Professor Frank Vollmer
Professor
Physics and Astronomy
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
