PD Dr. habil. Maximilian Schäfer

Chair of Digital Communications

Research associates

Address

Cauerstraße 7-9 91058 Erlangen

Contact

Email: max.schaefer@fau.de

Molecular Communications, Signal Processing, Dynamic Systems Modeling

Maximilian Schäfer (IEEE Senior Member) received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany in 2019. Currently he is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Digital Communications at FAU. His research is focused on multidimensional systems theory and signal processing with applications in the modelling, design and analysis of molecular communication systems, as well as audio signal processing. Since 2023, his work has also expanded to the development of experimental molecular communication systems. Maximilian has given several invited talks and tutorials on the modelling of molecular communication systems and the Internet of BioNanoThings, including a tutorial at the IEEE Global Communications Conference in 2024. In 2022, he received a 4-year fellowship from the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Art for his research on the Internet of BioNanoThings, and in 2024 he received funding from the European Innovation Council for a highly competitive Pathfinder project on synthetic molecular communications as part of an interdisciplinary and international consortium. He also received multiple Best Paper Awards including two from the ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication in 2022 and 2024. He serves as a Steering Committee Member of the Workshop on Molecular Communications, as Secretary of the Technical Working Group "Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications” of the IEEE Communications Society, and as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications. Since 2025, Maximilian is a member of the Young Academy (“Die Junge Akademie”), an interdisciplinary academy of young scientists supported by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

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Seminar Ausgewählte Kapitel der Nachrichtentechnik

Seminar über Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten

2026

Jakumeit T., Heinlein B., Tuccitto N., Schober R., Lotter S., Schäfer M.:
Mixture of Inverse Gaussians for Hemodynamic Transport (MIGHT) in Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Vascular Networks
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications 12 (2026), p. 839 - 857
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2026.3719307
BibTeX: Download

2025

Brand L., Vakilipoor Takaloo F., Botsch S., Jakumeit T., Lotter S., Schober R., Schäfer M.:
Closed-Loop Molecular Communication with Local and Global Degradation: Modeling and ISI Analysis
NANOCOM '25: 12th Annual ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication (Chengdu, October 2025 - October 2025)
In: NANOCOM '25: Proceedings of the 12th Annual ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication, New York City: 2025
DOI: 10.1145/3760544.3764144
BibTeX: Download
Scherer M., Brand L., Wolf L., tom Dieck T., Schäfer M., Lotter S., Burkovski A., Sticht H., Schober R., Castiglione K.:
Closed-Loop Long-Term Experimental Molecular Communication System
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications (2025)
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2025.3615924
BibTeX: Download
Scherer M., tom Dieck T., Pourtalebi Jahromi L., Schober R., Schäfer M., Castiglione K.:
Quantitative assessment of porin-mediated solute transport in biomimetic membranes
In: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 109 (2025), Article No.: 278
ISSN: 0175-7598
DOI: 10.1007/s00253-025-13666-0
BibTeX: Download
Schottlender M., Schäfer M., Veiga RA.:
Neural Network based Distance Estimation for Branched Molecular Communication Systems
12th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication, NanoCom 2025 (Chengdu, CHN, October 2025 - October 2025)
In: NanoCom 2025 - Proceedings of the 12th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication 2025
DOI: 10.1145/3760544.3764128
BibTeX: Download
Vakilipoor F., Ettner-Sitter A., Brand L., Lotter S., Aung T., Harteis S., Schober R., Schäfer M.:
The CAM Model: An in Vivo Testbed for Molecular Communication Systems
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications (2025)
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2025.3601432
BibTeX: Download
Vakilipoor F., Hirschmann N., Schladt J., Schwab S., Reineke A., Schober R., Castiglione K., Schäfer M.:
MC for Agriculture: A Framework for Nature-inspired Sustainable Pest Control
NANOCOM '25: 12th Annual ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication (Chengdu, October 2025 - October 2025)
In: NANOCOM '25: Proceedings of the 12th Annual ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication 2025
DOI: 10.1145/3760544.3764142
BibTeX: Download
tom Dieck T., Brand L., Erbacher L., Wegner D., Lotter S., Castiglione K., Schober R., Schäfer M.:
Practical Transmitters for MC: Functionalized Nanodevices Employing Cooperative Transmembrane Transport Proteins
In: IEEE Transactions on Nanobioscience (2025)
ISSN: 1536-1241
DOI: 10.1109/TNB.2025.3627286
BibTeX: Download

