News from the RTG
Congratulations to Dr. Muhammad Abu Baker!
On the 2nd of July, our now former doctoral researcher and BEAM member Muhammad Abu Baker successfully defended his thesis on the topic of „Thermodynamics of Fluorophilicity, Lipophilicity, and Hydrophilicity of Fluorescent Molecules“. We congratulate you on your truly outstanding work. We wish you all the best for your future!
Congratulations to Dr. Virginia-Marie Fischer!
On the 6th of July, our now former doctoral researcher and BEAM member Virginia-Marie Fischer successfully defended her thesis on the topic of „On the way to columnar liquid quasi-crystals-Mathematical modelling and prediction for a targeted synthesis“. We congratulate you on your truly outstanding work. We wish you all the best for your future!
BEAM Get-Together 2026
On June 3, a D-Colloquium & Get-Together took place, bringing together the members of BEAM. After the presentations, they played volleyball, enjoyed a barbecue, and had a lot of fun together.
Current Research
Anna Luisa Upterworth, Tom Erik Steinkopf, Daniel Sebastiani
Front Cover: Molecular Origins of Philicity: How Atomic Interactions Determine Miscibility and Diffusivity (ChemPhysChem 13/2026)
Abstract (click here)
Anna Luisa Upterworth and Daniel Sebastiani
From Atomic Interactions to Molecular Miscibility and Philicity: Deciphering Enthalpic Driving Forces
Abstract (click here)
Sebastian Michler, Christian Schwieger, Florian Arndt Schöffmann, Dariush Hinderberger
Functional thermodynamics govern the ligand binding to human cytosolic transport proteins
Abstract (click here)
Upcoming Events
- CMM 1: How we can use and model symmetry
Event Date: tbd
What are groups, where do they naturally appear? How do we mathematically model symmetry and what does it have to do with groups? Motivation, examples from own research environment? - CMM 2: NMR spectroscopy for biomolecular and materials characterization
Event Date: tbd
This module provides a conceptual and hands-on introduction into the basic principles of NMR spectroscopy, focusing on technical aspects and options beyond simple high-resolution spectra interpretation. - CMM 3: Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS)
Event Date: tbd
Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs) - CMM 4: Applications of EPR in soft matter: from polymers to proteins
Event Date: tbd
tbd - CMM 5: GC MS and LC MS analytics for low and medium throughput
Event Date: tbd
Insides into the usage of mass spectrometry (MS) to analyse enzyme variants to advance biocatalysis for chemical applications. - CMM 6: Molecule Mass Spectrometry
Event Date: tbd
tbd - CMM 7: Computational Chemistry Tutorial
Event Date: tbd
tbd - CMM 8: Fundamentals of Chemical Probe Technologies
Event Date: tbd
The lecture is intended to provide an overview of modern chemical probes as tools in chemical biology. - Workshop: Academic Poster Design
Event Date: 10.08.2026 & 19.08.2026
Academic posters are a useful communication method to present your PhD project, engage people in fruitful discussions and gain new input for your research. - Workshop: Good scientific practice (mandatory, mark your calendar)
Event Date: 27.07.2026
The major objective of the workshop “Good Scientific Practice” is to know and understand the basic rules and values of the responsible conduct of research in all its stages, according to local, national, and international regulations and guidelines. - Workshop: Mastering Presentation Skills and Techniques
Event Date: 20 – 21.07.2026
Goal of this Workshop is the improvement of your presentation skills and techniques in order to make your performance even more convincing. - Workshop: Good Scientific Writing
Event Date: 15. – 16.09.2026
The principles of good scientific writing • cultural differences in how academic papers are written • how to structure research articles • how to build effective paragraphs and sentences • communicating voice and attitude in a text • incorporating narrative into academic texts • abstracts and introductions • punctuation • editing techniques - Workshop: Predator Publishig and AI in Science (mandatory, mark your calendar)
Event Date: 24.09.2026
Predator Publishing + Fake Science: How to Recognize and avoid them AI in the Context of Academic Work (e.g., use in research and the writing process, guidelines from MLU and major publishers/funding agencies, etc.)