About

Matthias Függer received his MSc and PhD in computer engineering from TU Wien. He has held research positions at TU Wien, at the École Polytechnique, and the Max Planck Institute for Informatics. He is currently a CNRS Research Director at the Formal Methods Laboratory (LMF) at ENS Paris-Saclay, where he leads the Distributed Computing Group and co-leads the Cellular Computing team. His research focuses on the systematic engineering of robust microbial systems, with applications in bioproduction, diagnostics, and medicine.

Abstract

Computing in and with Bacteria

Cells are experts in computing since billions of years: they necessarily need to sense, store, process, and act upon information to survive in changing environments. In this talk, Matthias Függer will give an overview on computation in microbial cells and discuss the challenges of understanding and engineering computation in bacteria. Central aspects are strong stochastic effects and the inherently distributed, dynamic nature of cellular systems. While these properties offer exciting opportunities for applications such as diagnostics and drug design, they also make biological computation difficult to model, predict, and control in principled ways, and the lecture will also highlight recent approaches that aim to bridge this gap.

About Current Trends in Computer Science

This lecture is part of the Current Trends in Computer Science Lecture Series by the TU Wien Informatics Doctoral School, where renowned Guest Professors hold public lectures every semester. If you are studying with us, the lecture series can be credited as an elective course for students of master programs of computer science: 195.072 Current Trends in Computer Science. Additionally, you can join courses held by this year’s Guest Professors of our doctoral colleges and the TU Wien Informatics Doctoral School.

Curious about our other news? Subscribe to our news feed, calendar, or newsletter, or follow us on social media.