Research Themes
The IZ LIST brings together researchers from the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences to investigate fundamental processes of life in space and time. United by a shared interest in the dynamic organizational principles of living systems, we aim to understand, quantify, and model how biological structure and function unfold across different temporal and spatial scales.
A central challenge - and opportunity - lies in defining research questions that resonate across disciplinary boundaries. Through an open and collaborative exchange, we have identified three cross-cutting themes that reflect this shared curiosity and will guide our interdisciplinary efforts going forward. Dive into the themes and see how different perspectives come together to explore life’s complexity.
Temperature
Nothing escapes temperature. From atoms to ecosystems, it shapes molecular motion, enzyme activity, and life’s very essence. Temperature influences how we function, how plants grow - or fail to - and how all organisms adapt to survive thermal challenges. We want to explore temperature across scales - from quantum effects to ecological dynamics. How can we measure and predict temperature changes? Can we even influence them? And how does heat guide or disrupt life’s choreography?
Whole Cell Infrastructure
The more we learn about cells, the more complex they appear. Despite sharing the same genetic material, cells in an organism can look and behave entirely differently. We want to understand what drives that diversity - by mapping the underlying 'infrastructure' of molecular processes, and how pathways that are often studied in isolation are actually connected in the full logic of a living cell.
Stochastic Decision Making
Life is full of uncertainty - but decisions still have to be made. From cells to societies, we explore how systems navigate randomness to make meaningful choices. These choices aren’t hard-wired; they emerge from chance, context, and internal dynamics. By studying decision making across scales - molecules, cells, organisms, and groups - we ask what it truly means to 'decide' - brain or no brain…