Prof. Dr. Ana-Suncana Smith

Institute of Theoretical Physics
Professur für Theoretische Physik (Prof. Dr. Smith)

Raum 03.168
Cauerstraße 3
91058 Erlangen

Publications

Abdelrahman, A., Grelier, M., Smith, A.-S., & Sengupta, K. (2026). Correlations in cadherin-mediated membrane adhesion dynamics: Molecular concentration switch and diffusion dial. Biophysical Journal, 125(12), 3197-3208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2026.04.030
Novkoski, F., Mélard, M., Delens, M., Wéry, F., Noirhomme, M., Pande, J.,... Vandewalle, N. (2026). GRASPion: An open-source, programmable brainbot for active matter research. Review of Scientific Instruments, 97(1). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0303152

Baer, A., Malgaretti, P., Höllring, K., Harting, J., & Smith, A.-S. (2025). Zigzagging diffusion and nonstandard transport in particle-laden nanopores under extreme confinement. Physical Review Research, 7. https://doi.org/10.1103/jjrg-b6rg
Durdyyev, R., Supper, M., Domagala, J.-C., Hantal, G., Kaspereit, M., & Smith, A.-S. (2025). Shape-Selective Separation of Model Analytes in Normal-Phase Liquid Chromatography: A Combined Simulation-Experimental Study. Analytical Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.5c01710
Gayen, R., Vugrin, L., Zhang, Z., Hantal, G., Halasz, I., & Smith, A.-S. (2025). Deciphering Ball Milling Mechanochemistry via Molecular Simulations of Collision-Driven and Liquid-Assisted Reactivity. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202505263
Hilpert, F., Qiu, Y., Lahn, L., Höllring, K., Taccardi, N., Wasserscheid, P.,... Libuda, J. (2025). How the ionic liquid [C2C1Im][OTf] affects the stability of Pt(111) during potential cycling. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5cp00391a
Höllring, K., Vučemilović-Alagić, N., Smith, D.M., & Smith, A.-S. (2025). Temperature-dependent structural evolution from order to disorder in sapphire-supported imidazolium ionic liquid films. Journal of Molecular Liquids. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2025.128602
Kozyrina, A.N., Piskova, T., Semeraro, F., Doolaar, I.C., Prapty, T., Haraszti, T.,... Di Russo, J. (2025). Laminin-defined mechanical status modulates retinal pigment epithelium phagocytosis. EMBO Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44319-025-00475-9
Ziegler, S., Delens, M., Collard, Y., Hubert, M., Vandewalle, N., & Smith, A.-S. (2025). Metachronal coordination as a mesoscale phenomenon. Physics of Fluids, 37(12). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0302427

Collados, C.C., Huber, C., Söllner, J., Grass, J.-P., Inayat, A., Durdyyev, R.,... Thommes, M. (2024). Assessment of Hydrophilicity/Hydrophobicity in Mesoporous Silica by Combining Adsorption, Liquid Intrusion, and Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy. Langmuir. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c03516
Höllring, K., Baer, A., Vučemilović-Alagić, N., Smith, D.M., & Smith, A.-S. (2024). Anisotropic molecular diffusion in confinement II: A model for structurally complex particles applied to transport in thin ionic liquid films. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 657, 272-289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2023.11.137
Höllring, K., Nuić, L., Rogić, L., Kaliman, S., Gehrer, S., Wollnik, C.,... Smith, A.-S. (2024). Capturing the mechanosensitivity of cell proliferation in models of epithelium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 121(45). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2308126121
Lüer, L., Peters, I.M., Smith, A.-S., Dorschky, E., Eskofier, B., Liers-Bergmann, F.,... Brabec, C. (2024). A digital twin to overcome long-time challenges in photovoltaics. Joule, 8, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2023.12.010
Ma, Y., Li, L., & Smith, A.-S. (2024). Substrate topography regulating membrane adhesion mediated by receptor-ligand bonds. Applied Physics Letters, 125(15). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0224078
Zhai, Z., Hantal, G., Cherian, A., Bergen, A., Chu, J., Wick, C.,... Koller, T.M. (2024). Influence of molecular hydrogen on bulk and interfacial properties of three imidazolium-based ionic liquids by experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 72, 1091-1104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.05.249

