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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

What should the future of condensate research look like? Great to see this new Roadmap for Condensates in Cell Biology, shaped by discussions at KITP and with contributions from our own @ivarhaugerud.bsky.social. Congrats to @zwickergroup.bsky.social and everyone involved! 🎉

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

🚨 New preprint! From protein & RNA condensates to synthetic coacervates and DNA nanostars, vacuoles (dilute pockets inside droplets) show up everywhere. 🫧 We explain when and why they form. 🔬🧫 📄 arxiv.org/abs/2607.25743 w/ @boekhovenlab.bsky.social sky.social @kgoepfrich.bsky.social

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Given the heat these past weeks, we've recently been moving our group meetings outside to profit from nature's natural cooling systems. 🌬️💨

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

@advait-thatte.bsky.social recently got back from the International Soft Matter Conference 2026 (25th -29th May) in Goa, India where he presented a poster on 'Gravitationally induced oscillations of active droplets'. 💧🧪 Many thanks to the organisers! @ismc2026.bsky.social

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Ivar S. Haugerud @ivarhaugerud.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

🎉 Our paper "Harvesting chemical power from cyclic environments" is out in PRR! We show how cyclic environments can drive chemical reactions away from equilibrium to harvest chemical power, possibly kickstarting life's origin? 🧬⚡ w/ @m-pol.bsky.social journals.aps.org/prresearch/a...

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

A big thanks and congratulations to the organisational team for yet another amazing MOM conference. 🔬 Was a great chance to meet so many amazing scientists from all around the world working on the Molecular Origins of Life. 🧬

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Ivar S. Haugerud @ivarhaugerud.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Excited to share our new PRL on excitable active droplets 🎉 We show that droplets maintained far from equilibrium behave as an excitable system and can undergo self-sustained cycles of formation and dissolution 🔥 Link: doi.org/10.1103/g9dh... w/ @m-pol.bsky.social @boekhovenlab.bsky.social

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

@pranayjaiswal.bsky.social @advait-thatte.bsky.social Back from @apsphysics.bsky.social this year. Was a super dynamic and fruitful conference, APS Global Physics Summit being the largest physics research conference in the world, meeting former collaborates and discussing potential collaborations. 👨‍🔬

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Continuing with our yearly tradition of our Physics Faculty Football Tournament at the University of Augsburg last week. Even with many players from the group out from being sick, was still a really fun day for the faculty, and one we always look forward to. ⚽⚛️

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Was a great week at DPG in Dresden this year! Was a pleasure to share our work with several talks and poster sessions, and was super exciting connecting with physicists working on many interesting topics. A big thank you to the @dfg.de @sfp-physique.bsky.social for the organisation this year. 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Was great to be at the International Workshop from the 16 - 20 February, discussing topics that range "From Adaptive to Active Wetting Dynamics". It was an amazing interdisciplinary workshop and a big thank you to all the organisers and the participants for fruitful discussions. @mpipks.bsky.social

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Giacomo Bartolucci (he) @gbart.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Congrats to Dr. @ivarhaugerud.bsky.social who just defended his PhD AND published in PNAS his work studying how droplets influence polymerization of sequences, while, in turn, sequence polymerization affects droplet dynamics! With @m-pol.bsky.social + Dieter Braun www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

We are very proud of Dr. Ivar Haugerud for successfully defending his PhD thesis at the University of Augsburg in December 2025. We wish him all the best in his post-doc position back in Oslo with Prof. Andreas Carlson at the University of Oslo. @uio.no 🥂🍾🎉

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Giacomo Bartolucci (he) @gbart.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Active droplets are fundamental in cell biology and origin of life. With Jonathan Bauermann, @boekhovenlab.bsky.social, Frank Jülicher, and @m-pol.bsky.social, we show that a critical transition influences their size, morphology, ripening and division propensity journals.aps.org/prx/abstract...

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Can prebiotic chemistry harvest energy from cyclic environments? We explore how oscillating reservoirs can drive chemical systems to extract power. Revealing resonance regimes for optimal harvest. 🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2510.10266 @pranayjaiswal.bsky.social, @ivarhaugerud.bsky.social and Hidde D. Vuijk.

