1997-01  Habilitation
1990-94  PhD
1989-90  Civil cervice
1987-89  Diploma
1983-87  Study of Physics
1983  Abitur
1964  Birth in Erlangen

2005-now:   Privatdozent at Biophysics Group, University of Erlangen:

Statistical Methods for random walks, Network reconstruction from confocal image stacks, Individual and collective cell migration, Cell mechanics, Mechanics of random biopolymer networks, Biochemical reaction networks, Strain- and stress-field reconstruction, Animal Tracking, Application of Machine Learning methods to biophysical data, Neurophysics.

2001-04:   Principal Investigator of independent research group, University of Erlangen:

Collective many-particle effects, Coherent Control, Relaxation Dynamics, Coupled nonlinear oscillators.

2000-01:   Guest Scientist at University of California, Santa Barbara:

Many-particle effects in quantum dot molecules, Strain-induced localization of quantum states, Band-coupling effects, Coherent control.

1998:  Guest Scientist at Institute for Materials Science in Electrical Engineering, University of Bochum:

Selfconsistent theory of electron states in compensation doped quantum wire systems.

1995-96:  Guest Scientist at Quantum Microstructures Devices Laboratory, RCAST, University of Tokyo:

Exciton localization by surface roughness, Density dependent intersubband spectra in quantum wells, Potential fluctuations and Capacity spectra in quantum dot arrays.

1994-95:  Postdoctoral Researcher at Institute of Technical Physics, University of Erlangen:

Donor-acceptor pair luminescence and localized states in modulation doped 2D systems.

o  DFG grant for Principal Investigator position in Fabry Lab.
o  DFG grant for Habilitation in US and Germany.
o  Humboldt Foundation’s Feodor-Lynen grant for research in US.
o  DFG grant for postdoctoral research in Japan.
o  PhD with first rate honors.
o  Diploma with rates 1.0 in Experimental, Theoretical, and Applied Physics.

Lecture series: Link to lecture scripts
Complex Systems (Critical phenomena, networks, evolutionary dynamics, reaction systems, traffic dynamics, socio/econo-physics, discrete and continuous dynamical systems, self-organization, game theory, information, neurophysics, machine learning)

Basic Courses:
Introduction to Physics (Up to 400 students; Responsible for exercises and exames; Covering all fields of physics; Self-developed course material)

Special lectures:
Impurities in semiconductors, Concepts of modern semiconductor physics, Coherent dynamics in semiconductor structures, Hot topics in modern science, Computational physics, Introduction to theoretical biophysics

Programming:
C++, Python

Languages:
German and English (fluid), Japanese (rudimental)

Music:
Piano, Keyboards, Jazz-Improvisation, Composition

Sports:
Windsurfing, Karate, Aikido, Fitness and strength training

Other:
Reading, Meditation, Mindfulness, Cooking, Blogging, Minimalism

Private Webpage

Complex systems:
Are there general mechanisms behind the emergence of collective system properties ? How can the key parameters be identified that control the collective behavior in complex, non-linear systems ?

Biophysics:
How can individual and collective cell migration be modeled as a stimulus-response problem, in which the cells continuously react on their changing local micro-environment by adopting their migration behavior accordingly ?

Neurophysics:
How to (automatically) construct a course-grained description of neural networks ? How does (deep) learning work ? How does the statistics of neural connection weights change during network training ? How can the learning rate of neural networks be improved ? What is the structure of the ‘loss function landscape’ in neural networks ?

Statistical Methods:
How to analyze and model systems with time- and space-varying statistics ? How to detect and characterize higher-order, non-linear correlations in complex data ?

Machine Learning and AI:
How can machine learning be applied to scientific problems so that it actually helps to understand the investigated systems ? Can the ‘blind’, gradient-based optimization of model parameters be replaced by a more intelligent, human-like way of model improvement ?

Click here for a complete publication list.

