Saric Group
Computational Soft and Living Matter
How do lifeless molecules create living organisms? How can such processes fail, resulting in diseases? At the intersection of soft matter physics, molecular cell biology, and physical chemistry, the Saric group studies physical mechanisms behind non-equilibrium self-organization of biomolecules in healthy and diseased states.
Currently, the group is focused on investigating the physical principles of cellular reshaping and cell division across evolution, and on the formation of pathological protein aggregates in the context of neurodegenerative diseases. Saric group develops computational models rooted in soft matter and statistical physics, which are powerful in traversing scales and investigating collective phenomena. The group closely collaborates with experimental colleagues on a range of systems, from synthetic set-ups to living cells.
Group Leader
Administrative Support
Team
Current Projects
Non-equilibrium protein assembly: from building blocks to biological machines | The evolution of trafficking: from archaea to eukaryotes | Collagen assembly: from molecules to fibrils | How do you build a wall? Mechanistic principles of bacterial division septum building | Cell division and repair by ESCRT-III filaments
Publications
Santana de Freitas Amaral M. 2024. Archaeal membranes: In silico modelling and design. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. View
Weiner E, Berryman E, Frey FF, Solís AG, Leier A, Lago TM, Šarić A, Otegui MS. 2024. Endosomal membrane budding patterns in plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 121(44), e2409407121. View
Hernandez-Armendariz A, Sorichetti V, Hayashi Y, Koskova Z, Brunner A, Ellenberg J, Šarić A, Cuylen-Haering S. 2024. A liquid-like coat mediates chromosome clustering during mitotic exit. Molecular Cell. 84(17), P3254–3270.E9. View
Vanhille-Campos CE, Whitley KD, Radler P, Loose M, Holden S, Šarić A. 2024. Self-organization of mortal filaments and its role in bacterial division ring formation. Nature Physics. View
Garcia-Sacristan C, Gisbert VG, Klein K, Šarić A, Garcia R. 2024. In operando imaging electrostatic-driven disassembly and reassembly of collagen nanostructures. ACS Nano. View
ReX-Link: Anđela Šarić
Career
Since 2023 Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
Since 2023 Honorary Professor of Physics, University College London, UK
2022 – 2023 Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2019 – 2022 Associate Professor of Physics, University College London, UK
2016 – 2019 Junior Group Leader in Physics, University College London, UK
2013 – 2016 HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow and Emmanuel College Junior Research Fellow, University of Cambridge, UK
2013 PhD, Columbia University in New York, USA
Selected Distinctions
2023 Soft Matter Lectureship
2023 Vallee Foundation Fellowship
2022 Biophysical Society Paper of the Year Award
2021 EMBO Young Investigator Award
2018 ERC Starting Grant
2017 Royal Society University Research Fellowship
2013 HFSP Postdoctoral Fellowship
2013 The Hammet outstanding PhD Thesis Award, Columbia University