Abdelrahman, A., Smith, A.-S., & Sengupta, K. (2023). Observing Membrane and Cell Adhesion via Reflection Interference Contrast Microscopy. In (pp. 123-135). Humana Press Inc..
Geyer, D., Ziegler, S., Sukhov, A., Hubert, M., Smith, A.-S., Aouane, O.,... Harting, J. (2023). Lattice Boltzmann Simulations of Two Linear Microswimmers Using the Immersed Boundary Method. Communications in Computational Physics, 33(1), 310-329. https://doi.org/10.4208/cicp.OA-2022-0056
Hilpert, F., Liao, P.-C., Franz, E., Koch, V., Fromm, L., Topraksal, E.,... Libuda, J. (2023). Mechanistic Insight into Solution-Based Atomic Layer Deposition of CuSCN Provided by In Situ and Ex Situ Methods. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 19536–19544. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c16943
Höllring, K., Baer, A., Vučemilović-Alagić, N., Smith, D.M., & Smith, A.-S. (2023). Anisotropic molecular diffusion in confinement I: Transport of small particles in potential and density gradients. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 650, 1930-1940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2023.07.088
Höllring, K., Vurnek, D., Gehrer, S., Dudziak, D., Hubert, M., & Smith, A.-S. (2023). Morphology as indicator of adaptive changes of model tissues in osmotically and chemically changing environments. Biomaterials Advances, 154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioadv.2023.213635
Livraghi, M., Pahi, S., Nowakowski, P., Smith, D.M., Wick, C., & Smith, A.-S. (2023). Block Chemistry for Accurate Modeling of Epoxy Resins. Journal of Physical Chemistry B. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c04724
Nowakowski, P., Stumpf, B.H., Smith, A.-S., & Maciołek, A. (2023). Demixing of homogeneous binary lipid membranes induced by protein inclusions. Physical Review E, 107(5). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.107.054120
Qi, C., Zhang, J., Smith, A.-S., & Li, L. (2023). Stochastic dynamics of substrate non-uniform stiffness affecting molecular adhesion in cell-substrate interface subjected to tensile loading. Journal of Applied Physics, 133(22). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0144595

Baer, A., Malgaretti, P., Kaspereit, M., Harting, J., & Smith, A.-S. (2022). Modelling diffusive transport of particles interacting with slit nanopore walls: The case of fullerenes in toluene filled alumina pores. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 368, 120636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2022.120636
Grötsch, B., Schachtschabel, E., Tripal, P., Schmid, B., Smith, A.-S., Schett, G., & Bozec, A. (2022). Inflammatory activation of the FcγR and IFNγR pathways co-influences the differentiation and activity of osteoclasts. Frontiers in Immunology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.958974
Janeš, J.A., Monzel, C., Schmidt, D., Merkel, R., Seifert, U., Sengupta, K., & Smith, A.-S. (2022). First-Principle Coarse-Graining Framework for Scale-Free Bell-Like Association and Dissociation Rates in Thermal and Active Systems. Physical Review X, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.12.031030
Koch, V., Charvot, J., Cao, Y., Hartmann, C., Wilks, R.G., Kundrata, I.,... Bachmann, J. (2022). Sb2Se3Thin-Film Growth by Solution Atomic Layer Deposition. Chemistry of Materials. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c01550
Seidl, V., Bosch, M., Paap, U., Livraghi, M., Zhai, Z., Wick, C.,... Meyer, K. (2022). Bis-polyethylene glycol-functionalized imidazolium ionic liquids: A multi-method approach towards bulk and surface properties. Journal of Ionic Liquids, 2, 100041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jil.2022.100041
Wick, C., Topraksal, E., Smith, D.M., & Smith, A.-S. (2022). Evaluating the predictive character of the method of constrained geometries simulate external force with density functional theory. Forces in Mechanics, 9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.finmec.2022.100143
Wolf, P., Wick, C., Mehler, J., Blaumeiser, D., Schötz, S., Bauer, T.,... Haumann, M. (2022). Improving the Performance of Supported Ionic Liquid Phase Catalysts for the Ultra-Low-Temperature Water Gas Shift Reaction Using Organic Salt Additives. ACS Catalysis, 12(9), 5661-5672. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.1c05979
Ziegler, S., & Smith, A.-S. (2022). Hydrodynamic particle interactions in linear and radial viscosity gradients. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 943. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2022.421

