Benedikt Hartmann obtained his doctoral degree on December 11, 2025 when he successfully defended his doctoral thesis about “On the viscoelasticity and the circulation behavior of cells”. Well done!

Congratulations to this year’s “best poster award” winners at the IMPRS Annual Meeting!

The Annual Meeting of the IMPRS Physics of Light and IMPRS Physics and Medicine took place recently, bringing together students and PIs for a day of scientific exchange, discussion and collaboration. As part of…

The international society “Optica” has named Prof. Nicolas Joly a Fellow for the class of 2026. Joly is head of the “Microstructured Optical Fibres” research group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) and a professor at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg…

Dr. Wanjura was honored with the Gustav Hertz Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for young researchers from the German Physical Society (DPG) in 2026. The DPG is honoring the group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) for her contributions to two highly relevant…

Timo Eckstein obtained his doctoral degree on November 19, 2025 when he successfully defended his doctoral thesis about “Using Symmetries for Near-Term Quantum Computing”. Well done!

We warmly welcome all new Master’s and PhD students joining the International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS) in Physics of Light and Physics and Medicine this year.

You are now part of a dynamic, international research environment where curiosity and collaboration drive scientific progress.…

On November 6, the first OOF (out-of-your-field) lecture was held at the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM) in the seminar room. The talk, delivered by PD Dr. med. Markus Eckstein, focused on Cancer Pathology, offered interdisciplinary insights to a diverse audience of scientists. The…

The 3rd joint Annual Meeting of our graduate programmes IMPRS Physics of Light and IMPRS Physics and Medicine took place yesterday at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL).

In the afternoon, we enjoyed a lively poster session—great opportunities to connect, share ideas, and learn…

Our colleague and IMPRS PI, Jochen Guck, has sadly passed away. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to him. With his passing, we have lost a supportive and inspiring mentor whose expertise, extensive experience, and genuine humanity will be greatly missed. Thank you Jochen for your…

Santiago López-Huidobro obtained his doctoral degree on September 22, 2025 when he successfully defended his doctoral thesis about “Generation of entangled photons strongly separated in frequency through four-wave mixing in noble gas-filled hollow-core fibers”. Well done!

The Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM) has welcomed two new research group leaders. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Viola Introini, “Vascular Infections,” and Dr. Eleni Dalaka, “Biomechanics of Cancer.”

The glycocalyx surrounds each cell in the human body like a coat. This complex sugar layer plays a key role in the progression of numerous diseases, such as cancer and autoimmune diseases. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) have succeeded for the first time in…

Karim Almahayni obtained his doctoral degree on July 16th, 2025 when he successfully defended his doctoral thesis about “On Single-Sugar Resolution Imaging, Glycocalyx Mechanobiology, and Light-Based Therapeutics”. Well done!

Daniel Häupl obtained his doctoral degree on July 2nd, 2025 when he successfully defended his doctoral thesis about “Modelling and experimental control of hot rubidium vapour in hollow-core fibres”. Well done!

Prof. Vahid Sandoghdar, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL), and his team receive the first prize of the Berthold Leibinger Innovation Prize on Friday, June 20, 2025, for the development of the novel analysis method iNTA (interferometric nanoparticle tracking…

Quantum systems can exhibit correlations significantly stronger than those in classical systems. This ›spooky action at a distance‹ is referred to as ›nonlocality‹ in modern physics. Scientists in the Theory Division at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) have recently published…

On May 13^th our event „FAU meets IMPRS” was organized for the first time at the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM). We invited interested FAU Bachelor and Master students from the fields of Physics, Medical Engineering, Biology and Medicine to learn more about our graduate programme…

Nico Baßler obtained his doctoral degree on May 6th, 2025 when he successfully defended his doctoral thesis about “Quantum optics with atoms and molecules”. Well done!

On May 7th and 8th our joint retreat of IMPRS Physics of Light and IMPRS Physics and Medicine took place at the hotel Stempferhof in Gößweinstein.

To break the ice, we started the event with Scientific Speed Dating. When everyone knew at least some of the names and research areas of their fellow…

Another opportunity to interact with guest scientists happened on May 2nd, when we welcomed around 20 participants of the ZaPF (Zusammenkunft aller (deutschsprachigen) Physik-Fachschaften) event, that took place in Erlangen.

After a short introductory talk in which our guests learned more about our…

On April 29^th our third „FAU meets IMPRS”-Event took place in the Foyer of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light. We invited interested FAU Bachelor and Master students from the fields of Physics and Engineering to learn more about our graduate programme “IMPRS Physics of Light…

Neural networks are one typical structure on which artificial intelligence can be based. The term ›neural‹ describes their learning ability, which to some extent mimics the functioning of neurons in our brains. To be able to work, several key ingredients are required: one of them is an activation…

Professor Leonhard Möckl is a recipient of the ›2024 Rising Star in Biological, Medicinal, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry‹ Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS). The annual award highlights new leaders in scientific research worldwide whose scientific contributions have a lasting impact on…

Tomohisa Toda, head of the research group ‘Neural Epigenomics’ at the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM), is investigating how the physical nature of cell nuclei affects gene regulation and brain function. With his serial studies on the importance of long-lived cellular components to…

Dr Clara Wanjura has been selected for the Minerva Fast Track Programme of the Max Planck Society (MPG) and has founded her own research group ‘Topology and Neuromorphic Computing’ at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL). The theoretical physicist is exploring research questions…

A recent episode of the German TV news program 17:30 SAT1 Bayern explored the highly topical issue of quantum communication under the title “Security on the Net – How Quantum Keys Help”. Prof. Christoph Marquardt, research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL), and…

The Distinguished Lecturer Series (DLS) continued in 2025 with the first talk “Quantum Learning Machines” by Gerard Milburn. He is professor at the Sussex Centre for Quantum Technologies and the new UK National Quantum Computing Centre.

Anchit Srivastava obtained his doctoral degree on February 7th, 2025 when he successfully defended his doctoral thesis about “Near Petahertz Femtosecond Fieldoscopy”. Well done!

The range of research at the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM) continues to grow: the research group “Mucosal Immunology” brings a new and promising field of medical research to the collaborative research center in Erlangen. Prof. Maximilian Waldner, Medical Clinic 1 of the…