The Department of Theoretical Biology uses mathematics and computer simulations to study the dynamics of evolution. Our team is interdisciplinary, with backgrounds ranging from biology, physics, and mathematics to computer science and economics. Our goal is, on the one hand, to model biological systems with a close connection to empirical research, on the other hand we develop the mathematical toolbox of theoretical biology further and aim to generate new conceptual insights. The biological problems we address include the emergence and maintenance of polymorphisms in natural populations, the evolution of cooperation and the evolutionary dynamics of cancer.

The department is organised into the three main themes Cancer Evolution, Metaorganisms, and Population Structure and Game Theory. In addition, the department is hosting four research groups, which independently pursue their own research directions.

Cancer Evolution
 

The accumulation of mutations within the cells of a tissue can be viewed as an evolutionary process. We use mathematical and computational models to gain insights into the dynamics of these processes. In collaboration with clinicians, experimentalists and bioinformaticians, we have so far mostly focussed on blood diseases, but several general insights can be used to construct theoretical models for other systems.

 
 

Metaorganisms
 

Why do individuals from different taxonomic groups and even kingdoms of life interact with each other within a metaorganism in a generally beneficial way and thereby form a unit of selection? This question is one of the most fascinating, unresolved mysteries in current evolutionary biology. We develop mathematical models to understand interactions within the metaorganism in close collaboration with the CRC 1182 Origin and Function of Metaorganisms.

Population Structure
and Game Theory

While the evolution of cooperation is the most popular topic in evolutionary game theory, the game theoretical approach offers much more to evolutionary biology. We are interested in eco-evoluionary dynamics under frequency and density dependent selection, in the evolution of multicellular units, but also in the general role that population structure (in terms of groups, networks or age) plays for evolutionary dynamics.

 

Research Group
Microbial Evolutionary Dynamics

In the Microbial Evolutionary Dynamics group, we use bacterial and phage populations to empirically investigate fundamental evolutionary processes. Our over-arching theme is the evolution and maintenance of genetic structure – how and why particular genetic entities come to exist.

Jenna

Dr. Jenna Gallie

Research Group
Theoretical Models of Eco-evolutionary Dynamics

Evolution proceeding at ecological time scales changes the way we approach traditional evolutionary dynamics. We are interested in understanding the evolutionary change in interactions in the light of the ecology in which they take place.

Chaitanya is now a Professor at the University of Würzburg, but will maintain his group at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology.

Chaitanya

Prof. Dr. Chaitanya Gokhale

Research Group
Stochastic Evolutionary Dynamics

Our research lies at the intersections of evolution with ecology and with medicine. Using mathematical models, we study which factors promote or hamper rapid adaptation to changing environments.

Hildegard

Dr. Hildegard Uecker

Research Group
Dynamics of Microbial Collectives

Microbial ecology often deploys in the context of collectives -- communities, biofilms, multicellular aggregates. We inquire how the properties of such collectives emerge and evolve based on cellular-level mechanisms.

Silvia

Dr. Silvia De Monte

Research Group
Molecular Systems Evolution

Our research aims at understanding the evolution of genomes. By comparing genome sequences from various individuals and/or species, one can gain insights into the process of how and when species are created. We combine modeling approaches and statistical data analysis, as well as lab experiments when possible.

Chaitanya

Prof. Dr. Julien Dutheil

The Team

Arne
Prof. Dr. Arne Traulsen

Director

Jenna
Dr. Jenna Gallie

Group leader

Chaitanya
Prof. Dr. Chaitanya Gokhale

Group leader

Silvia
Dr. Silvia De Monte

Group leader

Hildegard
Dr. Hildegard Uecker

Group leader

Ursula
Prof. Dr. Julien Dutheil

Group leader

Ursula
Ursula Krützfeldt

Secretary

Philipp
Dr. Philipp Altrock

Project Leader

Amanda
Dr. Amanda Azevedo-Lopez

Postdoc

Ernesto
Dr. Ernesto Berríos-Caro

Postdoc (Uecker group)

Gunda
Gunda Dechow-Seligmann

Technician

Ian
Ian Dewan

PhD candidate (Uecker group)

Rasit
Muhammed Rasit Durak

PhD candidate (Dutheil group)

Jannika
Jannika Elfert

PhD candidate (Uecker group)

