#Twisting embryos and multiple #attachment sites in #Drosophila - now both available as #preprints. Proud of @giuliaserafini.bsky.social & @cuencam15.bsky.social, who worked together & established theory collaborations with @lepuslapis.bsky.social & @carldmodes.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de at its best

Join us on July 21 at noon for the next #DGZ #FocusWorkshop on #PhysicsOfTheCell, organized by @lmoeckl.bsky.social and @lepuslapis.bsky.social. Topics include mechanics of reproduction, glycan atlassing, embodied computation in ciliates, and physics of cell division @alisonkickuth.bsky.social

I am honored and excited about the opportunity to lead the Department of Systems Biology at the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at HZDR @casusscience.bsky.social in Görlitz and join as a Professor at BIOTEC/CMCB @biotec-tud.bsky.social. www.casus.science/news-profess...

🏆 Introducing the inaugural Suzanne Eaton Awards for Physics of Life! We're thrilled to announce the 2026 recipients: L. Mahadevan @harvard.edu and Anna Erzberger @embl.org. 👨‍🔬Both scientists will give award lectures on 20. November, more info to follow ➡️Read our announcement here: tud.link/cjm8t2

✨ Meet @dolliemae.bsky.social, our new Group Leader in the Molecular Cell Biology Research Centre. 🧬 Her Group will explore how protein mutations reshape cell behaviour and contribute to human disease, focusing on the nuclear envelope. Read more 👉 humantechnopole.it/en/news/intr...

Introducing Dollie LaJoie - Human Technopole

Dollie LaJoie is a new Research Group Leader at Human Technopole, in the Molecular Cell Biology Research Centre. Her research explores how mutations in proteins can alter cell behaviour and contribute...

humantechnopole.it

ERC Advanced Grant @erc.europa.eu for @mpi-cbg.de director Stephan Grill @grill-lab.bsky.social! 🎉 He receives 2.5 million euros for his project “DNA Sequence-Dependent Structure Formation in the Cell Nucleus.” Congratulations! 🥳 🥳 🥳 www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

ERC Advanced Grant for Stephan Grill

European Research Council funds research project on physical foundation for sequence-guided genome organization with 2.5 million euros

mpi-cbg.de

Otto Hahn Medal for three @mpi-cbg.de researchers: Kristin Böhlig in the group of André Nadler, Alison Kickuth in the group of Jan Brugués @poldresden.bsky.social, Giulio Zucal, from MPI-MiS in Leipzig and now mentored by Türkü Özlüm Çelik and @grill-lab.bsky.social. www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

Our paper on a Hamiltonian description of non-reciprocal interactions is out @natphys.nature.com! With Yubo Shi, Roderich Moessner, and @marinbukov.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social @ub.edu @icreacommunity.bsky.social Check it out, and read more in the thread below! 👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Hamiltonian description of non-reciprocal interactions - Nature Physics

Many active and driven systems exhibit non-reciprocal interactions, making them hard to describe with standard methods. Now a constrained Hamiltonian embedding with auxiliary variables reproduces thes...

nature.com

Ricard Alert Zenón@ricardalert.bsky.social · last yr.

New preprint! Non-reciprocal interactions don’t arise from a potential. Yet, we found a way to encode them in a Hamiltonian, which captures the phase transitions of non-reciprocal systems! With Yubo Shi, Roderich Moessner, and @marinbukov.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social. arxiv.org/pdf/2505.05246

How does a ‘genius without a brain’ make decisions? By trapping #SlimeMold inside polygons made of harmful blue light, a PRX Life study found that these organisms explore nearly the entire boundary before settling on the best escape route. Read the study: https://go.aps.org/4uXE9LZ

Seeking a post-doc for the LaJoie lab at the Human Technopole, Milan, Italy! We are looking for candidates from the fields of biochemistry, cell biology, and proteomics, who are interested in studying protein interactions of the nucleus 🤓 lnkd.in/dTG2CgXF

Pond vibes at the institute.

🤔🧫How do cells within a tissue move/differentiate with such remarkable precision, in the right place and right time? 👨‍🔬The Barriga group @eliasbarrigalab.bsky.social explores the biophysical mechanisms that coordinate morphogenesis in development + regeneration YouTube video👉 youtu.be/vJtpAVkHZzU

Where else but #CISM can one lecture in a hall covered in frescoes?

✨Rare model organisms can teach us how to build a body differently. In snail embryos blastomeres can be as big as the rest of the embryo! 🐌Phrontis vibex blastula stained for tubulin (gray), phalloidin (blue) and histone (magenta). 🔬 #ModelMonday #DevBio 📸: Clemens Cabernard

Congratulations to Gautam Dey (EMBL) and Omaya Dudin (University of Geneva) for being awarded the EMBO Gold Medal 2026 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the #LifeSciences in Europe! 🧪 https://www.embo.org/press-releases/embo-gold-medal-2026-awarded-to-gautam-dey-and-omaya-dudin/

🧰 New tool alert! ⚙️ #MorphoGrad, an open-source toolbox for simulating reaction–diffusion systems in 1D and 2D tissues, with cell-to-cell parameter heterogeneity & graphical user interface. No heavy coding required. Explore complex morphogen gradient models interactively. doi.org/10.1016/j.xp...

