Research activities

At the molecular level, we use optical tweezers and single-molecule fluorescence to study how chaperones fold amino-acid chains into functional proteins, and more recently to probe the role of ribosomes and translation.

At the cellular level, we use time-lapse microscopy and image analysis to understand how multi-cellular systems self-organise, with a specific recent interest in organoids.

The group is based at the AMOLF institute in Amsterdam, and is part of the Living Matter initiative. It is headed by Sander Tans, who is also affiliated with Delft University of Technology, and the Kavli institute of Nanoscience.

If you are interested in joining our team, send us an e-mail to s.tans@amolf.nl

See the Tans group website

Group Members

  • Creating life from lifeless biomolecules with AI and lab evolution

    Read more

  • OrganoidNL 2024: Latest advances in organoid research

    On April 12th, the second edition of the OrganoidNL Conference was held at AMOLF. This one-day event united over 160 researchers from the Netherlands and neighboring countries, all passionate about …

    Read more

  • How bacteria cope with randomness

    Bacterial behavior is profoundly influenced by continuous random perturbances in their regulatory pathways. Researchers from institute AMOLF and Utrecht University found a new way by which bacteria cope with these …

    Read more

  • How do stem cells choose their identity?

    Read more

Read more news articles