Gosia
Małgorzata Fic

PhD candidate (Gokhale group)

Stefano
Dr. Stefano Giaimo

Postdoc

Finote
Finote Gijsman

Visiting PhD candidate

Diyar
Diyar Hamidi

Master's student (Dutheil group)

Dana
Dana Lauenroth

PhD candidate (Gokhale group)

Sungbin
Jinyang Liang

PhD candidate (Dutheil group)

Sungbin
Sungbin Lim

PhD candidate (Gallie group)

Sungbin
Dr. Gustav Lindwall

Postdoc

Emil
Dr. Emil Mallmin

Postdoc

Guy
Guy Ngan Wing Yui

PhD candidate (Gallie group)

Dharanish
Dharanish Rajendra

PhD candidate (Gokhale group)

Alejandra
María Alejandra Ramírez

PhD candidate

Saumil
Dr. Saumil Shah

Postdoc

Nikhil
Dr. Nikhil Sharma

Postdoc

Michael
Dr. Michael Sieber

Staff scientist

Román
Fernanda Trancoso

PhD candidate (Dutheil group)

Xiaowen
Qianci Yang

PhD candidate

Alumni

 
 
last known coordinates
Dr. Jordi Arranz
Postdoc
CTO & Co-Founder at Delphika
Gaurav Athreya
Msc student (Gokhale group)
PhD candidate at University of Mainz and University of Groningen (Netherlands)
Dr. Maria Abou Chakra
Postdoc
Postdoc at Donelly Center (Toronto, Canada)
Dr. Philipp Altrock
Phd student, Postdoc
Project Leader at MPI Plön (Department of Theoretical Biology)
Dr. Gökce Ayan
Phd student, Postdoc
Medical writer at Veristat
Dr. Florence Bansept
Postdoc
Group leader at Turing Center for Living Systems, Marseille (France)
Dr. Maria Bargués i Ribera
Phd student, Postdoc
Programme manager at Cambridge Infectious Diseases, University of Cambridge (UK)
Dr. Benedikt Bauer
Phd student, Postdoc
Research Associate at Evotec AG, Hamburg
Dr. Frederic Bertels
Postdoc
Group leader at MPI Plön (Department of Microbial Population Biology)
Dr. Marvin Böttcher
Phd student, Postdoc
Software Engineer at freiheit.com
Dr. Kathrin Büttner
Phd student
Postdoc at Kiel University (Animal Husbandry)
Dr. Silke Bumann
Postdoc
Postdoc at University of Hamburg
Dr. Pete Czuppon
Postdoc
Lecturer, University of Münster
Puneeth Deraje
Intern (Uecker group)
Dr. Guilhem Doulcier
Guest postdoc
Postdoc at Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia)
Mathieu Forget
PhD candidate (De Monte group)
Dr. Julian Garcia
Postdoc
Associate Professor at Monash University (Melbourne, Australia)
Dr. Yuanxiao Gao
Postdoc
Faculty at Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710021, China
Dr. Jelena Grujic
Visiting Phd student
Postdoc Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium (Artificial Intelligence Lab)
Dr. Christian Hilbe
Postdoc
Max Planck Research Group Leader at MPI for Evolutionary Biology, Plön
Dr. Laura Hindersin
Phd student, Postdoc
Senior Clinical Data Scientist at Boehringer Ingelheim, Mainz
Dr. Weini Huang
Phd student, Postdoc
Reader at Queen Mary University (UK) and tenured group leader at Sun Yat-Sen University (China)
Sonja Jäckle
MSc student
PhD student at Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS
Dr. Thijs Janzen
Postdoc
Postdoc & Scientific Programmer at University of Groningen (Netherlands)
Dr. Zahra Khomarbaghi
Phd student                        
Postdoc at The University of Manchester (UK)
Albert Krewinkel
Phd student
Software Engineer at freiheit.com
Dr. Xiang-Yi Li Richter
Phd student
Professor at University of Bern, Switzerland
Ricarda Mißfeldt
MSc student
PhD student at Lübeck University
Marius Möller
MSc student
PhD student at Queen Mary University (London, UK)
Dr. Anuradha Mukherjee
PhD student
Postdoc at University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel
Dr. Pabitra Nandy
Postdoc (Gallie group)
Head of Microbiome Solutions and Bioinformatics at ACARYON GmbH, Berlin
Dr. Christin Nyhoegen
PhD candidate (Uecker group)
Postdoc at Freie Universität Berlin
Dr. Luka Opasic, M.D.
PhD student
Postdoc at Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, USA)
Prof. Dr. Hye Jin Park
Postdoc
Assistant Professor in Physics, Inha University (South Korea)
Dr. Jorge Peña
Postdoc
Assistant Professor (Institute for Advanced Study, Toulouse)
Dr. Yuriy Pichugin
Postdoc
Postdoc at Princeton University (USA)
Saul Pierotti
Intern (Gallie group)
Dr. Nataša Puzović
PhD candidate (Dutheil group)
Dr. Torsten Röhl
Scientific Programmer
Teacher at FSG Preetz
Dr. Michael Raatz
Postdoc
Data Scientist at Sparkassen Rating und Risikosysteme, Berlin
Vanessa Ress
MSc student
PhD Student at University of Hamburg
Dr. Dave Rogers
Postdoc
Staff Scientist at MPI Plön (Department of Microbial Population Biology)
Dr. Mario Santer
PhD candidate
PostDoc at Kiel University
Dr. Hanna Schenk
Phd student
Postdoc at German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Sarah Schoenmakers
MSc student
PhD student at Oldenburg University
Dr. Yixian Song
Postdoc
Data Analytics Developer at Ericsson, Nanjing (China)
Dr. Han The Anh
Visiting Phd student
Professor, Department of Computing, Teesside University (UK)
Shreyansh Umale
Intern
 
