Congratulations to Stela Jelenic on the completion of her PhD! Jelenic presented her dissertation titled “How Germ Granule Localization Shapes Argonaute Specificity and Fidelity in Small RNA Loading” during her PhD defense.

We are hiring! Join the Knoblich lab as a Master's student and investigate how healthy network activity is established in human brain development and to identify the mechanisms by which genetic perturbations derail this process. #research #vienna #austria #europe #studyabroad #biology

🎉 Congratulations to Jürgen Knoblich and Nicolas Rivron! Both scientists got awarded Austrian Science Fund (FWF) grants for research projects using stem cell-based models to advance our knowledge of cell transplantation therapies and human implantation, respectively. More:

Congratulations to Ines Prlesi on the completion of her PhD! Prlesi presented her dissertation titled “The role of sister chromatid conformation during homology-directed repair of DNA double-strand breaks” during her PhD defense.

Congratulations to Katherina Tavernini on the completion of her PhD! Tavernini presented her dissertation titled “BMP4 induces a quiescent-like state in human radial glia neural stem cells” during her PhD defense.

Congratulations to Júlia Portell I De Montserrat on the completion of her PhD! Portell I De Montserrat presented her dissertation titled “Target RNA recognition drives PlWl* complex assembly for effector recruitment and transposon silencing” during her PhD defense.

SY-Stem 2026 is here! The symposium focusing on the next generation of stem cell researchers returns to the Vienna BioCenter from 11–13 March 2026. Register online: sy-stem.org

The Vienna BioCenter Summer School 2026 call is now open for talented undergrads, it's a great for those interested in graduate study in the life sciences. Daniel Gerlich from Institute of Molecular Biotechnology is recruiting! Please share https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/

I am happy to share that my postdoctoral work in the @gerlichlab.bsky.social at @imbavienna.bsky.social is finally out 🎉! Our study reveals how cohesin guides focused and accurate homology search. Read more 👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Follow along for key insights and updates! 🧵

IMBA scientists have joined forces with three other organizations to accelerate research and potential treatments for Coffin-Siris syndrome, a rare ARID1B-linked disorder causing severe neurodevelopmental delays: https://imba.science/48wLU1o

🚨 New Science paper from the Gerlich lab! The team shows how cohesin helps broken DNA find the right template: by opening local DNA loops to shrink the search area and by keeping the damaged strand close to its sister copy: science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw0566

Now hiring! The Mendjan Lab at IMBA in Vienna is looking for postdoctoral researchers to work on an ERC-funded project aiming to study human heart development and disease through pioneering cardiac organoid technology. More: https://imba.science/3Me3dgo #research #jobs #europe #biology

Now hiring! Join the Jachowicz Lab at IMBA in Vienna as a research assistant and work directly on an ERC-funded project aiming to understand changes in 3D genome organization and transcriptome during early mouse development. #research #jobs #europe #biology

Congratulations to Žiga Vičič, PhD student in Joanna Jachowicz’s lab, who received the “Out of the Box Award” jointly with Felix Haslhofer (@maxperutzlabs.ac.at) for their project aiming to develop a modular cell-line system to facilitate the study of protein function. More: imba.science/4rjDAe5

IMBA is recognized among Austria’s top public, non-university research institutions for its strong contribution to innovation and patent development, according to a new European study: www.oeaw.ac.at/imba/researc...

🚨 New paper alert! Scientists in the Burga lab show for the first time how toxin-antidote elements—selfish genetic elements that perpetuate by poisoning those embryos that don’t inherit them—evolved from normal cellular proteins. More: https://imba.science/3M3fRyq

Weekend long read, anyone? The @fwf-at.bsky.social features IMBA Scientific Director Elly Tanaka in a new article that lays out how she pioneered research in regeneration biology, bringing axolotls as a model organism to the molecular era.

New paper alert! Researchers at the Proteomics Tech Hub at the Vienna BioCenter have developed a new cross-linking mass spectrometry workflow that allows scientists to more easily detect and study protein interactions that were previously undetectable. More: https://imba.science/47QaCJA

Great career opportunity at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social: The @impvienna.bsky.social is looking for a new Junior Group Leader in cell and molecular biology, synthetic biology, genomics, gene regulation, development, cancer, immunology or infection biology. More: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...

