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Other Groups at ITP

Leon Lettermann

Research Interests

• Physics of Movement in Cellular Level Biological Systems
• Movement Apparatus of Apicomplexan Parasites
• Theory of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems
• Coordinated Tissue Movement in Embryonic Development
• Automated and AI Supplemented Processing of Experimental Data

Short Vita

since June 2022

PhD student at Heidelberg University, Institute for Theoretical Physics under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schwarz

Working on the Movement Apparatus of Malaria Parasites as part of Physics of Parasitism in collaboration with the Frischknecht Lab

March 2020 - Mai 2022

Master of Science in Physics at Göttingen University, Germany

Thesis: "PhysNODE: A Data-Driven Modeling Framework by Means of Neural Ordinary Differential Equations - Applied to Spatio-Temporal Dynamical Systems and 3D Zebrafish Development", under supervison of Prof. Dr. Timo Betz and Prof. Dr. Florentin Wörgötter

October 2015 - March 2020

Bachelor of Science in Physics at Göttingen University, Germany

Thesis: "Dynamical Condensation of QCD Axion Dark Matter during Late Radiation Domination", under supervision of Dr. Erik W. Lentz and Prof. Dr. David J.E. Marsh

October 2015 - April 2019

Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at Göttingen University, Germany

Thesis: "Chen-Ruan Cohomology of Orbifolds", under supervision by Prof. Dr. Thomas Schick

Awards

• 2024: Klaus Arnold Publication Prize by the German Biophysical Society (DGfB), awarded for the paper A geometrical theory of gliding motility based on cell shape and surface flow.

Publications

• A geometrical theory of gliding motility based on cell shape and surface flow
  Leon Lettermann, Falko Ziebert & Ulrich S. Schwarz;
  PNAS 121, 30 (2024).
• Tutorial: a beginner’s guide to building a representative model of dynamical systems using the adjoint method
  Leon Lettermann, Alejandro Jurado, Timo Betz, Florentin Wörgötter & Sebastian Herzog;
  Commun. phys. 7, 128 (2024).

Talks

• Contributed Talk: "Bridging the Gap Between Surface Flows and Motility Patterns of Malaria Sporozoites"
  GRC Biology of Host-Parasite Interactions (Gordon Research Conference), 10.06.2024, Newport, RI, USA
• Contributed Talk: "How cell shape guides gliding motility"
  DPG Spring Meeting of the Condensed Matter Section (SKM), 18.03.2024, Berlin, Germany

Teaching activities

• Winter term 2022/2023, Tutor in Complex Systems for Heidelberg cohort of MPS Matter to Life
• Tutoring of different courses including Experimental Physics I, Mathematics for Physicists III and Statistical Thermodynamics in Göttingen

Address