2024

Brand L., Scherer M., tom Dieck T., Lotter S., Schäfer M., Burkovski A., Sticht H., Castiglione K., Schober R.:
Closed Loop Molecular Communication Testbed: Setup, Interference Analysis, and Experimental Results
ICC 2024 - IEEE International Conference on Communications (Denver, CO, June 2024 - June 2024)
In: ICC 2024 - IEEE International Conference on Communications 2024
DOI: 10.1109/ICC51166.2024.10622231
BibTeX: Download
Ettner-Sitter A., Montagner A., Kuenzel J., Brackmann K., Schäfer M., Schober R., Weber F., Aung T., Hackl C., Härteis S.:
Visualization of Vascular Perfusion of Human Pancreatic Cancer Tissue in the CAM Model and Its Impact on Future Personalized Drug Testing
In: Organoids 3 (2024), p. 1-17
ISSN: 2674-1172
DOI: 10.3390/organoids3010001
BibTeX: Download
Heinlein B., Brand L., Egan M., Schäfer M., Schober R., Lotter S.:
Closing the Implementation Gap in MC: Fully Chemical Synchronization and Detection for Cellular Receivers
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications (2024), p. 1-1
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2024.3486190
BibTeX: Download
Schäfer M., Ettner-Sitter A., Brand L., Lotter S., Vakilipoor Takaloo F., Aung T., Härteis S., Schober R.:
The Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A 3D in vivo Testbed for Design and Analysis of MC Systems
NANOCOM '24
In: NANOCOM '24: Proceedings of the 11th Annual ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication 2024
DOI: 10.1145/3686015.3689361
BibTeX: Download
tom Dieck T., Brand L., Lotter S., Castiglione K., Schober R., Schäfer M.:
Nanoscale Transmitters Employing Cooperative Transmembrane Transport Proteins for Molecular Communication
NANOCOM '24
In: NANOCOM '24: Proceedings of the 11th Annual ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication 2024
DOI: 10.1145/3686015.3689354
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2023

Arjmandi H., Awan H., Tran H., Schäfer M., Haselmayr W., Noel A.:
Guest Editorial Introduction to the Special Feature on the 6th Workshop on Molecular Communications
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications 9 (2023), p. 4-7
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3244020
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Brand L., Lotter S., Jamali V., Schober R., Schäfer M.:
Area Rate Efficiency in Multi-Link Molecular Communications
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications (2023), p. 1-1
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3321193
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Brand L., Scherer M., Lotter S., tom Dieck T., Schäfer M., Burkovski A., Sticht H., Castiglione K., Schober R.:
Switchable Signaling Molecules for Media Modulation: Fundamentals, Applications, and Research Directions
In: IEEE Communications Magazine (2023), p. 1-7
ISSN: 0163-6804
DOI: 10.1109/MCOM.021.2300096
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Egan M., Kuscu M., Barros MT., Booth M., Llopis-Lorente A., Magarini M., Martins D., Schäfer M., Stano P.:
Toward Interdisciplinary Synergies in Molecular Communications: Perspectives from Synthetic Biology, Nanotechnology, Communications Engineering and Philosophy of Science
In: Life 13 (2023), p. 208
ISSN: 2075-1729
DOI: 10.3390/life13010208
BibTeX: Download
Heinlein B., Brand L., Egan M., Schäfer M., Schober R., Lotter S.:
Stochastic Chemical Reaction Networks for MAP Detection in Cellular Receivers
10th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication, NANOCOM 2023 (Coventry, September 2023 - September 2023)
In: NanoCom 2023 - Proceedings of the 10th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication 2023
DOI: 10.1145/3576781.3608709
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Lotter S., Bellmann T., Marx S., Wesinger M., Brand L., Schäfer M., Fischer D., Schober R.:
Microparticle-Based Controlled Drug Delivery Systems: From Experiments to Statistical Analysis and Design
2023 IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2023 (Kuala Lumpur, December 2023 - December 2023)
In: Proceedings - IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2023
DOI: 10.1109/GLOBECOM54140.2023.10437710
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Lotter S., Brand L., Jamali V., Schäfer M., Loos H., Unterweger H., Greiner S., Kirchner J., Alexiou C., Drummer D., Fischer G., Büttner A., Schober R.:
Experimental Research in Synthetic Molecular Communications - Part I
In: IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine (2023), p. 1-12
ISSN: 1942-7808
DOI: 10.1109/MNANO.2023.3262100
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Lotter S., Brand L., Jamali V., Schäfer M., Loos HM., Unterweger H., Greiner S., Kirchner J., Alexiou C., Drummer D., Fischer G., Büttner A., Schober R.:
Experimental Research in Synthetic Molecular Communications - Part II
In: IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine (2023), p. 1-12
ISSN: 1942-7808
DOI: 10.1109/MNANO.2023.3262377
BibTeX: Download
Rabenstein R., Schäfer M.:
Multidimensional Signals and Systems
Cham: Springer, 2023
ISBN: 9783031265136
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-26514-3
BibTeX: Download
Schäfer M., Prawda K., Rabenstein R., Schlecht SJ.:
Distribution of Modal Damping in Absorptive Shoebox Rooms
2023 IEEE Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics, WASPAA 2023 (New Paltz, NY, October 2023 - October 2023)
In: IEEE Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics 2023
DOI: 10.1109/WASPAA58266.2023.10248145
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2022