Dr. Vandana Venkateswaran
Phd student
Postdoc at University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Dr. Prateek Verma
Postdoc (Gokhale group)
PostDoc at Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
Dr. Benjamin Werner
Phd student, Postdoc
Reader at Barts Cancer Institute (London, UK)
Dr. Román Zapién-Campos
Phd student, Postdoc
Postdoc at University College London (UK)
Prof. Dr. Bin Wu
Postdoc
Associate Professor, School of Sciences, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (China)
Dr. Sedigheh Yagoobi
Postdoc
Xiaowen Zhong
Visiting PhD candidate
Prof. Dr. Da Zhou
Visiting Scientist
Associate Professor, School of Mathematical Sciences, Xiamen University (China)

Opportunities

General advice

We are an interdisciplinary department and people working here have backgrounds ranging from theoretical physics and computer science to biology and medicine. The combination of different skillsets is crucial for the success of our work. A central aspect in this is that applicants are highly motivated to do research in our department. Thus, please let us know in your application why our department seems to be the right place for you and why you are the right person for us! How did you hear about us? Which papers did you read? Did someone inspire you? Tell us about the path that led you to your interest in the department! Do you already have a concrete project in mind that you would like to work on? Or are you interested in the general area? In the end, there must be the right match on both sides - you need to be sure that this is the place to develop your career further and we need to be sure that you will fit in scientifically and as a person!

Formalities

If you apply for a job at the MPI Plön, please send

  1. Your CV, including a publication list and contact details of at least two references.
  2. A letter of motivation why you are interested in joining the department.

How to join the department

There are two tracks to join our department:

  1. If you want to work with Arne Traulsen as a PhD candidate or PostDoc, please inquire directly:
  2. Applicants interested in joining one of the independent departmental research groups instead should directly contact Dr. Jenna Gallie, Prof. Julien Dutheil, Dr. Hildegard Uecker, or Dr. Silvia De Monte.
Chaotic turnover of rare and abundant species in a strongly interacting model community

PNAS
121:e2312822121 (2024)

E. Mallmin, A. Traulsen and S. De Monte
 

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Dynamics in a behavioral-epidemiological model for individual adherence to a nonpharmaceutical intervention

PNAS
120:e2311584120 (2023)

C. M. Saad-Roy and A. Traulsen

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Promoting extinction or minimizing growth? The impact of treatment on trait trajectories in evolving populations

Evolution
77:1408-1421 (2023)

M. Raatz and A. Traulsen

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Categorizing update mechanisms for graph-structured metapopulations

Journal of the Royal Society Interface
20:20220769 (2023)

S. Yagoobi, N. Sharma and A. Traulsen

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Coordinates

August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306 Plön, Germany