Schmidt

Christoph F. Schmidt

Hertha Sponer Distinguished Professor of Physics

Education

  • D.R. Technical University of Munich (Germany), 1988

Positions

  • Hertha Sponer Distinguished Professor of Physics
  • Professor of Physics
  • Co-Director of the Duke Materials Initiative
  • Professor of Biomedical Engineering
  • Professor of Biology
  • Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Courses Taught

  • PHYSICS 995: Graduate Training Internship
  • PHYSICS 493: Research Independent Study
  • PHYSICS 415: Biophysics II
  • PHYSICS 174: Introduction to Frontiers of Biophysics
  • BIOLOGY 425: Biophysics II

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Guan, Chonglin, Kengo Nishi, Christian T. Kreis, Oliver Bäumchen, Martin C. Göpfert, and Christoph F. Schmidt. “Myosin II-driven contractions of supporting cap cells promote sensory adaptation of Drosophila proprioceptors.” Current Biology : CB 36, no. 7 (April 2026): 1865-1871.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.02.032.
  • Albarrán, Octavio, Renata Garcés, Giacomo Po, Christoph F. Schmidt, and Jeff D. Eldredge. “Nonlinear continuum description of the E. coli cell wall under high turgor pressure.” Physical Review. E 111, no. 6–1 (June 2025): 064405. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.111.064405.
  • Schmidt, Christoph. “Tension doesn’t always propagate in a biological cell membrane.” Journal Club for Condensed Matter Physics, March 31, 2025. https://doi.org/10.36471/jccm_march_2025_02.
  • Albarrán, Octavio, Renata Garcés, Giacomo Po, Christoph F. Schmidt, and Jeff D. Eldredge. “Nonlinear continuum description of the E. coli cell wall under high turgor pressure.” OpenRxiv, January 22, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.20.633943.
  • Tah, Indrajit, Daniel Haertter, Janice M. Crawford, Daniel P. Kiehart, Christoph F. Schmidt, and Andrea J. Liu. “A minimal vertex model explains how the amnioserosa avoids fluidization during Drosophila dorsal closure.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 122, no. 1 (January 2025): e2322732121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322732121.