Here we introduce Professor Katja M. Taute from the Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics at our faculty. You will find information about her career, research and teaching, as well as an advice she would give herself as a student.
Everyone else is putting their pants on one leg at a time, too.
Prof Dr Katja M. Taute
Career
- 2005: Postgraduate Diploma
Physics
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand - 2006: Completion of Studies
Physics, Master of Science
Universität Leipzig, International Physics Studies Program
Thesis: “Mechanics of individual biofilaments” - 2012: Doctorate
Dr rer nat, Physics
Universität Leipzig
Thesis: “Microtubule mechanics and the implications for their assembly” - 2012–2015: Postdoc
FOM Institute AMOLF, Amsterdam, Netherlands - 2016–2021: Rowland Fellow
Rowland Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA - 2021–2023: Deputy Professor for Microbiology
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München - since 2023: Professor and Group Leader of the Department “Quantitative Microbial Population Biology”
Universität Leipzig, Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics
Research
Bacteria are probably the simplest organisms living on our planet. A typical bacterial cell is ~1000 times smaller than a typical human cell by volume. Yet bacteria are capable of rich behaviours. For example, they combine sensing, information processing and controlled motility to navigate relative to environmental stimuli like chemicals and light. They interact with each other and their environment and engage in collective dynamics. The combination of relative simplicity and emergent behavioural complexity renders bacteria a compelling model system for studying the basic physics of living systems.
Our research group develops and uses optical methods to investigate the active and passive dynamics of bacteria in space and time, from high-throughput 3D tracking of individual swimming bacteria to eco-evolutionary population dynamics. We use experiments, computation, and analytical models to determine the ecological optimisation principles and physical constraints that shape natural selection and evolutionary and physiological adaptation in a spatio-temporal context.
Specific questions we aim to address include the following:
- How do bacteria navigate the complex environments they encounter in nature?
- How does global spatio-temporal organisation emerge from single particle dynamics in active matter systems?
- What is the role of individuality in population dynamics?