Birang Oskouei, S., Park, H.S., Smith, A.-S., & Steinmann, P. (2021). Atomistic configurational forces in crystalline fracture. Forces in Mechanics, 4, 100044. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.finmec.2021.100044
Birang Oskouei, S., Smith, A.-S., & Steinmann, P. (2021). Configurational Forces in Bond Order Potentials. Proceedings in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 21. https://doi.org/10.1002/pamm.202100160
Birang Oskouei, S., Smith, A.-S., & Steinmann, P. (2021). Phonon-based thermal configurational forces: Definitions and applications in rupture of semiconductors. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2021.108014
Blackwell, R., Hemmerle, A., Baer, A., Späth, M., Peukert, W., Parsons, D.,... Smith, A.-S. (2021). On the control of dispersion interactions between biological membranes and protein coated biointerfaces. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 598, 464-473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2021.02.078
Heger, L., Lühr, J.J., Amon, L., Smith, A.-S., Eissing, N., & Dudziak, D. (2021). Six-Color Confocal Immunofluorescence Microscopy with 4-Laser Lines. In Methods in Molecular Biology. (pp. 21-30). Humana Press Inc..
Hubert, M., Trosman, O., Collard, Y., Sukhov, A., Harting, J., Vandewalle, N., & Smith, A.-S. (2021). Scallop Theorem and Swimming at the Mesoscale. Physical Review Letters, 126(22). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.224501
Kaliman, S., Hubert, M., Wollnik, C., Nuic, L., Vurnek, D., Gehrer, S.,... Smith, A.-S. (2021). Mechanical Regulation of Epithelial Tissue Homeostasis. Physical Review X, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.031029
Li, L., Kamal, M.A., Stumpf, B.H., Thibaudau, F., Sengupta, K., & Smith, A.-S. (2021). Biomechanics as driver of aggregation of tethers in adherent membranes. Soft Matter. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1sm00921d
Li, L., Stumpf, B.H., & Smith, A.-S. (2021). Molecular biomechanics controls protein mixing and segregation in adherent membranes. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22073699
Livraghi, M., Höllring, K., Wick, C., Smith, D.M., & Smith, A.-S. (2021). An Exact Algorithm to Detect the Percolation Transition in Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Cross-Linking Polymer Networks. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00423
Lühr, J., Alex, N., Amon, L., Kraeter, M., Kubankova, M., Sezgin, E.,... Dudziak, D. (2021). Maturation of monocyte-derived DCs leads to increased cellular stiffness, higher membrane fluidity, and changed lipid composition. In EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (pp. 235-235). HOBOKEN: WILEY.
Marion, S., Vucemilovic-Alagic, N., Spadina, M., Radenovic, A., & Smith, A.-S. (2021). From Water Solutions to Ionic Liquids with Solid State Nanopores as a Perspective to Study Transport and Translocation Phenomena. Small. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202100777
Smith, A.-S. (2021). Biomechanical of adhesion - from basic principles to mechanisms of immune cell activity. In EUROPEAN BIOPHYSICS JOURNAL WITH BIOPHYSICS LETTERS (pp. 76-76). NEW YORK: SPRINGER.
Steinmann, P., Smith, A.-S., Birang Oskouei, S., Birang, E., McBride, A., & Javili, A. (2021). Atomistic two-, three- and four-body potentials. Spatial and material settings. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2021.104507
Stumpf, H., Nowakowski, P., Eggeling, C., Maciolek, A., & Smith, A.-S. (2021). Protein induced lipid demixing in homogeneous membranes. Physical Review Research, 3(4). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L042013
Sukhov, A., Hubert, M., Grosjean, G., Trosman, O., Ziegler, S., Collard, Y.,... Harting, J. (2021). Regimes of motion of magnetocapillary swimmers. European Physical Journal E, 44(4). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/s10189-021-00065-2
Toledo, E., Le Saux, G., Edri, A., Li, L., Rosenberg, M., Keidar, Y.,... Schvartzman, M. (2021). Molecular-scale spatio-chemical control of the activating-inhibitory signal integration in NK cells. Science Advances, 7(24). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc1640
Ziegler, S., Scheel, T., Hubert, M., Harting, J., & Smith, A.-S. (2021). Theoretical framework for two-microswimmer hydrodynamic interactions. New Journal of Physics, 23(7). https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac1141

