Dr. Aaron Ratschow

Aaron Ratschow earned a master’s degree in process engineering, a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the Technical University of Darmstadt. He worked for two years at Bayer AG in Leverkusen, where he was responsible for mathematical modeling and a research project in the field of electrohydrodynamics. 
He then earned his Ph.D. at the Technical University of Darmstadt under Prof. Steffen Hardt, focusing on the simulation and analytical modeling of electrokinetic phenomena across various length scales. He was awarded the TU Darmstadt Dissertation Prize.
After completing his doctorate in 2024, he joined the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in early 2025 as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Hans-Jürgen Butt, where he studied the spontaneous charging of sliding droplets. Since early 2026, he has led the “Liquid Electrolytes at Interfaces” group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research.

Research Interests

In his research, Aaron Ratschow combines insights from experiments, simulations, and theory to develop predictive analytical models with the broadest possible applicability. In the areas of simulation and theory, he specializes in continuum and field equations for fluid mechanics, electrostatics, and electrokinetics. 
He focuses on slide electrification, dynamic droplet wetting, electric double layers, and transport in nanopores.