[2] Sackmann dedicated a lifetime of research towards probing the living cell with tools of physics, long before biophysics was the mode of the day.

More than 200 publications and several books Literatur von und über Erich Sackmann testify to his contributions to soft matter and biophysics.

Collaborations with theoreticians like Reinhard Lipowsky, Udo Seifert and Robijn Bruinsma have led to seminal works on adhesion of cell mimetic giant vesicles[7] (also called liposomes).

To study cytoskeletal dynamics, his team developed magnetic tweezers capable of exerting very small pulling forces.

With Rudolf Merkel, he published Lehrbuch der Biophysik – a text book on biophysics aimed at students and researchers.