Martin Girard

Martin Girard serves as Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research since 2022. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Applied Sciences in Engineering Physics from Polytechnique Montréal, followed by a Ph.D. from Northwestern University (2018) under Prof. Monica Olvera de la Cruz.

His research investigates biological systems through statistical mechanics, focusing on molecular-level phenomena in lipid membranes and disordered proteins. Key interests include hierarchical cellular organization, phase behavior dynamics, and connections to neurodegenerative diseases. The group studies lattice-based mixing models, multicomponent membranes, protein-lipid interactions, and protein phase separation to understand how cellular compartmentalization relates to dysfunction.

Dr. Girard received the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for biophysics research after completing his doctorate. He joined the institute as a postdoctoral researcher in 2018 before establishing his independent Biophysics Group in 2022. His work addresses fundamental differences between biological systems and conventional thermodynamics due to cellular component complexity and finite size constraints.