Theoretical and Computational Biophysics

Our research aims at an understanding of the physics and function of proteins, protein complexes, and other biomolecular structures at the atomic level. For this purpose, complex computer simulations of the atomistic dynamics are carried out. Read more about our research projects at our RESEARCH website.

Open Positions

We are always looking for highly motivated scientists, possessing a strong background in physics, physical chemistry, mathematics and/or biomolecular simulations. If you are interested in driving research projects forward which are conducted at our department please submit your application documents (including motivation letter, CV, publication list, certificates) preferrably as single PDF file via email to office.theor_comp_biophys@mpinat.mpg.de or follow the instructions in the job announcements.

We are hiring a Hardware Operations Technician
(IT-Systemtechniker*in) to join our department @MPI-NAT in Göttingen.

Please apply!

Our Research Groups

Theoretical and Computational Biophysics

Helmut Grubmüller

Computational Biomolecular Dynamics

Bert de Groot

Mathematical Physics and Stochastic Dynamics (University of Freiburg)

Aljaz Godec

Helmut's scientific writing guidelines

Scientific Writing: The Art of Programming Brains

Struggling with writing your paper draft or thesis? Here’s advice my students found helpful over the years. It’s version 1.0 -- Comments, suggestions, corrections highly appreciated!

Press releases & research news

Research Group of Helmut Grubmüller

- All

Cancer protein p53 observed in action

August 10, 2026

Researchers have visualized, for the first time, how the three-dimensional structure of the cancer protein p53 changes dynamically over time – from super-fast trillionths of a second to microseconds, which are one million times slower. In the fight against cancer, understanding the dynamics of these structures might help develop drugs that target p53.

Research Group of Bert de Groot

- All

Mechanical principle of allostery

July 29, 2025

A research team at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences has discovered a previously unknown mechanism that allows mechanical signals to travel across proteins. The lever-like principle makes allostery physically tangible and opens new perspectives for drug design and synthetic biology.