The Research and Transfer Center for bioactive Matter b-ACTmatter is a joint initiative of the Faculty of Physics and Earth System Sciences and Faculty of Life Sciences. It provides a nucleus for interdigitated expansion of research expertise directly coupled to fast technology transfer of new bioactive and biohybrid materials together with industry partners. Pushing new innovative technologies in this field, the dynamic establishment of systems labs for core technologies to support cocreation projects with industry partners and advanced transfer training and consulting will be the main tasks of b-ACTmatter.
Our Mission
Today’s challenge is to develop new sustainable materials and technologies that help to address global environmental, industrial and health problems. This task is not solved by a single discipline but by interdisciplinary efforts. Our answers to these challenges will strongly depend on our understanding of living systems, their organizing principles, and their ability to construct active functional systems from tiny building blocks. Bioactive matter has sustainability built in. They are energy efficient, they can adapt to new environments and self-reproduce in bottom-up strategies rather than top down procedures.
The transfer of new bioactive systems into application will enable new sustainable technologies to shape future environmental, industrial and medical challenges. Enabling this technology transfer to the market, the mission of b-ACTmatter is to have an impact on regional development and to help solve social challenges of industrial changes in the region and of the global climate change.
Our approaches will be sparked by the developments of new tools and methods such as:
- microscale chemical synthesis, imaging and diagnostics at high temporal resolution
- in situ optical control of active and living, biohybrid and biological materials
- feedback controlled, programmable, AI controlled fluidic processing and nanofacturing
as well as new fundamental insight from the field of biology, physics, biophysics and evolutionary processes.
The b-ACTmatter welcomes companies and researchers to join our vision of future materials that fuse the fundamental properties of living systems with tailored synthetic parts and enabling:
- biofunctional catalytic systems for energy and environment
- medical and environmental screening with biohybrid materials
- smart drug screening and delivery systems based on bioactive components
- functional surfaces for medical applications e.g. implants
- designed functional multicellular assemblies
- new responsive and adaptive biohybrid materials for actuation or soft nanorobotics
Scientific Directorate and Management

Prof. Dr. Tilo Pompe
SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR
Leipzig University
Research and Transfer Center for bioactive Matter b-ACTmatter
Faculty of Life Sciences
Johannisallee 21, 04103 Leipzig
Phone: +49 341 97-36931
E-Mail

Prof. Dr. Frank Cichos
DEPUTY SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR
Leipzig University
Research and Transfer Center for bioactive Matter b-ACTmatter
Faculty of Physics and
Earth Sciences
Linnéstraße 5, 04103 Leipzig
Phone: +49 341 97-32571
E-Mail

Franziska Ullm
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
HEAD OF TRANSFER UNIT
Leipzig University
Research and Transfer Center for bioactive Matter b-ACTmatter
Deutscher Platz 5 (c/o BBZ),
04103 Leipzig
Phone: +49 341 97-31387
E-Mail
Research Groups and Associated Members
Research Groups and System Labs
Associated Members
- Biophysical Chemistry (Institute of Biochemistry)
- Molecular Nanophotonics (Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics)
- Biochemical Cell Technology (Centre for Biotechnology and Biomedicine)
- Biochemistry and Bioorganic Chemistry (Institute of Biochemistry)
- Biophysics and Evolutionary Dynamics (Departments of Physics and Integrative Biology, University of California)
- Molecular Biophysics (Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics)
- Systems Biophysics (Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics)
- Statistical Physics of Evolution (Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics)
Structure of the Centre

Our team
