We are an interdisciplinary team of physicists, computer scientists, mathematicians and biologists, and our center is a cooperation between the MPI-CBG, the MPI-PKS, and the TUD.

Our joint center between the two MPIs and the TU Dresden has the mission to study integrated biological systems and processes using computational and theoretical approaches in close collaboration with experimentalists. The center consists of computer scientists, engineers, physicists, and mathematicians. In tight cooperation with experimental groups at the nearby MPI-CBG we have and continue to develop a quantitative approach to biology based in part on state of the art microscopy techniques and computer simulations. The MPI-CBG has the research theme "from cells to tissues”. Understanding the principles of cellular and tissue organization requires the study of collective effects. Molecules organize collectively in cells and cells organize collectively in tissues. Our center investigates the principles underlying system behaviors and spatiotemporal processes. For example the question how 10’s of thousands of cells coordinate their behavior in space and time to form tissues of a given form and function. We develop new microscopy techniques and automated image analysis software to obtain quantitative information about molecular components in space and time. We also develop new theoretical and computational approaches and biophysical models to identify key mechanisms underlying biological systems.