Core Facility – BMX Biomechanics Core Facility
The Biomechanics Core Facility offers advanced tools to characterize the mechanical properties of biological and synthetic materials—key to understanding how physical forces shape biological function. We provide standardized, reproducible measurements of elasticity, viscoelasticity, and hardness in soft materials, tissues, and cells. Operating under S2-GMO conditions, the facility supports projects involving genetically modified and potentially infectious systems, with applications ranging from tumor mechanobiology to biomaterial engineering.
Project Request
Our Services are available to:
Everyone from Heidelberg University. If time permits other academic groups can use our services. We also accept work with companies.
The users of the Biomechanics Core Facility will receive training and then work autonomously on the equipment, with support if needed. If time permits, it is also possible to work on your experiment with a Biomechanics Core Facility member or for the Biomechanics Core Facility member to perform experiments for you.
Please familiarize yourself with the Biomechanics Core Facility Agreement, General Core Facilities Terms of Use as well as the General Laboratory Regulations of Heidelberg University
Initiating a Project Request:
To initiate a project, please write a short description of your project to biomechanics@imseam.uni-heidelberg.de.
After the first email, meetings and training will be planned. Following this, training on the device and lab introduction will be performed allowing users to work on their project autonomously. If any questions or issues arise, please get in touch with our facility staff, which will be happy to assist you.
Booking a Device:
We use the following booking system: Clustermarket | Laboratory scheduling system for R&D labs
For the first connection to the Biomechanics lab in clustermarket, please send an email to florine.sessler@imseam.uni-heidelberg.de.
A link will be sent to you for subscription. You will receive the ID and password from the Biomechanics Core Facility member after the training.
Note for all Equipment:
Please use Heibox and the Internet to transfer your results and values to minimize the number of USB sticks connected to local devices.
Services & Equipment
Services
- Standardize reproducible mechanical characterizations of soft (bio)materials, tissues, and cells
- As biomaterials are typically viscoelastic and porous, we particularly aim at integrating methods that allow for the quantification of elastic properties (both in tension and compression), viscoelastic properties, and hardness of materials
- Specific sample preparation methods useful for some of the characterization
This is a S2-GMO-facility: experiment with genetically modified and potentially infectious systems (viruses, parasites).
Equipment
The equipment if the Biomechanics Core Facility is separated into 2 groups. The first one is to measure the properties of the materials, such as elastic properties, viscoelastic properties, and hardness. The second group of devices includes sample preparation methods using cryo-technics.
To standardize reproducible mechanical characterizations of soft (bio)materials, tissues, and cells, the Biomechanics Core Facility is working together with the independant users with good communication to share the knowledge and know-how. It is important to mention and discuss the parameters of the experiment in scientific publications to guarantee reproducibility and comparability.
The Biomechanics Core Facility is taking care of the calibration and other maintenance. If you have any questions about the devices or their accessories, do not hesitate to contact us!
Further Information on our Equipment
Contact
Florine Sessler, M.Sc.
Head of the Biomechanics Core Facility
E-Mail: florine.sessler@uni-heidelberg.de
Phone: +49 6221 54 15718
Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials
Im Neuenheimer Feld 225
69120 Heidelberg
Office: 02.361
Selected publications
Table
Funding Resources
