Dr. Daniel Härtter — Physicist, Data Scientist & AI Engineer

About

I am a physicist working at the interface of artificial intelligence and complex systems. At TECLION, the AI competence center of the Hessian tax administration at Finanzamt Kassel, I develop data-driven AI solutions for the public sector. Part-time, I continue my research as a postdoc at UMG Göttingen. My scientific work combines biophysics and machine learning to understand living systems: stochastic sarcomere dynamics in beating heart cells (eLife), AI-based analysis of sarcomere organization and contractility (SarcAsM), and epithelial tissue morphogenesis through deep-learning microscopy tools (DeepProjection) and physical models of tissue mechanics (PNAS).

Papers

2026
Sarcomere dynamic instability and stochastic heterogeneity drive robust cardiomyocyte contraction
D. Härtter, L. Hauke, T. Driehorst, K. Nishi, W.-H. Zimmermann, C. F. Schmidt

eLife 13, RP97321 · Code
2026
Innervated human cardiac muscle model reveals sympathetic drivers of KCNH2-associated arrhythmias
L. V. Schneider, M. G. Setya, G. Bao, D. Härtter, A. Methi, D. Krüger, et al.

Nature Communications 17, 9404
2026
Blockage of autophagy causes severe skeletal muscle disruption in a mouse model for myofibrillar myopathy 6
K. Filippi, K. Graf-Riesen, M. Kuppusamy, et al., D. Härtter, et al.

Nature Communications 17, 3436
2025
A minimal vertex model explains how the amnioserosa avoids fluidization during Drosophila dorsal closure
I. Tah^†, D. Härtter^†, J. M. Crawford, D. P. Kiehart, C. F. Schmidt, A. J. Liu (†equal contribution)

PNAS 122, e2322732121
2025
SarcAsM: AI-based multiscale analysis of sarcomere organization and contractility in cardiomyocytes
D. Härtter, L. Hauke, T. Driehorst, Y. Long, G. Bao, et al.

bioRxiv · Codesubmitted
2022
DeepProjection: specific and robust projection of complex 2D tissue sheets from 3D microscopy using deep learning
D. Härtter, X. Wang, S. M. Fogerson, N. Ramkumar, J. M. Crawford, K. D. Poss, et al.

Development 149, dev200621 · Code
2018
Porous translucent electrodes enhance current generation from photosynthetic biofilms
T. Wenzel, D. Härtter, P. Bombelli, C. J. Howe, U. Steiner

Nature Communications 9, 1299

Full list on Google Scholar · Thesis: Towards an active matter perspective on sarcomere dynamics in cardiomyocytes (2023)

Open Source

SarcAsM Python package and app for AI-based multiscale analysis of sarcomere structure and contractility
DeepProjection Trainable deep-learning projection of curved tissue sheets from 3D microscopy stacks
bio-image-unet U-Net, U-Net++, and 3D U-Net in PyTorch for bio-image segmentation — the backbone of SarcAsM
SarcomereModel Mesoscopic model of coupled sarcomeres in cardiac muscle, accompanying the eLife paper

Short CV

07/2025 – now
Data Scientist & AI Engineer, TECLION — developing AI solutions for the Hessian tax administration Finanzamt Kassel, Germany
04/2022 – now
Postdoctoral researcher with W.-H. Zimmermann (part-time since 07/2025) Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University Medical Center Göttingen
2019 – 2022
Visiting graduate student with C. F. Schmidt and D. P. Kiehart Department of Physics, Duke University
2018 – 2022
PhD in Biophysics, summa cum laude, with C. F. Schmidt Third Physics Institute, University of Göttingen
2015 – 2017
MSc in Physics, focus on biophysics and complex systems University of Göttingen
2015 – 2016
Visiting researcher with U. Steiner and T. Wenzel Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
2011 – 2014
BSc in Physics RWTH Aachen University

Selected Awards & Fellowships

2025 Postdoc Startup Grant, German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK)
2022 Jan Peter Toennies Doctoral Thesis Award, Faculty of Physics, University of Göttingen
2022 Postdoc Fellowship, Campus Institute Data Science (CIDAS), University of Göttingen
2019 – 2022 Doctoral Scholarship, Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
2012 – 2017 Student Scholarship, Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst