Congratulations, Anna Erzberger! The EMBL Group Leader has received the Inaugural Suzanne Eaton ‘Rising Star’ Award for Physics of Life in 2026, presented by @poldresden.bsky.social. Learn more: www.embl.org/news/awards-...

I am thrilled to share my PhD work with @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social @embl.org: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... A fun collaboration with Bernat Corominas-Murtra, Adrián Aguirre-Tamaral, @bart-smeets.bsky.social , Jef Vanghel and Tom Belpaire! Read the story in the comments below ⤵️

First pre-print from the lab, a collaborative effort led by Jess Bourn @bournsupremacy.bsky.social, a fantastic PhD in my group. We resolve a key problem in development + evolution: how do we quantify heterochrony and link temporal variation to phenotype? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I am honoured to have received the Otto Hahn Medal! Thank you Jan @brugueslab.bsky.social, @ursa-ursic.bsky.social, Michael Staddon, @mpi-cbg.de, and @poldresden.bsky.social for your support during this scientific journey!

Our latest: Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation How does a single cell give rise to a tissue with the right cell types in the right proportions? We deconstruct and rebuild a self-organising tissue from first principles A thread🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

How does a relatively simple tube become a complex brain? 🧠 One of the most dramatic transformations in development! We built a framework to map exactly what changes. 🧵 New preprint from my postdoc at @nerurkar.bsky.social lab: doi.org/10.64898/202...

🚨Job alert in theory/math devbio 🚨 I’m currently advertising postdoc positions to join my group. We’re building reaction-diffusion models to understand some of the amazing things embryos can do. We are based in a beautiful part of Scotland! Please share! www.abdn.ac.uk/jobs/vacanci...

Glad to see this out in its final form! www.nature.com/articles/s41... What changed since the preprint? Wonderful experiments disentangling the effect of receptor binding vs tissue porosity on Nodal diffusion, plus one of the smoothest review experiences! Thanks @natcellbio.nature.com & reviewers 🙏

A real computational tour de force by @ericneiva.bsky.social, carried out as Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow in the team, now published in the Journal of Computational Physics: urlr.me/AuzK86 Congratulations, Eric! @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social Grateful to @ec.europa.eu for funding support

Now published. Congrats to Soham and all co-authors! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/.... @embl.org

Our latest work on shape-programmable tissues is out in @science.org. By positioning topological defects in cellular nematics, we encode frustrated 2D force fields that relax into predictable 3D shapes. Collaboration with Marino Arroyo’s lab, led by @pauguillamat.bsky.social at @ibecbarcelona.eu.

Just published in @science.org 🚀 By controlling how cells align, we show that living nematic tissues can be programmed to generate forces and fold into predictable 3D shapes. A new platform for tissue engineering and the design of smart active materials! 🫆 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Congratulations to Vikas Trivedi & collaborators for being awarded the HFSP grant! An international team coordinated by EMBL Barcelona researchers has been awarded $1.5M to study how developing organisms stay on track despite climate-driven temperature instability. www.embl.org/news/awards-...

We are hiring! Come work with us in sunny Barcelona. We are looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to study neuronal degeneration in Alzheimer’s Disease. Please help spread the word, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. ibecbarcelona.eu/postdoctoral...

The @vbcscitraining.bsky.social is looking a PhD Program Manager! Needless to say this is an incredible important position. So please apply if you want to help us find, recruit and train the next generation of scientists! RT appreciated!

Finished your PhD & looking for a Postdoc position? Intrigued by #zebrafish heart morphogenesis? Job available in the @rashmi-priya.bsky.social Lab at @crick.ac.uk (Initial 4 years funding w/ potential for 2 additional years)🐟❤️ More details: crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job... Please share 🧪

We’re looking for a new team member! 🚀 Only 3 more weeks to apply to the fantastic Vienna BioCenter PhD program

Now online! Deciphering mechanical determinants of morphological evolution

Our study on shape diversity in cnidarians is now published. The final version includes extensive new data that substantially extend the original bioRxiv preprint. Congrats to everyone who contributed to this work! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... @embl.org

Planarians also reproduce asexually by fission – pulling their body in two & then regenerating the missing halves. Breaking occurs all over development; see this recent @dev-journal.bsky.social Review from @torres-sanchez.bsky.social, @rashmi-priya.bsky.social & colleagues: doi.org/10.1242/dev....

Are you fascinated by self-organised patterning processes? The brand-new Stuart lab at EMBL Barcelona is looking for a lab manager! Hannah @htstuart.bsky.social is a fantastic scientist and mentor. Building the lab with her will be a lot of fun! embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Bar...

Really interesting article about fracture in developing tissues. For a deep dive into examples across species, you can also check out @rashmi-priya.bsky.social and @torres-sanchez.bsky.social's recent Review in Development @dev-journal.bsky.social ⬇️ journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

“In biology, breaking isn’t always a failure,” said the developmental biologist Rashmi Priya (right). “It’s often a necessary step in building something new.” www.quantamagazine.org/break-it-to-...