Brand L., Garkisch M., Lotter S., Schäfer M., Burkovski A., Sticht H., Castiglione K., Schober R.:
Media Modulation based Molecular Communication
In: IEEE Transactions on Communications (2022), p. 1-1
ISSN: 0090-6778
DOI: 10.1109/TCOMM.2022.3205949
BibTeX: Download
Brand L., Garkisch M., Lotter S., Schäfer M., Castiglione K., Schober R.:
Media Modulation in Molecular Communications
2022 IEEE International Conference on Communications, ICC 2022 (Seoul, May 2022 - May 2022)
In: IEEE International Conference on Communications 2022
DOI: 10.1109/ICC45855.2022.9838662
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Lotter S., Barros MT., Schober R., Schäfer M.:
Signal Reception With Generic Three-State Receptors in Synaptic MC
GLOBECOM 2022 - 2022 IEEE Global Communications Conference (Rio de Janeiro, December 2022 - December 2023)
In: IEEE Global Communications Conference 2022
DOI: 10.1109/GLOBECOM48099.2022.10001154
BibTeX: Download
Lotter S., Schäfer M., Schober R.:
A Chemical Master Equation Model for Synaptic Molecular Communication
IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (IEEE WCNC) (Austin, TX)
In: 2022 IEEE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING CONFERENCE (WCNC), NEW YORK: 2022
DOI: 10.1109/WCNC51071.2022.9771866
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Lotter S., Schäfer M., Schober R.:
Molecular Noise In Synaptic Communication
In: IEEE Transactions on Nanobioscience (2022), p. 1-1
ISSN: 1536-1241
DOI: 10.1109/TNB.2022.3183692
BibTeX: Download
Parker J., Schlecht SJ., Rabenstein R., Schäfer M.:
Physical Modeling using Recurrent Neural Networks with Fast Convolutional Layers
25th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DaFX22) (Wien, September 2022 - September 2022)
Open Access: https://dafx2020.mdw.ac.at/proceedings/papers/DAFx20in22_paper_38.pdf
URL: https://dafx2020.mdw.ac.at/proceedings/papers/DAFx20in22_paper_38.pdf
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Schäfer M., Brand L., Lotter S., Büyükoglu A., Enzenhofer F., Haselmayr W., Castiglione K., Appelhans D., Schober R.:
Controlled Signaling and Transmitter Replenishment for MC with Functionalized Nanoparticles
9th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication (Barcelona, October 2022 - October 2022)
DOI: 10.1145/3558583.3558853
BibTeX: Download
Schäfer M., Salinas Y., Enzenhofer F., Bruggemann O., Martinez-Manez R., Rabenstein R., Schober R., Haselmayr W., Ruderer A.:
Channel Responses for the Molecule Release from Spherical Homogeneous Matrix Carriers
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications (2022), p. 1-1
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2022.3182571
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2021

Haselmayr W., Hyttinen J., Schäfer M., Femminella M., Morris RJ., Lenk K., Noel A., Barros MT.:
Special Issue-Advances in Molecular Communications: Theory, Experiment, and Application
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications 7 (2021), p. 69-72
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2021.3089341
BibTeX: Download
Lotter S., Brand L., Schäfer M., Schober R.:
Statistical Modeling of Airborne Virus Transmission Through Imperfectly Fitted Face Masks
NANOCOM '21, Eight Annual ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication (Virtual Event, September 2021 - September 2021)
DOI: 10.1145/3477206.3477478
BibTeX: Download
Lotter S., Schäfer M., Zeitler J., Schober R.:
Receptor Saturation Modeling for Synaptic DMC
ICC 2021 - IEEE International Conference on Communications (Montreal, QC, July 2021 - July 2021)
DOI: 10.1109/ICC42927.2021.9500809
BibTeX: Download
Lotter S., Schäfer M., Zeitler J., Schober R.:
Saturating Receiver and Receptor Competition in Synaptic DMC: Deterministic and Statistical Signal Models
In: IEEE Transactions on Nanobioscience (2021), p. 1-1
ISSN: 1536-1241
DOI: 10.1109/TNB.2021.3092279
BibTeX: Download
Schäfer M., Salinas Y., Ruderer A., Enzenhofer F., Brueggemann O., Schober R., Haselmayr W.:
Channel Modeling for Drug Carrier Matrices
IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) (Madrid, December 2021 - December 2021)
In: 2021 IEEE GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE (GLOBECOM), NEW YORK: 2021
DOI: 10.1109/GLOBECOM46510.2021.9685477
BibTeX: Download
Schäfer M., Wicke W., Brand L., Rabenstein R., Schober R.:
Transfer Function Models for Cylindrical MC Channels with Diffusion and Laminar Flow
In: IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-Scale Communications (2021), p. 1-1
ISSN: 2372-2061
DOI: 10.1109/TMBMC.2021.3061030
BibTeX: Download