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

The CECAM workshop “Multiscale modeling of chemically active mixtures” was a fruitful and stimulating meeting — combining deep discussions, new collaborations, and inspiring science. Thanks to beautiful Lausanne for providing the perfect backdrop! 🇨🇭🏔️ @cecamevents.bsky.social

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

New pre-print with Jacqueline Janssen and Frank Jülicher! We extend the Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner (LSW) theory by matter supply, and find a novel universal law governing coarsening kinetics, valid for any constant matter supply in the interface-resistance-limited regime. 📄: arxiv.org/abs/2510.21552

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

'Liquid shells: A peculiar state': Will be visiting the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation for a Colloquium, discussing the formation of liquid shells using non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Feel free to drop by or join online. 💧🐚 www.ds.mpg.de/events/41316...

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Very much looking forward to the second edition of the ICTP-SAIFR thematic series of schools on biological physics across scales, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. More information and applications: www.ictp-saifr.org/sbpas2026/

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Great days at Frontiers in Nanoscience with @cens-lmu.bsky.social & @crc392molevo.bsky.social! Met new people, reconnected with old collaborators, and enjoyed inspiring talks, posters, and discussions. Hard to beat doing science with a view of Venice from the international university at San Servolo!

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Giacomo Bartolucci (he) @gbart.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Good news in rough times: Our work on generalising Lifshitz-Slyosov-Wagner (LSW) theory to active systems, led by the all-mighty Jonathan Bauermann, is out on PRL!! Special thanks to Christoph Weber @m-pol.bsky.social and Frank Jülicher. doi-org.sire.ub.edu/10.1103/f5x9...

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Zwicker Group @zwickergroup.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Another pre-print from our group see's the light of day! 🎉 This time we how the coarsening of droplets is affected by advection and reactions: arxiv.org/abs/2510.00827 @stefankoestler2025.bsky.social describes our surprising findings in the thread below ⤵️

arxiv.org

Advection selects pattern in multi-stable emulsions of active droplets

Controlling the size of droplets, for example in biological cells, is challenging because large droplets typically outcompete smaller droplets due to surface tension. This coarsening is generally acce...

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Thanks to the @spp2191.bsky.social and @gbmev.bsky.social for the amazing organisation of the "GBM Compact: Focus on Condensate Biology" Conference and the SPP2191 Satellite Meeting. 🧬💧

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Great to see the role of phase separation in the culinary world being recognised. 🧀🍝 A huge congratulations to @gbart.bsky.social and collaborators!

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Looking back on the "Emergence and Self-organisation in Biological Systems" conference last month @esbs2025.bsky.social, celebrating the contributions of Prof. Erwin Frey @physicsoflifelmu.bsky.social to the field (and his birthday 🎂). Was a great conference, catching up with lots of familiar faces.

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Was super fun to host the Michaels Group from ETH for a collaborative visit last week. 🤝 As a coincidental bonus, we celebrated the Autumn Augsburg Plärrer Folkfestival together with lots of laughs, drinks and great discussions. 🍻

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

A sneak peak into our yearly summer group retreat with the Comp. Bio Group of Prof. Nadine Schwierz and the Stat. Physics of Life Group of Prof. Abhinav Sharma in Sion, Switzerland. Was a great chance to spend time in nature, and to share and discuss exciting new collaborations. ☀️⛰️🫕

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WeberLab@McGill @weber-lab.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

David @zwickergroup.bsky.social gives the first tutorial of the biomol25 program @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social, reminding us that phase equilibria and chemical equilibria are coupled by thermodynamics

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WeberLab@McGill @weber-lab.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Shura Grosberg (NYU) gives a fantastic blackboard talk @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social on liquid-liquid phase separation in and out of equilibrium 👨‍🏫

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Job Boekhoven @boekhovenlab.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

How can a cell control the size of its organelles? Excited to share a mechanism to control droplet size we recently found. a 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

"Chemically Active Wetting" is now published! 📖 We explore what happens when wetting meets out of equilibrium binding: Active binding shapes droplets like charges shape electrostatic fields - giving rise to pancake- or mushroom-shaped droplets. 🧪💧 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

@pranayjaiswal.bsky.social just got back from presenting a poster at the @physicsoflifeuk.bsky.social conference in Harrogate, with some great conversations and feedback (and even great weather this time round ☀️). A big thank you to the organisers.

