri (BSc 2024)
• Sarah Seibert (BSc 2024)
• Robert Chojowski (PhD 2024)
• Enej Caf (MSc 2023)
• Michelle Emmert (internship/MoBi 2023)
• David Gonzalez-Calatayud (internship/Erasmus 2023)
• Gerrit Niederhoff (BSc 2023)
• Gloria Triguero Platero (MSc 2022)
• Junjie Liu (MSc 2022)
• Ruth Kaiser (BSc 2022)
• Linus von Klitzing (BSc2022)
• Benjamin Raach (MSc 2021)
• Pedro Antonio Soria Ruiz (MSc 2021)
• Juraj Majek (Erasmus+ 2021)
• Frederik Kortkamp (BSc 2021)
• Margareta von Samson Himmelstierna (BSc 2021)
• Alexander Baum (BSc 2021)
• Hanchen Li (BSc 2021)
• Jakob Dolgner (BSc 2020)
• Sophia Baum (BSc 2020)
• Henri Schmidt (BSc 2020)
• Oliver Drozdowski (MSc 2020)
• Robert Chojowski (MSc 2019)
• Marius Brockhoff (BSc 2019)
• Dennis Wagner (BSc 2019)
• Leander John (BSc 2018)
elsewhere:
• Benjamin Winkler (Freiburg, PhD 2019)
• Antony Bazir (Strasbourg, MSc 2017)
• Mirko Ruppert (Bayreuth, MSc 2016)
• Christian König (Bayreuth, MSc 2016)
• Louis Mores (Freiburg, BSc 2015)
• Julian Helfferich (Freiburg, PhD 2015)
• Kornelius Sücker (Bayreuth, MSc 2015)
• Mirko Ruppert (Bayreuth, BSc 2014)
• Fabien Closa (ESPCI Paris, PhD 2012)
• Victor Rühle (Bayreuth, Dipl 2006)
• Alexander Benedix (Saarbrücken, Dipl 2004)

Teaching activities

• Lecture `Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation'
• Lecture `Introduction to Nonequilibrium Physics'
• Seminar `Cell Motility' with U. Schwarz, C. Selhuber-Unkel & F. Frischknecht
• Seminar `From Soft Matter to Synthetic Biology' with K. Göpfrich
• Seminar `Physics of Viruses' with U. Schwarz & F. Graw
• Seminar `Soft Matter Physics' with T. Bereau
• Tutorial `Introduction to the Physics of Complex Systems' within the Max-Planck-School `Matter to Life'
• Participation in the lecture series `Biophysics' for B. Sc. students in Molecular Biotechnology

Address