Curriculum Vitae

Current position

05/2025 - Present
DFG Walter Benjamin Fellow / Postdoctoral Researcher
The University of Queensland, Australia
Alpha Yap Lab - Institute for Molecular Bioscience

Employment and Research Visits

01/2023 - 04/2025
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
The University of Queensland, Australia
Alpha Yap Lab - Institute for Molecular Bioscience

08/2021 - 01/2022
EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant Fellow
Institut Jacques Monod - Université Paris Diderot / CNRS, France
Benoît Ladoux & René-Marc Mège Lab - Cell Adhesion and Mechanics

07/2017 - 08/2018
ERASMUS+ Fellow
Leiden University, The Netherlands
Thomas Schmidt Lab - Leiden Institute of Physics, Faculty of Science

07/2017 - 01/2018
ERASMUS+ Fellow
European Space Agency / European Space Research and Technology Centre, The Netherlands
Mentor: Jack van Loon - Physical Science Instrument Section, Mechatronics & Optics Division, Mechanical Engineering Department, Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality

07/2016 - 12/2016
Student Assistant
B CUBE – Center of Molecular Bioengineering at TU Dresden, Germany
Stefan Diez Group - Biophysics of Single Motor Proteins

08/2015 - 01/2016
Intern
European Space Agency / European Space Research and Technology Centre, The Netherlands
Mentor: Jack van Loon - Biology & Env. Monitoring Science Office, Science Department, Directorate Human Spaceflight & Operations

Education

10/2018 - 12/2022
Ph.D.
Leiden University, The Netherlands
Thomas Schmidt Lab - Leiden Institute of Physics, Faculty of Science
Thesis: Forces and Symmetries in Cells and Tissues

10/2015 - 09/2018
M.Sc. in Physics
Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
Thesis: Influence of Hypergravity on Cell Traction Forces of 3T3 Fibroblasts

Awards & Fellowships

2025
IMB-CCBCD Travel Award

05/2025 - 04/2027 (Awarded: 2024)
DFG (German Research Foundation): Walter Benjamin Fellowship (553948485)
Project: Bridging scales: how mechanotransduction detects topological defects for morphogenesis

2024
Australian Society for Mechanobiology Travel Grant

08/2021 - 01/2022
EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant (9076)
Project: Role of intercellular tension and traction forces in unjamming transitions of epithelial monolayers

02/2018 - 08/2018
ERASMUS+ Traineeship Grant
Project: Influence of hypergravity on cell traction forces of 3T3 fibroblasts

07/2017 - 01/2018
ERASMUS+ Traineeship Grant
Project: Experiments under altered gravity conditions

2015
European Low Gravity Research Association Travel Grant