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Was a super fun and competitive day in the Physics Faculty at the University of Augsburg, with the yearly Futsal Institute Cup taking place again. Thanks to everyone who played, contributed and cheerlead. 🎉 👏 Looking forward to next years event! ⚽

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Jerelle Joseph @jerelleaj.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

This summer in beautiful Santa Barbara we will run a 3-day conference on “Biological Physics of Biomolecular Condensates: Bridging Theory and Experiment” June 16 to 18th. Register now: www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/b...

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Ulrich Schwarz @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Registration has started for the conference "Emerging Trends in the Physics of the Cell" in memoriam of Erich Sackmann at TU Munich from October 15-18 2025 www.cpa.tum.de/cpa/conferen...

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Was a great week at the #DPG Spring Meeting in #Regensburg this year! With a lots of great talks and posters from the community. @advait-thatte.bsky.social, Susanne Liese and Christoph spoke about some of the research done in our group. Looking forward to next year's meeting! 🧪🔬

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Isabella Graf @isabellagraf.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

We are organizing a conference for young researchers at the intersection between physics & biology: www.embl.org/about/info/c... @embl.org @events.embl.org @intcha.bsky.social Please consider applying/registering -- the deadline is already in one week!

embl.org

Interdisciplinary challenges in the physics of complexity and life 2025 (IntCha25)

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Lars Hubatsch @larshubatsch.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

1/6 🧪 Preprint-Alert! We looked at how molecules move across phase boundaries, e.g., in liquid droplets, taking into account that chemical potentials inside and outside the boundary can be different! This unites recent work with stuff from the 60s and has cool consequences 👇 shorturl.at/j0U6i

biorxiv.org

Transport kinetics across interfaces between coexisting liquid phases

We investigate the kinetics of material transport across interfaces in phase-separated mixtures. Using non-equilibrium thermodynamics we derive the interfacial kinetics, describing the movement of the...

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Active droplets far from equilibrium can become excitable, enabling excited trajectories upon perturbations and self-sustained cycles of formation and dissolution 🌀 @hiddevuijk.bsky.social @ivarhaugerud.bsky.social Great collab with @boekhovenlab.bsky.social preprint 🔬: arxiv.org/abs/2503.11604

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Was a great poster session at DPG during the BP 14 session in Regensburg. Lots of great projects on bacterial biophysics, computational biophysics, membranes and vesicles, synthetic life-like systems and origin of life, systems and networks biophysics! #DPG

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Job Boekhoven @boekhovenlab.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Check out the video highlight of our recent work! youtube.com/shorts/MCJEb...

youtube.com

It looks like life, but… | Headline Science

YouTube video by American Chemical Society

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Job Boekhoven @boekhovenlab.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

It’s out!😃 2 years ago, I organized a workshop with @WebersGroup and @KGoepfrich on how to build Life. We discussed with leading scientists by day and wrote up our discussions in the eves. The "Roadmap Towards Synthetic Life" is now out in Chem! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

A roadmap toward the synthesis of life

The synthesis of life from non-living matter has captivated and divided scientists for centuries. This bold goal aims at unraveling the fundamental pr…

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Sequence selection via phase separation, see our recent preprint. Great collaboration with the #DieterBraun's group at LMU. arxiv.org/abs/2410.08778

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Retreat of growing Biophysics Theory Groups at the University of Augsburg in Sion (Switzerland) 2024. Hiking, discussing, and cooking!

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Mesoscopic Physics of Life (MPoL) @m-pol.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Our group Mesoscopic Physics of Life is now on BlueSky. Hopefully no more strange and unwanted messages ... 😆

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