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Below, we list events at Saarland University related to biophysics.
To receive announcements for the biophysics colloquium, please register yourself for the Moodle-Kurs “ZBP-Kolloquium”.
Campus Seminar Homburg
Time: 14:00
Location: Auditorium CIPMM, Gebäude 48, Campus Homburg
- Prof. Dr. Gabriela Krasteva-Christ (Macroscopic Anatomy | Saarland University)
Epithelial sensing bridging immunity and neural regulation in pulmonary host defense - Prof. Dr. Thorsten Keßler (Internal Medicine III - Department of Cardiology and Angiology | UKS)
Genetic alterations in the matrisome and atherosclerosis
Campus Day (Campustag)
Campus Day on April 21, 2026 – Focus on your future: Saarland's universitiy
What are the study options in Saarland? At Campus Day, you can learn about the various subjects you can study, find out how to apply and enroll, and discover how you can finance your studies. Students, staff, and professors will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about studying. Exciting exhibits will allow you to experience science up close. There will also be a university bazaar with information about the different subjects, the university's services, and stands run by organizations that support talented students and other institutions providing information about financing your studies and scholarships.
The next Campus Day will take place for all 11th graders on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
PhD Students' Day 2026
Time: 13:00 - 16:15
Location: Auditorium, A 3.3
Schedule: Pogramm des PhD Students' Day 2026
Registration for the poster presentation:
- by email: dekanat-nt(at)uni-saarland.de
- please specify name, title of poster, and working group.
Extended deadline: 9 March 2026
ZBP Colloquium
Prof. Dr. Nadja Tarakina (INM-Leibniz Institute for New Materials)
Title: Electron microscopy of soft functional materials: challenges and opportunities
Time: 14:15 (refreshments at 14:00)
Location: Campus SB, Building C6 4, room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Host: Prof. Franziska Lautenschläger
ZBP Colloquium
Prof. Dr. Anupam Sengupta (University of Luxembourg)
Title: Microbes on the move: from aquatic ecosystems to tumorigenic environments
Time: 14:15 (refreshments at 14:00)
Location: Campus SB, Building C6 4, room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Host: Prof. Christian Wagner
Physics Colloquium
Hartmut Löwen (Heinrich Heine Universität, Düsseldorf)
Title: Physics of active matter
Time: 14 c.t.
Location: Campus SB, building C6 4, Room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Campus Day (Campustag)
Save the date!
New date for 2026: Friday, June 12, 2026, starting at 3 p.m.
Join us for Open Campus (a.k.a. Tag der offenen Tür) and learn more about the research and teaching being conducted at our Saarbrücken and Homburg campuses. Prospective students will be introduced to the full range of study options available at Saarland University. Visitors will enjoy a day packed full of events and activities showcasing all that Saarland University has to offer. The varied programme includes lectures/talks, information stands, guided lab tours, interactive workshops, and more. There are also activities for our international visitors, such as guided campus tours in English or French.
ZBP Colloquium
Prof. Dr. Jörg Renkawitz (LMU München)
Title: Centrosome integrity controls microtubule network architecture and cellular pathfinding
Time: 14:15 (refreshments at 14:00)
Location: Campus SB, Building C6 4, room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Host: Prof. Franziska Lautenschläger
Abstract: The centrosome orchestrates the microtubule network by nucleating and anchoring radial microtubule arrays that coordinate intracellular transport. At the same time, mechanical stresses from the microenvironment and changes in cellular shape compress and bend microtubules, raising the question of how the membrane-less centrosome withstands mechanical forces.
In recent work (Schmitt et al., Science Advances, 2025), we discovered that migration through confining three-dimensional microenvironments mechanically deforms the centrosome, rendering it susceptible to breakage. We identify a protective pathway in which the kinase Dyrk3 cooperates with the centrosomal linker protein cNAP1 to preserve centrosome cohesion and resist actomyosin force-induced fragmentation.
Centrosome fracturing leads to spatially separated, coexisting microtubule-organizing centers (MTOCs), thereby generating competing microtubule networks within a single cell. Live-cell imaging of competing MTOCs upon centrosome fracture demonstrates delayed path decisions during cell migration, leading to the entanglement of rapidly migrating immune cells and slow-migrating fibroblasts in three-dimensional microenvironments. In contrast, cells lacking centrioles but maintaining a single functional MTOC retain efficient directional decision-making. Thus, it is not centriole loss, but the coexistence of multiple functional MTOCs that impairs efficient cell migration. These results establish that it is critical for motile cells to maintain their microtubule architecture from a single microtubule-organising centre. More broadly, our findings demonstrate the importance of microtubule-based architecture in highly dynamic cells with complex shapes.
Further, I will present new findings demonstrating how the spatiotemporal dynamics of the microtubule network architecture are critical for cell migration in complex three-dimensional microenvironments.
ZBP Colloquium
Dr. Stephanie Möllmert (Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen)
Title: From Neural Tissue to the Reproductive Tract: Quantitative Mechanics Across Living System
Time: 14:15 (refreshments at 14:00)
Location: Campus SB, Building C6 4, room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Host: Prof. Franziska Lautenschläger
Campus Seminar Homburg
Time: 14:00
Location: Auditorium CIPMM, Gebäude 48, Campus Homburg
- Prof. Dr. Katrin Philippar (ZHMB | Saarland University)
Membrane bending and lipid binding by FAX/TMEM14 proteins – towards a function in transport of lipid compounds in organellar membranes - Prof. Dr. Robert Bals (Pulmonology, Allergology, Intensive Care Medicine | UKS)
Epithelial cell biology in lung disease
Day of Teaching 2026
For the first time, an entire day dedicated to teaching will take place at Saarland University!
