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Dresden International Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Life Sciences

PhD Winter Selection 2027

currently open – call closes:
15 October 2026 15:00 CEST (GMT+2)

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Biological Making of Materials

Research Training Group 3142 (RTG 3142) brings together biologists, biochemists, biophysicists, materials scientists, mathematicians and computer scientists to understand how living organisms make functional materials. Our scientific focus is on the process of formation: how cells produce and organize molecular building blocks, control their assembly, shape materials across scales, and tune their properties in space and time. The RTG is designed to foster the training of doctoral researchers who seamlessly work across disciplinary boundaries.

How do living organisms build materials such as extracellular matrices, bone, or biosilica with precise structures and properties? Our RTG 3142 addresses this question by combining approaches from the life sciences, materials science, biochemistry, mathematics and computation. We study biological material formation from molecular self-assembly to cell-material interactions and tissue-scale organization.

Our mission is to establish a research and training framework that provides researchers with the scientific knowledge, language and collaborative experience needed to move confidently between disciplines. Insights from our work will contribute to answer fundamental questions in biology and may stimulate future approaches in fields ranging from regenerative medicine and biointerfaces to sustainable materials processing and bioinspired design.

© Mateus lab

Our Motivation

Biological materials are integral parts of living systems. Bone, arthropod cuticle, extracellular matrices and mineralized structures provide organisms with a myriad of functionalities. Their properties emerge from coordinated processes that range from molecular interactions and self-assembly to membrane confinement, cell dynamics and tissue-scale patterning. The RTG 3142 seeks to uncover the mechanisms by which organisms orchestrate these processes. This mechanistic perspective connects materials research directly with questions in cell, developmental and tissue biology.

Understanding how organisms produce materials is a topic of fundamental biological interest. However, this knowledge is also relevant beyond basic biology research. Biological processing strategies may suggest new routes for nature-inspired approaches to materials design that are energy-efficient, sustainable, and aligned with a circular economy.

What is a Research Training Group?

A Research Training Group (Graduiertenkolleg) is a program funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in which a coherent research topic is combined with structured doctoral education. The RTG 3142 integrates research projects that are co-supervised by teams of experienced researchers, and offers a common qualification program and mentoring. The program is linked to the Dresden International Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Life Sciences (DIGS-ILS) and benefits from the excellent research environment at TU Dresden and beyond.