New professor at TU Dresden: Molecules in the focus of research!

New professor at TU Dresden: Molecules in the focus of research!

On May 15, 2025, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Rant gave his inaugural lecture at the Technical University of Dresden. The holder of the professorship for physical chemistry, in particular measurement and sensor technology, is concerned with making short-term encounters of molecules visible and their significance for the development of new drugs. The lecture entitled “Sensing Life’s Interactions: From Single Cells to Single Molecules” will take place in Fritz Foerster Building 244 from 4:40 p.m. to 6:10 p.m. and will be held in English. After the event, all participants are invited to a get together to get to know each other better.

Prof. Rant has developed a technology that makes it possible to observe the brief collision of molecules and their exchange of information in real time. Its goal is to improve people's living conditions. He combines elements of biophysics, molecular biology and engineering in his research.

Career path and research interests

Since 2024, Prof. Rant has been Director of the Kurt Schwabe Institute for Sensor Technology and Chief Scientific Officer at Bruker Biosensors. Previously, he led the company Dynamic Biosensors GmbH, which specialized in the development of devices for drug research, for over a decade. Dynamic Biosensors is now part of Bruker Biosensors, which provides instruments and consumables for the analysis of biomolecular interactions on biochips and single cells. The Company's technologies support advances in drug discovery, life sciences research, and cell and gene therapies.

During his career, Prof. Rant was, among other things, head of a nanotechnology research group at the Walter Schottky Institute at the Technical University of Munich and a junior fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study. He studied physics at the TU Graz and received his doctorate in biophysics at the TU Munich in 2005.

Innovative technologies in focus

Bruker Biosensors' technologies used in research include the switchSENSE® platform technology, which enables detailed analysis of molecule-molecule interactions. In addition, the single-cell interaction cytometry (scIC) technology offers real-time measurements of molecules that bind to membrane targets on cells. Another key technology is Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), which analyzes molecular interactions in a high-throughput process. Dynamic Biosensors is headquartered in Munich, Germany, with additional offices in the US, UK, France, Japan and Singapore.

These modern approaches to life science research are also relevant for the interdisciplinary studies in the Integrated Life Sciences master's program, which combines mathematical and biochemical methods. Students learn how to use state-of-the-art techniques to research molecular biological and physical processes. Graduates of this degree program are well prepared for challenges in the areas of structural biology, synthetic biology, biophysics and more.