Professor in Biophysics, Molecular & Quantum Sensors and Systems

Living Systems Institute,

Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Exeter

Frank Vollmer is Professor in Biophysics at the University of Exeter, UK. He obtained his PhD in `Physics & Biology' from the Rockefeller University in NYC, USA, in 2004. He was Rowland Fellow at Harvard University from 2004 to 2009, Scholar-in-Residence at the Wyss Institute at Harvard in 2010, Group Leader (untenured Associate Professor) at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Germany from 2011-2016 and Instructor in Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School where he directed a satellite laboratory from 2011-2016. Since 2016 he is Professor in Biophysics at the School of Physics, University of Exeter, UK. He received the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in 2017 and in 2021 the Rosalind Franklin Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics (IoP). Since 2021 he is Fellow of the IoP.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=N59pNxIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Lab web site: https://www.vollmerlab.com/

Appointments

2017- 2020 Associate Director (International and Development), Living Systems Institute, Exeter

2016- Professor, University of Exeter, UK

2010-­2016 Associate Professor/Group Leader (W2), Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Germany

2011-­2016 Instructor in Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA

2013--2016 Privatdozent (Lecturer), Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

2009-­2010 Scholar-in-Residence, Wyss Institute, Harvard University, Boston, USA

2004-­2009 Fellow, Rowland Institute at Harvard University, Boston, USA

Qualifications

2013 Venia Legendi (Habilitation) in Physics, Friedrich-Alexander University
Erlangen-Nuremberg
2004 PhD, Physics & Biology, Rockefeller University
New York City, USA
1998 MSc, Biophysical Chemistry, Leibnitz University
Hannover, Germany
1995 BSc, Biochemistry, University of Bayreuth
Germany

Honors and Awards

2021 Fellow Institute of Physics, FInstP, IoP

2021 Rosalind Franklin Medal and Prize, IoP

2018 EPSRC Established Career Fellow

2017 Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award

2011 R01 Grant Award, National Institutes of Health, NIGMS, USA

2010 Max Planck Research Group Award (MPRG)

2004 Rowland Fellowship, Harvard University (www.rowland.harvard.edu)

2000 PhD Fellowship, Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (www.BIFonds.de)

Professional Activities and Work Experience

2011--2017 Associate Editor, Optics Express

2013--2014 Organizer “Micro-cavity Biosensing” Conference in Bad Honnef, Germany

2005--2009 Micro- & Nanofabrication, Center for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard, USA

1992--1993 Medical-Technical Assistant, Katharinen-Hospital Suttgart, Germany

Referee (selected): Science, Nature Photonics, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Materials, Physical Review Letters, Optics Letters, Applied Physics Letters, ACS Nano, Biophysical Journal, Lab on a Chip, Optics Express, Humboldt, DFG, ERC, ISERD

Recent Grant Funding

Research Current Awards

Awarded Date

Project Description

Total Award Value

19 Jan 2021

CoA Physics of Life Molecular Mechanics of Enzymes

£153,089

14 Oct 2020

EPSRC Core Equipment Award 2020 - Sub Award - Exeter Biomaterials Optical Characterisation Suite

£46,816

9 Oct 2020

EPSRC - Exeter Biomaterials Optical Characterisation Suite - EBOC Core Equipment Award 2020/21 - Additional Award

£282,500

8 Oct 2020

EPSRC - Exeter Biomaterials Optical Characterisation Suite - EBOC Core Equipment Award 2020/21

£0

24 Jul 2020

19-BBSRC-NSF/BIO

£543,257

15 Apr 2019

Physics of Life - Mechanobiology of Enzymes

£2,087,000

9 Sep 2018

A Optical Single Molecule Scanner of Protein Motion

£1,571,017

24 Nov 2016

Exploring Nanoscale Dynamics Of Proteins

£125,000

16 Nov 2016

ULTRACHIRAL / H2020 / FET open 2016 / Vollmer

£457,600