Till Bretschneider’s main research interest is to understand principles of self-organisation in animal cell motion. He uses a combined approach based on computational modelling and quantitative imaging to address problems ranging from the multicellular to the molecular level, such as:

a) How do chemical signals organise the collective motion of cells in developmental processes (Computational models of Dictyostelium morphogenesis)?
b) How does the actin cytoskeleton respond to chemical and mechanical stimuli and how can its spatio-temporal dynamics be quantified (Adaptation of Dictyostelium cells to a uniform upshift of chemoattractant, or reorientation of cells in response to alternating shear flows)?
c) What are the underlying mechanisms for pattern formation of the actin cytoskeleton (Quantitative analysis and computational modelling of actin networks, patches, waves and leading edges)?

To address these questions the development of imaging software for the automated analysis of large cell populations becomes increasingly important. Recently the analysis of high-throughput video-microscopy data has been extended to study temporal profiles of gene expression at the single cell level.

PhD studentships are available from BBSRC/EPSRC funded Systems Biology, MOAC and Complexity Doctoral Training Centres. We are interested in receiving applications from students with a mathematical or physical sciences background, or with a background in biology. To find out more please follow this link.