MorphoGrad: A MATLAB toolbox for simulating steady-state morphogen gradients under cell-to-cell variability

Studying morphogen gradient-based tissue patterning in silico while accounting for biological variability remains challenging. Here, we present a MATLAB-based protocol for simulating steady-state morp...

cell.com

Just got to Udine, to lecture in the #CISM Advanced School on "Geometry, Growth, and Instability in Soft and Active Systems". This will be a fun week.

How do the physical properties of embryos affect their development? New research from EMBL scientists and collaborators shows that tissue mechanics actively influence developmental signalling – revealing new links between physics and embryogenesis. www.embl.org/news/science...

Adhesion-driven rigidity transition decoupled from density-driven jamming triggers epithelial organization in embryonic tissues www.nature.com/articles/s41... #physics

Adhesion-driven rigidity transition decoupled from density-driven jamming triggers epithelial organization in embryonic tissues - Nature Physics

Tissue phase transitions are key to morphogenesis. Now adhesion-driven rigidification is identified as key to epithelial organization but only if uncoupled from density-driven jamming.

nature.com

Shiheng Zhao, Pierre A. Haas: Stretching and bending of (really) thick elastic plates https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.01889 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.01889 https://arxiv.org/html/2606.01889

New #preprint: "Stretching and bending of (really) thick elastic plates" arxiv.org/abs/2606.01889 Yet another paper from the #PhD work of @zhaoshh.bsky.social and yet another expansion of three-dimensional elasticity for some ε≪1. @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social

Thank you @prelights.bsky.social for this interesting discussion! Our preprint is indeed out 🎉, and we are so happy to talk about it! @paveltomancak.bsky.social @lepuslapis.bsky.social

preLights@prelights.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Friction at the tip keeps the Drosophila germ band straight against innate instabilities. #DevBio Ruoheng Li highlights a #preprint from @giuliaserafini.bsky.social & colleagues @paveltomancak.bsky.social Lab #preLight + an insightful author response 👀⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/e...

Many thanks @prelights.bsky.social for highlighting our recent #preprint, a great collaboration with @paveltomancak.bsky.social! doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.25.714261 Experiments, theory, a mechanical instability, what more could one ask for? @mpi-cbg.de @mpipks.bsky.social @csbdresden.bsky.social

preLights@prelights.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Friction at the tip keeps the Drosophila germ band straight against innate instabilities. #DevBio Ruoheng Li highlights a #preprint from @giuliaserafini.bsky.social & colleagues @paveltomancak.bsky.social Lab #preLight + an insightful author response 👀⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/e...

I am looking for a Post-doc in Oxford to work with me on morphogenesis at the cellular scale, with particular emphasis on growth processes and their mechanical and dynamical consequences. Please circulate my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru... This bristle is created by a single cell! Let's model it.

Check out a student testimonial from the international taught 'Physics of Life' MSc⬇️ Applications are open until 31. May! ✅No tuition fees ✅Taught by leading experts in the field ✅Course entirely in English

TUD | Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering (CMCB)@cmcb-tud.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Join #MSc Physics of Life @tudresden.bsky.social and help shape the future of #Biophysics! Learn from the world-class scientists of the CMCB and @poldresden.bsky.social More about the program ➡️ tud.link/3wz553 Don't miss the testimonials from our graduates ⤵️ #studyinGermany #MastersProgram

New #preprint: "Travelling waves of invasion in microbial communities with phenotypic switching" arxiv.org/abs/2605.10420 (I saw ε and expanded for ε ≪ 1 and a brilliant intern, Diego Manso Anda, realised that there was no need to.) @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social

🚨One week left! Applications for our Postdoctoral Fellows Program will close on 20. May! We offer numerous benefits: ✅ 3-year funded position ✅ Core research funding to cover travel, publishing, and project costs ✅Mentorship from 2+ PoL PIs ..and much more! Apply now: tud.link/y3djda

New #preprint: "Nonlinear isotropic odd elasticity" arxiv.org/abs/2605.02476 More from the #PhD work of @zhaoshh.bsky.social: revealing some of the surprising nonlinear mechanical behaviour of active, "odd" solids. @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social

👩‍🔬Calling all researchers! Are you interested in working on a project at Physics of Life? 🔬Our new Visitors Program will allow scientists to visit PoL for up to 6 months to pursue an interdisciplinary project, with their travel and accommodation covered. Learn more here and apply: tud.link/nasaw5

A fantastic #postdoc opportunity to join us in Dresden @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social or to join @biohub.org. Apply by the 20th of May!

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics@mpi-cbg.de · 3mo ago

Biohub @biohub.org and @maxplanck.de, represented by @mpi-cbg.de and @mpipks.bsky.social, invite applications for the Global Science Scholars program, a three year international postdoctoral fellowship program between the U.S. and Germany. www.czbiohub.org/program-mpi-...