We had covered the history of traction force microscopy (TFM) earlier: bsky.app/profile/epim... But what about applying TFM into more physiologically relevant systems, such as those in 3D? I am @barrasa-fano.bsky.social and I'll be your guide through this thread on #3DTractionForceMicroscopy.

Sometimes, the only way to build back up is to let everything fall apart. This is certainly true at the cellular level. www.quantamagazine.org/break-it-to-...

Interested in a PhD in collective cell migration & mechanobiology? I'm looking to support a candidate applying for a fully funded UK/Home PhD. The project studies the biophysics of migrating cells, using force measurements & optogenetics, with collaborators in Japan. #mechanobiology #PhD eb4bm.org

I’m thrilled to share that I will join @gustaveroussy.fr as a Group Leader! Our objective: to understand how mechanochemical feedbacks regulate tumor dynamics and plasticity, with the overarching goal of bridging tissue mechanobiology and tumor pathophysiology using human organoids.

Excited to share our new review in @dev-journal.bsky.social on tissue phase transitions during development! @karengrace12.bsky.social @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social 🔗 doi.org/10.1242/dev....

Our cells are experts at navigating inherently noisy and complicated environments. EMBL researchers are using theoretical physics approaches to uncover fundamental principles behind how cells use complex information to self-organise. www.embl.org/news/science...

We‘re looking for a motivated Master student to join our team! Do you want to optogenetically control metabolic activity to see how metabolism affects patterning and morphogenesis? 💡🧫🧬🔬 Then please apply! #optogenetics #metabolism #devbio #hESCs Please RT. Thank you!🙏

Development builds... But it also breaks! Planarians split to reproduce. Hydra tears open a mouth. Embryos fracture to make cavities. Failure? No. Fracture is essential to development. Our new review on fracture physics and its uses in development: journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Excited to share Alison's @alisonkickuth.bsky.social paper from the lab out in @nature.com this week! We uncovered how a mechanical ratchet mechanism drives cytokinesis in early #zebrafish embryos. Read more in this thread 🧵 and at www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🤩 @poldresden.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de

Interested in the biophysics of organoids? We just published a review in Dev Cell—take a look! dlvr.it/TPyTb8 #Organoids #Biophysics

Empire. Oil. Guyana.

Transitions in development – an interview with Alejandro Torres-Sánchez We caught up with Alejandro @torres-sanchez.bsky.social from @embl.org Barcelona to talk about his path to becoming a group leader, ongoing collaborations and addressing gender imbalance in the lab. doi.org/10.1242/dev....

How does signalling control cortical tension? Using optogenetics and AFM, we show that myosin recruitment and cortical tension increase proportionally with RhoA signalling. More here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Super work by Pierre Bohec with Guillaume Salbreux and @dianakhorom.bsky.social

My lab is hiring a postdoc (ERC funded)! If you're interested, get in touch!

Researchers at EMBL Barcelona have launched LimbNET, a new online platform that integrates computer modeling, experimental data, and 2D live simulations for limb development. www.embl.org/news/science...

Come to Biomalpar xxii!!! We have an outstanding line up of speakers!!! It is a true honor to be an organizer of Biomalpar. It was the first conference I ever attended during my 2nd PhD year so it feels special. And don't miss the beautiful poster image from Hannah Fleckenstein!

Join EMBL's Interdisciplinary Postdoc Programme! 3 years funding, self-designed interdisciplinary project co-led between EMBL PI and PI in one of EMBL's actual, prospect or associate member states. In particular: AI&Theory, use mathem. models, physics principles and AI www.embl.org/about/info/p...

It’s time to talk about epithelial geometry and cancer. How can the architecture of an epithelium affect how tumors will grow and spread? In this thread, @jorgealmagro.bsky.social

📢 Paper alert 📢 Chirality is known to be important for the movement of microorganisms and active matter. In our new paper out today in @natphys.nature.com, we show that chirality is used by malaria parasites to control their motion patterns: doi.org/10.1038/s415... Here comes a 🧵 ... (1/9)

1/ Cerebral malaria is a severe form of malaria that causes damage to the blood vessels in the brain. With a #HealthResearch grant, @mariabernabeu.bsky.social#HealthResearchuses analytical techniques and human 3D models of blood vessels to ⬆️ our understanding and test new therapies. https://tinyurl.com/2vtjnwn6

Which features of tissue flows are most robust and how do they emerge from #EpithelialMechanics? I’m @alex-plum.bsky.social (@mattiaserra.bsky.social group) and I’ll be sharing some papers on characterizing and controlling avian gastrulation flows.

In our latest interview, Kristina Stapornwongkul, the newest group leader at IMBA, shares her journey to joining the institute, why she chose IMBA as the next step in her career, and her vision for her lab exploring how metabolism shapes embryonic development: https://imba.science/49fCrxl

📣Announcing the 4th edition of the EMBL‑IBEC Conference on “Engineering Multicellular Systems”, taking place 11–13 March 2026 in Barcelona. Exploring organoids, mechanobiology, embryo models, organ-on-chip systems, multiomics and more. Abstracts open now! events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...

Pre-print alert 🚨 We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria? The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain. www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...