On January 23, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Saarland University cordially invites all faculty members to the Innovation Center on the Saarbrücken campus to discuss the future of university teaching.
Focus topic: AI in teaching and learning
Registration, program, and organization are being handled by the Center for Teaching and Learning (ZeLL): Registration
Anyone who would like to participate in Teaching Day with a poster can submit it at the following link: Tag der Lehre 2026 | UdS LMS
Physikalisches Kolloquium
Thomas Schmidt (Universität Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
Titel: Hydrodynamics of classical and quantum active systems
Zeit: 14 Uhr c.t.
Ort: Campus SB, Gebäude C6 4, Raum 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Nobel prize talk 2025/2026
What is behind the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics?
In this public lecture, Prof. Dr. Wilhelm-Mauch explains the background to the research in an understandable way and shows why this discovery is of great importance for science and society.
Time: 18:00
Location: Large Mathematics Lecture Hall (Building E2 5, Lecture Hall 1)
Flyer: Nobelpreis_Talk.pdf
ZBP Colloquium
Prof. Dr. Carl Modes (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden)
Title: Programming Biological Shapes: Morphogenesis in an Active Solid
Time: 14:15 (refreshments at 14:00)
Location: Campus SB, Building C6 4, room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Campus Seminar Homburg
Time: 13:30
Location: Auditorium CIPMM, Gebäude 48, Campus Homburg
- Dr. Oskar Staufer (Emmy-Noether Fellow @ INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials | Center for Biophysics)
Artificial tumor immune microenvironments to dissect immunotherapy resistance - Prof. Dr. Danilo Fliser (Department of Internal Medicine IV - Nephrology and Hypertension|UKS)
DKK3 in cardiorenal medicine
Physics Colloquium
Friedhelm Serwane (Universität Ulm, Ulm)
Titel: Biophysics of retinal organoids
Time: 14 c.t.
Location: Campus SB, building C6 4, Room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Christmas lecture 2025
The Christmas lecture Physics will take place on December 16 in the large physics lecture hall (building C6 4, room 0.10). Doors open at 9:30 a.m. Registration is not required.
Campus Seminar Homburg
Time: 14:00
Location: Auditorium CIPMM, Gebäude 48, Campus Homburg
- Prof. Dr. David Mick (Medical Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | PZMS)
Using Subcellular Proteomics to Study Ciliopathies - Prof. Dr. Christine Beemelmanns (Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) | PharmaScienceHub | UdS)
Genome-based Discovery of Resistance-breaking Novel Anti-infectives from Microbial Symbionts
Physics Colloquium
Annabelle Bohrdt (Ludwig-Maximilians Universität (LMU), München)
Title: From cuprates to neural quantum states and quantum simulation
Time: 14 c.t.
Location: Campus SB, building C6 4, Room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
ZBP Colloquium
Prof. Dr. Joachim O. Rädler (LMU München)
Title: pH-Dependent Mesophases Determine Lipid Nanoparticle Function: Toward Controlled Gene Expression and Cellular Reprogramming
Time: 14:15 (refreshments at 14:00)
Location: Campus SB, Building C6 4, room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Graduation ceremony 2023 (WS23)
The ceremony will take place as Absolventenfeier der Fakultät NT. Congratulations to all gradutes! and good luck for the future careers!
Start: 16:00 (Aula)
Program of the event
Campus Seminar Homburg
Time: 14:00
Location: Auditorium CIPMM, Gebäude 48, Campus Homburg
- Prof. Dr. Michael Zemlin (Universitätsklinikum des Saarlandes)
Title: It is a great small world: Pediatric Research in Homburg - Prof. Dr. Daniela Yildiz (Präklinisches Zentrum für Molekulare Signalverarbeitung, PZMS)
Title: Extracellular vesicles shaping the proteolytic environment - from cellular waste to central mediators of cell communication
ZBP Colloquium
Prof. Dr. Emanuel Schneck (TU Darmstadt)
Title: Combining X-Ray Scattering and Molecular Simulations for the Study of Lipid and Surfactant Layers at Air/Water Interfaces
Time: 14:15 (refreshments at 14:00)
Location: Campus SB, Building C6 4, room 0.09 (Hörsaal II)
Workshop
Applying Machine Learning Tools for Advanced Image Analysis
In collaboration with INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials
Date: November 3rd and 4th, 2025 (2 days workshop, orginally scheduled for July 2025)
Number of participants is limited. Please register here.
Campus Seminar Homburg
Time: 14:00
Location: Auditorium CIPMM, Gebäude 48, Campus Homburg
Conference Cell Physics 2025
The “Cell Physics 2025“ will take place at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, 7-9 October 2025 as in-person format.
The conference provides an interdisciplinary platform for scientific exchange between participants from the fields of cell biology and biophysics. It offers all participants an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest developments in established and emerging fields, to exchange ideas and to network.