On July 24, the GMI and IMBA welcomed 120 curious young minds for an all-day KinderUni Day! The day began with an interactive lecture: “Superpower Diversity: Why being different makes you strong.” Liam Dolan, GMI Scientific Director, and Barbara Kraus, IMBA Managing Director, opened the program.

The GMI led a #KinderUni workshop at the @oeaw.bsky.social! Kids explored plant seeds, and the many different methods plants use to disperse them. Through games and hands-on activities, kids experienced how seeds fly, float, shoot, stick, or offer a reward as different ways of getting around.

🎉Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Buendía-Ávila @dbuendia.bsky.social, researcher from the Marí-Ordóñez lab at the GMI, who successfully defended his PhD thesis, titled “Understanding Transposon Silencing in Duckweeds”. @fwf-at.bsky.social @vbcscitraining.bsky.social

Congratulations to Zeynep Begüm Şen, PhD student in the Ma group at the GMI, who received a DOC Fellowship from @oeaw.bsky.social! She aims to understand the phytohormonal regulation of Swede Midge-induced galls using an Arabidopsis thaliana model system. More: www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/detail/n...

Congratulations to Tal Dahan-Meir, postdoc at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social, who received an @fwf-at.bsky.social ESPRIT Grant! She will investigate the genetic basis of Arabidopsis seed size variation & whether it provides an advantage in challenging environments. www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/detail/n...

Thank you to the organizers, attendees, and sponsors for making the 20th Microsymposium on RNA Biology at the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social a success! See highlights below:

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology@imbavienna.bsky.social · last mo.

Thank you for attending the 20th Microsymposium on RNA Biology at the Vienna BioCenter! Three days of talks on small RNAs, from gene silencing to the role these molecules play in development, physiology, and disease.

Women in research have long been overlooked. Now women lead labs at the GMI & IMBA, advancing science and inspiring the next generation. See the @oeaw.bsky.social exhibition 'Discovering Women Researchers' in the GMI/IMBA foyer until 30 June. More: www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/detail/n...

The GMI Communications Team wrapped up an inspiring week at #ECSITE 2026 in Gothenburg, connecting with other science communicators to gain new ideas & practical tools. Trust, elements of play, local connections & collaboration are key for broadening engagement with our science. #scicomm

New study published in Science! Led by @thevirusmc.bsky.social and @plantophagy.bsky.social, former group leader at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social, the researchers set out to understand how autophagy – the cell’s clean-up and recycling system – mediates plant immune response to viral infection.

The 2026 Mendel Early Career Symposium has come to a close! Last week, 100 international researchers gathered at the Vienna BioCenter to share their latest findings, network, and forge collaborations that will accelerate research and training in plant science.

Join the BioOptics team at @gmivienna.bsky.social @imbavienna.bsky.social and @impvienna.bsky.social as a Microscopy Specialist! Follow the link for more information and to apply: www.oeaw.ac.at/imba/career-...

Job Opening: Microscopy Specialist

The BioOptics Core Facility of the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (GMI), Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA), and Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) is seeking...

oeaw.ac.at

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology@imbavienna.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We are hiring! Join the BioOptics team as a Microscopy Specialist with a focus on multiphoton intravital microscopy. Link below.👇

Day 2 of the Mendel Early Career Symposium delivered outstanding science & discussion! Highlights include presentations on Structural Biology and Genetics & Evolutionary Biology, networking during the poster session, and an inspiring keynote lecture by Noah K. Whiteman.

Day 1 of the Mendel Early Career Symposium! 100 international researchers gathered for networking, engaging talks & posters, keynote by @emmanuellebayer.bsky.social, & workshop on ChimeraX/AlphaFold. Thanks to the sponsors for supporting expanding horizons in #PlantBiology. #Mendel_ECR_26

Last month, the GMI welcomed teenage girls for Daughters’ Day - an inspiring day of hands-on science and career exploration.

New paper! The study led by Jierui Zhao and supervised by former GMI group leader @plantophagy.bsky.social is now published at @natplants.nature.com

Yasin Dagdas@plantophagy.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Now online at @natplants.nature.com ‼️ Led by Jierui Zhao, a former PhD student @gmivienna.bsky.social & together w/ @moritznowack.bsky.social lab, we uncover how #autophagy shapes salt stress tolerance and lifespan. www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.nature.com/articles/s41... A short 🧵👇

🎉Congratulations to Dr. Johannes Rötzer, researcher from the Dolan lab at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social, successfully defended his PhD thesis. A recipient of the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social ENABLE Fellowship, he will embark on a 3-month research stay at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya.

New paper! A study from the Dolan lab at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social has just been published in Current Biology. Read the publication titled "Antagonism between blue- and red-light signaling controls thallus flatness in Marchantia polymorpha" here: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Exciting job offer: PhD Program Manager. Lead recruitment, support PhD candidates, and shape doctoral training at a top international life sciences campus. https://ow.ly/3YkN50YAuGM Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Max Perutz Labs Vienna, IMP, Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology

The GMI hosted a hands-on workshop during the Rare Plants Fair at the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna. Visitors of all ages explored how pigments shape plant survival & development. We also launched a new Botanic Quest route & new teaching materials - already played by 400+ people.

Last week, GMI researchers presented "Nature’s Paintbox: Decoding the Colors of Plants" at Austria’s largest outreach event – the Long Night of Research – at the headquarters of the @oeaw.bsky.social, welcoming around 3,500 guests. Thanks to our GMI researchers for an inspiring evening of outreach!

Discover just how colorful the spectrum of plant colors can be! Join the GMI on Friday April 24th at the Austrian Academy of Sciences for the Long Night of Research (Lange Nacht der Forschung). More: langenachtderforschung.at/station/1134

🪴This Friday, April 17th, visit the GMI at Rare Plants Day in the Botanikum at the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna to learn more about the fascinating world of plants. More here: botanischergarten.univie.ac.at/veranstaltun...

📢 Registration deadline extended to April 12, 2026 While poster and talk slots are already full, a few spots remain for conference attendance—don’t miss the chance to network with peers in plant science. 👉Register here: events.vbc.ac.at/gmi_events/m...

New paper! A study from the Berger lab at the GMI of the ÖAW has been published in PLOS Genetics. Read the publication titled “Chromatin state architecture governs transcription factor accessibility across plant genomes” here: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

New paper! A study from the Berger lab at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social has just been published in PLOS Genetics. Read the publication titled "Nucleosome positioning shapes cryptic antisense transcription" here: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

⏰Final Reminder! Talk applications for the Mendel Early Career Symposium close tomorrow, March 13. Join #Mendel_ECR_26 at the GMI, part of the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social, to discuss the latest in plant science and network across career stages. 👉Register here: www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/news-eve...

New preprint! Researchers from the Marí-Ordóñez group at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social studied how genome expansion driven by transposable elements (TEs), or “jumping genes”, is linked to the way plants keep these genomic parasites under control.

Register for the Mendel Early Career Symposium by March 13th to be considered for a talk. Join #Mendel_ECR_26 at the GMI, part of the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social, to discuss the latest in plant science and network with researchers across career stages. Register: www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/news-eve...

It was a pleasure to host Austrian and Czech teachers and students for a second visit to the GMI at the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social campus! During the excursion supported by the EU Interreg Austria-Czech project JOBITY, the group explored career paths in science and visited the startup labs.

The new Vienna BioCenter Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Program (VIP³) is here! We have 8 fully-funded positions for scientists with a PhD in biology, chemistry, physics, bioinformatics etc. The call is open! More information: training.vbc.ac.at/post-docs/vi... #VBCPostDoc