The institute is welcoming a new research group leader! Pierre Haas joined the MPI of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics research faculty, the MPI for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPI-PKS), and the Center for Systems Biology Dresden in January. His research group will focus on the mechanics of cells and tissues. In particularly, his group is interested in deriving the continuum theories that represent the rich mechanical behavior of tissues during development and thus allow understanding how robust development is compatible with mechanical constraints and biological variability. While the Haas group’s research is theoretical, the group will work in close collaboration with experimental groups at the MPI-CBG and beyond.

Pierre read mathematics at the University of Cambridge, where he also did his PhD in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. He then held research fellow positions at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, before moving to Dresden as a research group leader. Pierre comments: “I am looking forward to exciting collaborations within the MPI-CBG and the MPI-PKS and to get to know everyone in person, once the COVID-19 restrictions are over.”

Welcome Pierre!