Vincent Hickl, PhD
Self-organization of bacteria at curved surfaces
![https://www.empa.ch/documents/24600159/0/bacteria_ridges_screenshot.png/619fd980-b501-47d2-95d1-c34a5465532f?t=1714382867000](https://www.empa.ch/documents/24600159/0/bacteria_ridges_screenshot.png/619fd980-b501-47d2-95d1-c34a5465532f?t=1714382867000)
Background and interests
![https://www.empa.ch/documents/24600159/0/Hickl%2C+Vincent_3889.jpg/6025d5e1-3b65-4739-b915-67cd5583ff03?t=1714383623000](https://www.empa.ch/documents/24600159/0/Hickl%2C+Vincent_3889.jpg/6025d5e1-3b65-4739-b915-67cd5583ff03?t=1714383623000)
I’m a biophysicist working as a post-doc at Empa St. Gallen studying bacterial self-organization at complex surfaces. My passion for active matter began at the University of Illinois where I did my PhD in physics in the Juarez Group. There, I investigated how bacterial colonization changes the shape of oil droplets in marine environments. These phenomena have profound implications for the cleanup of oil spills.
Now, I am studying the 3D development of bacterial colonies, and how the orientational order of the bacteria influences the formation of dangerous biofilms. In the long-term, my goal is to inform the development of new antimicrobial strategies, and to better understand how fundamental interactions between living particles underlie their macroscopic organization.
My expertise lies in experimental design for direct and quantitative imaging of life at the microscale. I use microfluidics, state-of-the-art microscopy techniques, and a data-science approach to better understand the physics of life.