Jonas Hartmann

Background

About Jonas Hartmann

I'm a systems biologist combining experiments, theory and computation to study cellular and developmental systems. Currently, I work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Mayor lab at University College London, where I investigate the interplay of cell behavior and mechanics with cell fate decisions. I use the zebrafish neural crest as a model and employ a systems microscopy approach; I do state-of-the-art fluorescence microscopy, process and integrate the acquired images computationally, and use data science techniques to analyze the resulting datasets. More generally, my research interests lie the interface of cell and developmental biology, as I aim to understand how cells - individually and as collectives - achieve sophisticated behaviors such as morphogenesis, migration, patterning, and decision making. I'm pursuing an integrative perspective that explains complex biological systems in three complementary ways: the physical or informational principles that drive them, the molecular or cellular implementation that underlies them, and the evolutionary dynamics that produced them. Besides my research, an important question for me is how we should shape the scientific community of the future. This includes issues such as open science, interdisciplinarity, publishing and funding structures, and education/outreach. On a more personal level, I am fascinated by both practical and theoretical aspects of computer science and by philosophy, in particular the philosophy of science and the philosophy of mind.