Tilman E. Schäffer studied physics in Heidelberg (Germany), Miami (USA), and Santa Barbara (USA). From the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) he obtained a Master’s degree in 1996 and a Ph.D. degree in 1998, based on studies of the biomineralization of abalone nacre. As a postdoc at UCSB, he then researched a mechanism that nature uses to make strong and tough organic adhesives and fibers. In 1999 he became a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, where he investigated dynamic protein-DNA interactions. From 2002 to 2007 he worked at the University of Münster on nanotechnological methods in brain research and completed his Habilitation in physics. In 2007 he became Professor of Applied Physics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He has been a Professor of Physics/Medical Technology at the University of Tübingen since 2011. His research focuses on the mechanics and dynamics of living cells, for whichhe develops and applies methods of scanning probe microscopy.
