Peer Fischer

Peer Fischer is an experimental physicist whose work links micro- and nanorobotics with neural-network hardware for AI. He studied physics at Imperial College London, earned a chemistry PhD at Cambridge, and held research posts at Cornell and Harvard before moving to Fraunhofer and Max Planck. His Stuttgart group developed nanorobots and a shape-changing soft microrobot; he won the World Technology Award in 2016 and an ERC Advanced Grant in 2018. He coauthored a low-power optoelectronic neural-network framework in 2024 and received an ERC Synergy Grant for DNA nanomachines in 2025. As of October 2026, he is a Professor of Experimental Physics at Heidelberg University and heads a lab at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research.

Now at: Heidelberg University and Max Planck Society
Born: 1972
Works: 286
Citations: 15,960
h-index: 56
Badges: Rising
Wayfarer

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

1992–2009

Degrees and early research

He earns a BSc in physics at Imperial College London in 1995 and a PhD in chemistry at the University of Cambridge in 1999.
2000–2009

Cornell and Harvard research

From 2000 to 2004, he is a NATO postdoctoral fellow and postdoctoral associate in Cornell's Department of Chemistry and School of Applied & Engineering Physics. From 2004 to 2009, he directs an independent lab at Harvard's Rowland Institute as a Rowland Junior Fellow.
2009–2011

A Fraunhofer photonics lab

He receives a Fraunhofer Attract Award in 2009 and leads its Attract group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques in Freiburg from 2009 to 2011. The award leads him to set up a photonics lab there.
2011–2022

Leading a Max Planck group

In 2011, he moves his lab to the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart and leads the Micro Nano and Molecular Systems group through 2022. From 2013 to 2022, he is a professor of physical chemistry at the University of Stuttgart.
2016

A World Technology Award

He wins the World Technology Award in 2016. His group develops 3D nanofabrication methods and nanorobots, including a reciprocal microswimmer and a soft microrobot that moves by changing its body shape.
2018

An ERC Advanced Grant

He receives an ERC Advanced Grant in 2018.
2022

Moving the lab to Heidelberg

In 2022, he moves his labs to Heidelberg University and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and becomes a professor of experimental physics in Molecular Systems Engineering.
2024–2026

Neural networks and DNA machines

In 2024, he coauthors a low-power multilayer optoelectronic neural-network framework that alternates optical and optoelectronic layers to implement matrix-vector multiplications and rectified linear functions. In 2025, he receives an ERC Synergy Grant to build nanomachines with DNA. As of October 2026, he is a Professor of Experimental Physics at Heidelberg University and heads the independent Micro Nano and Molecular Systems Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research.