Impact
- 46 % Women
- 70 % International
- 10 PoL Programs
- 21 Scientific Events
- 39 Joint PhD Students and Postdocs
- 34 Collaborative Grants
Our purpose
Discover new paradigms for understanding life and deepen our knowledge of living biological matter
We aim to elucidate the laws of physics that underlie the dynamic spatiotemporal organization of life into molecules, cells and tissues. Our focus is to bring fundamental physics to biology for the purpose of understanding and solving biological questions.
Our research is enabled by merging theory and experiment and driven by a sparkling collaborative atmosphere in Dresden between University and non-University research laboratories.

DFG Cluster of Excellence
Physics of Life is one of 57 DFG Clusters of Excellence in Germany
© Campàs Lab – Rana Amini

Our research: vision & mission
We seek to understand living matter as a self-organizing and active form of soft condensed matter
© PoL / Friedrich Group

The people that make PoL
At PoL we are scientists, technicians, and administrative staff

Join us!
Want to join our community? Find out about open positions and other ways to become a part of PoL!
We are hiring
Research Associate / Postdoc (m/f/x) for AI-supported image analysis (Download PDF)
Application deadline: Apr 25, 2025
Application deadline: May 8, 2025
Programm-Koordination / Program Coordinator (Download PDF – in German)
Application deadline: May 15, 2025
Application deadline: May 31, 2025
April 17, 2025
Metabolism Shapes Life: How Glycolysis Drives Early Embryonic Cell Decisions
››› read articleApril 3, 2025
Rita Mateus Receives Funding to Uncover Crystal Formation Inside Cells
››› read article– , 2025 // Kulturpalast Dresden, Schloßstraße 2, 01067 Dresden
// B CUBE | E73/E74
PoL PhD and Postdoc Seminar
Today’s speaker: Arufi Singh
// B CUBE | E73/E74
PoL PhD and Postdoc Seminar
Today’s speakers: Custódio de Oliveira Nunes and Michael Riedl
Jun –, 2025 // CRTD
Dresden Long Night of Science 2025
Join PoL this year for the Long Night of Science at the CMCB!