2017

Schäfer M., Rabenstein R.:
A Continuous Frequency Domain Description of Adjustable Boundary Conditions for Multidimensional Transfer Function Models
20th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx-17) (Edinburgh, September 2017 - September 2017)
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Schäfer M., Rabenstein R.:
A Transfer Function Model for 1D Diffusion Processes
10th International Workshop on Multidimensional (nD) Systems (nDS 2017) (Zielona Góra, September 2017 - September 2017)
DOI: 10.1109/NDS.2017.8070620
BibTeX: Download
Schäfer M., Rabenstein R.:
Calculation of the Transformation Kernels for the Functional Transformation Method
10th International Workshop on Multidimensional (nD) Systems (nDS 2017) (Zielona Góra, September 2017 - September 2017)
DOI: 10.1109/NDS.2017.8070610
BibTeX: Download
Schäfer M., Rabenstein R., Strobl C.:
A Multidimensional Transfer Function Model for Frequency Dependent Transmission Lines
2017 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS) (Baltimore, MD, May 2017 - May 2017)
DOI: 10.1109/ISCAS.2017.8050506
URL: http://iscas2017.org/
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Strobl C., Ott L., Kaiser J., Streck M., Nothnagel F., Berger F., Schäfer M., Rabenstein R.:
Resonant Electric Arcs in DC Microgrids with Low System Impedance in the VLF-Band
IEEE Int. Conf. on DC Microgrids (Nürnberg, June 2017 - June 2017)
DOI: 10.1109/ICDCM.2017.8001014
URL: http://www.icdcm.co/
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Strobl C., Schäfer M., Bauer J., Rabenstein R.:
Maschinelles Lernen für Schutzgeräte in DC-Netzen
Albert-Keil-Kontaktseminar (Karlsruhe, October 2017 - October 2017)
In: VDE-Bezirksverein Mittelbaden e.V. (ed.): VDE-Fb. 73: Kontaktverhalten und Schalten, Berlin: 2017
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Strobl C., Schäfer M., Rabenstein R., Ott L., Kaiser J.:
Schutzorgane und -konzepte in Niederspannungs-Gleichstromnetzen – Modellierung von Komponenten, Fehlersituationen und Gesamtsystem
Workshop der ASIM/GI - Fachgruppen STS und GMMS (Ulm, March 2017 - March 2017)
URL: http://studium.hs-ulm.de/de/inst/m/asim/
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2016

Dehner G., Rabenstein R., Schäfer M., Strobl C.:
Analysis of the Quantization Error in Digital Multipliers with Small Wordlength
24th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO) (Budapest, August 2016 - September 2016)
In: European Signal Processing Conf. (EUSIPCO) 2016
DOI: 10.1109/EUSIPCO.2016.7760568
BibTeX: Download
Schäfer M., Frenstátský P., Rabenstein R.:
A Physical String Model with Adjustable Boundary Conditions
19th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx-16) (Brno, September 2016 - September 2016)
In: 19th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx-16), Brno, Czech Republic: 2016
BibTeX: Download
Strobl C., Schäfer M., Rabenstein R.:
An analytical fault model for direct current lines
IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS) (Montreal, May 2016 - May 2016)
In: 2016 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, ISCAS 2016 2016
DOI: 10.1109/ISCAS.2016.7539004
BibTeX: Download
Strobl C., Schäfer M., Rabenstein R.:
Predictive Circuit Protection for DC Grids
28th International Conference on Electrical Contacts (ICEC) (Edinburgh, June 2016 - June 2016)
In: 28th International Conference on Electrical Contacts (ICEC), Edinburgh, UK: 2016
BibTeX: Download

Maximilian Schäfer, Andreas Ettner-Sitter, Sebastian Lotter, Lukas Brand, Fardad Vakilipoor Takaloo, Thiha Aung, Silke Härteis, Robert Schober: Best Paper Award (11th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication, Milan, Italy) – 2024
Julian Parker, Sebastian Schlecht, Rudolf Rabenstein, Maximilian Schäfer: 3rd Best Paper Award (25th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx20in22)) – 2022
Maximilian Schäfer, Sebastian Lotter, Lukas Brand, Atakan Büyükoglu, Franz Enzenhofer, Werner Haselmayr, Kathrin Castiglione, Dietmar Appelhans, Robert Schober: Best Paper Award (9th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communications (NanoCom22)) – 2022
Maximilian Schäfer: Lehrevaluation - Bestenliste – 2020

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