Blaumeiser, D., Stepic, R., Wolf, P., Wick, C., Haumann, M., Wasserscheid, P.,... Libuda, J. (2020). Cu carbonyls enhance the performance of Ru-based SILP water-gas shift catalysts: a combined in situ DRIFTS and DFT study. Catalysis: Science and Technology, 10(1), 252-262. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9cy01852b
Grebnev, G., Cvitkovic, M., Fritz, C., Cai, G., Smith, A.-S., & Kost, B. (2020). Quantitative Structural Organization of Bulk Apical Membrane Traffic in Pollen Tubes. Plant Physiology, 183(4), 1559-1585. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.20.00380
Kulyk, N., Berger, D., Smith, A.-S., & Harting, J. (2020). Catalytic flow with a coupled finite difference — Lattice Boltzmann scheme. Computer Physics Communications, 256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2020.107443
Luhr, J.J., Alex, N., Amon, L., Krater, M., Kubankova, M., Sezgin, E.,... Guck, J. (2020). Maturation of Monocyte-Derived DCs Leads to Increased Cellular Stiffness, Higher Membrane Fluidity, and Changed Lipid Composition. Frontiers in Immunology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.590121
Stepic, R., Jurković, L., Klementyeva, K., Ukrainczyk, M., Gredičak, M., Smith, D.M.,... Smith, A.-S. (2020). Adsorption of Aspartate Derivatives to Calcite Surfaces in Aqueous Environment. Crystal Growth and Design, 20(5), 2853-2859. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00061
Stumpf, H., Ambriović-Ristov, A., Radenovic, A., & Smith, A.-S. (2020). Recent Advances and Prospects in the Research of Nascent Adhesions. Frontiers in Physiology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.574371
Vučemilović-Alagić, N., Banhatti, R.D., Stepic, R., Wick, C., Berger, D., Gaimann, M.U.,... Smith, A.-S. (2020). Structural characterization of an ionic liquid in bulk and in nano-confined environment using data from MD simulations. Data in Brief, 28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2019.104794

News and Recent Accomplishments

Renate-Wittern-Sterzel-Prize for organizing the DIPHER-22 (Diversity in Physics for the Diversity of Physics – Erlangen) conference. With this award, the university leadership would like to support the DIPHER-22 conference and its extremely important contribution to establishing the topics of gender and diversity at the Faculty of Sciences.
Exploring Digital Twin Applications in Accelerating PV Material Research
23. January 2024
On sunny days, up to 60% of the electricity in Germany is produced by photovoltaics (PV). This is good news…
A Digital Twin to Overcome Long-time Challenges in Photovoltaics
12. January 2024
Lüer L., Peters I.M., Smith A.S., Dorschky E., Eskofier B., Liers-Bergmann F., Franke J., Sjarov M., Brossog M., Guldi D.M.,…
A Digital Twin to overcome long-time challenges in Photovoltaics
12. May 2023
Larry Lüer, Marius Peters, Ana Sunčana Smith, Eva Dorschky, Bjoern M. Eskofier, Frauke Liers, Jörg Franke, Martin Sjarov, Mathias Brossog,…

Prof. Dr. Ana-Suncana Smith

Publications

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

News and Recent Accomplishments