Master’s and PhD thesis:

Jonas	Rietsch	Sleep Stage Classification using Neural Networks
Verena	Dietrich	Impact of three-node motifs on the dynamics of neural networks
Marc	Schuster	Synaptic Weight Statistics controls Dynamics in Artificial Neural Networks
Wolfgang	Billenstein	Inferring network structure from spike trains and the dynamics of learning
Nico	Wunderling	Dependence of cell migration and proliferation on cell density
Julian	Uebelacker	Bayesian inference and quantitative prediction of collective behaviour in planar cell colonies
Andreas	Rowald	The role of the noradrenergic pathway in restoration of locomotion after spinal cord injury
Tobias	Denzler	Structure dependent translocation of polypeptide chains
Christian	Schuetz	Biologically plausible neuronal feedback-loop for adaptive stochastic resonance
Florian	Martin	Simulation of Planar Cell Colony Growth
Arne	Monsees	Simulation of Force Transmission in Filamentous Polymer Networks
Christoph	Mark	Statistical analysis of heterogeneous cell migration
Patrick	Krauss	Modelling of emergent behavior in single and collective tumor cell dynamics
Kai	Skodzek	Lokale Eigenschaften von Kollagen
Janina	Lange	Collective migration during the growth of mesenchymal and epithelial cell colonies
Richard	Gerum	Mechanical plasticity of cells
Franz	Stadler	Stochastische Modelle zur Beschreibung der anomalen Bewegungsstatistik migrierender Tumorzellen
Max	Sajitz-Hermstein	Stochastische Modelle fraktionaler Bewegungsvorgaenge im lebenden Zytoskelett
Carina	Raupach	On the spontaneous motion of cytoskeletally bound markers
Arthur	Franz	Evolution geregelter chemischer Netzwerke

Bachelor’s thesis:

Alexandra	Zankl	Analysis of three-node network motifs
Jacob	Szkaradzinski	Autokorrelationszeiten in neuronalen Netzwerken in Abhaengigkeit von Motiven
Barbara	Feulner	Analysis of cell trajectories with Restricted Boltzmann Machines
Andreas	Kronwald	The Cluster Model of Tumor Cell Invasion
Wolfram	Barfuss	Thermal model of penguin huddling dynamics
Andreas	Horlbeck	Zeitreihenanalyse von Zufallsprozessen mit nicht-konstanten Parametern
Richard	Gerum	Modellierung des Huddling-Verhaltens von Pinguinen mittels Multi-Agenten-Simulation
Achim	Schilling	Dynamik des Bindungsverhaltens des Adhaesionsapparates lebender Zellen
Patrick	Krauss	Rekonstruktion dreidimensionaler Fasernetzwerke aus konfokalen Mikroskopaufnahmen
Janina	Lange	Bestimmung der Porengroessenstatistik von Kollagengelen anhand konfokaler Mikroskopaufnahmen
Mykhaylo	Flipenko	Analytische Untersuchung von Zellmigrationsmodellen
Alexander	Heinz	Numerische Analyse der Zellmigration in Kollagengewebe

Shorter projects:

Johannes	Dieplinger	Migration patterns of immune cells in the vicinity of tumor cells – a superstatistical analysis
Torsten	Weber	Einfluss von Rauschen auf die Lern- und Leistungsfähigkeit rekurrenter neuronaler Netzwerke
Kevin	Hoellring	Rekonstruktion geometrischer Objekte aus Bildern durch fehler-basierte Modell-Optimierung
Maximilian	Duell	Modelling the dependence of cell migration on the density of adhesion ligands
Thomas	Kipf	The shear response of visco-elastic fibers with bending stiffness
Michael	Schmidberger	Statistical fluctuations in covalent modification cycles
Anja	Michl	Selfpropelled agents in random potential landscapes
Sebastian	Probst	Collective invasion of cells into complex tissue
Sascha	Maisel	Modelling of cytoskeletal dynamics
Richard	Gerum	Kraftausbreitung im Fasernetzwerk
Mykhaylo	Flipenko	Analytische Untersuchung von Zellmigrationsmodellen
Alexander	Heinz	Numerische Analyse der Zellmigration in Kollagengewebe

Delocalized:
Email: claus.metzner@gmail.com
Mobile: +49 (0)176 444 216 36

University:
ZMPT, Room 02.078
Henkestr. 91
91052 Erlangen
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)9131 852 5615
Fax: +49 (0)9131 852 5601

Private:
Schleifmuehlstr. 6
91054 Erlangen
Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 9131 973037