Petra Schwille

Prof. Petra Schwille is Director of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biophysics at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (since 2012) and Honorary Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. Her work bridges biophysics, synthetic biology, and origins-of-life research, focusing on minimal cellular systems and membrane-mediated processes.

Education:

• PhD in Physics (1996) from Braunschweig University of Technology
• Doctoral research at Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry (1993-1996)
• Postdoc studies at Cornell University (1997-1999) and Max Planck Institute (1996-1997)
• Undergraduate studies in Physics and Philosophy at Universities of Stuttgart/Göttingen (1987-1993)

Research Interests: Schwille pioneers synthetic cell design, reconstituting cellular components like cytoskeletal systems and division machinery. Her lab develops novel techniques including:

• Membrane model systems (GUVs, liposomes)
• Optogenetic tools for membrane manipulation
• Single-molecule fluorescence methods (FCS, DNA-PAINT)
• Protocell assembly and self-organization

Key topics include protein phase separation, synthetic cell division, and prebiotic chemistry.

Awards & Grants: Over 20 major awards including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (2010) and federal honors. Active in European research networks and MaxSynBio initiatives.

Labs/Teams: Leads a 30+ member group focusing on:

• Biophysics of membrane processes
• Optical single-molecule methods
• Protein reconstitution in synthetic cells