The aim of my research is to discover what determines the starch patterning in apple fruit, and how the evolution of starch patterns relates to fruit quality changes and variability. A starch pattern contains information on the spatial distribution of an apple’s energy resources. The main research question is: Given an apple’s starch pattern – measured at a particular time point during growth – what can we know about the past fruit life and its future life?In my research theoretical as well as experimental methodologies are used for the analysis of patterns in fruit systems.Specialties: During my doctoral training and postdoctoral fellowship, I had the opportunity to develop research activities in applied, mathematical and computational biology, with special emphasis on applications in food technology, and postharvest biology and technology. My expertise is in the stochastic modelling of biological processes and systems. The central issue in my work, which drives my research activities, is to understand and to model the underlying mechanisms of growth and variability.