Congratulations to Max Kellner, former PhD student in Josef Penninger’s lab, who was awarded a Vienna BioCenter PhD Award for his thesis, in which he developed bat-derived organoids to investigate why bats can carry highly pathogenic viruses without falling ill. More: https://imba.science/4r5X0TE

New paper alert! Scientists in Julius Brennecke’s lab at IMBA and Clemens Plaschka’s lab at @impvienna.bsky.social solved a decade-old puzzle, uncovering how the information molecule mRNA travels from the cell’s nucleus to its periphery. More: https://imba.science/3Xl2hJ3

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

IMBA has secured funding from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) to establish a new position that will support data management for cryo-Electron Tomography, one of the newest and most data-intensive research areas on campus. More: https://imba.science/4ngJN7b

🎉 Congratulations to Nina Corsini and Oliver Eichmüller, researchers in Jürgen Knoblich’s lab at IMBA, who were recognized with the German Tuberous Sclerosis Foundation’s Award for their research on tuberous sclerosis using cerebral organoids. More: https://imba.science/3Jej5hy

🔬 👩🏻🔬 🧪 What’s it like doing a PhD between two labs? In our latest Behind the Science, Júlia Portell i de Montserrat, shared PhD student in the Brennecke lab at IMBA and the Plaschka lab at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, tells us more about her unusual but rewarding journey:

Before Jürgen Knoblich became known for his groundbreaking brain organoid research, he studied asymmetric cell division in Drosophila at the @impvienna.bsky.social. 📖 Read the full milestone essay: https://www.imp.ac.at/achievements/research-milestones/knoblich-asymmetric-cell-division

Congratulations to Heidar Heidari Khoei, postdoc in Nicolas Rivron’s lab, who recently received the 2025 Royan International Research Award for his work on stem-cell based models of the human embryo. More: https://imba.science/4q5qjoQ

Congratulations to Sakurako Nagumo Wong, former PhD student in Jürgen Knoblich’s lab, who was awarded the 2025 Rabitsch Award for her remarkable contributions to the study of human cortical development and neurodevelopmental disorders. Read more: https://imba.science/4gPHh6l

🎉 Congratulations to Max Kellner, former PhD student in the Penninger Lab, who was presented with the ÖGBMT Life Sciences PhD Award Austria. The award recognizes Kellner’s PhD research on how dangerous viruses emerge from natural reservoirs like bats. More: https://imba.science/3KiRYSN

Oguzhan Kaya, postdoc in the Knoblich lab, has a research a project that was recently funded with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. Find out more: https://youtu.be/_WEhll-cirI

No research, no answers. IMBA Scientific Director Elly Tanaka is among five renowned ÖAW scientists acting as ambassadors of the “No research, no answers” campaign in Austria - aimed to highlight the crucial role of science in advancing society. More about the campaign: http://imba.science/3KgScd7

Sara Wighard, postdoc in Alejandro Burga’s lab, has a project that was recently funded with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. Find out more: https://youtu.be/jzfyZMdqduY

🎉 Congratulations to Christos Kyprianou, Postdoc in Nicolas Rivron's lab at IMBA, who received a Seal of Excellence Postdoctoral Fellowship to study the causes of implantation failure in human embryonic development. More: http://imba.science/3VUjpop

We are #hiring! Join the Mechanical Engineering Center as a Technician and contribute to prototype construction in research.

📰 New paper alert! In a collaborative project with the lab of Clemens Plaschka at the IMP, the lab of Julius Brennecke has revealed how PIWI proteins kickstart transposon silencing in reproductive cells. The findings are published in Molecular Cell: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Scientific curiosity at IMBA inspired this year's art series, created from research images. Today's kaleidoscope is based on research from the Tanaka Lab investigating how axolotls can regenerate their tails, rebuilding not only muscle, bone and skin but also complex neuronal networks.

Scientific curiosity at IMBA inspired this year's art series, created from research images. Today's kaleidoscope is based on an artistic rendering of the spiral staircase model of the mitotic chromosome, produced by the Goloborodko lab using new tools for analyzing 3D chromosome structure.

Scientific curiosity at IMBA inspired this year's art series, created from research images. Today's kaleidoscope is based on research from the Burga Lab, which used roundworms to uncover a process for silencing selfish genes that could represent the first step in the evolution of genomic imprinting.

Congratulations to IMBA Senior Group Leader Sasha Mendjan on receiving an ERC Advanced Grant for his research on heart development. The funded project will support research of the Mendjan lab’s cardioid (heart organoid) models to study processes that are key to forming a functional heart.

Scientific curiosity at IMBA inspired this year's art series, created from research images. Today's kaleidoscope is based on 2024 research from the Rivron Lab, where scientists studying human blastoids discovered a potential molecular "pause button" in the earliest stages of human development.

Today, we’re celebrating World RNA Day by highlighting three IMBA research groups focusing on RNA research.

Congratulations to Mustafa Alaabo, PhD student in Daniel Gerlich’s lab, who was awarded a competitive fellowship by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds for his research on DNA repair by homologous recombination.

IMBA scientists use organoids - three-dimensional tissue culture models of organs - to study development and disease. Recently, they discovered a “pause button” in human development, described how the intestine changes during pregnancy, and developed a new model of the brain’s information highways.

Genome dynamics and RNA biology are key research areas at IMBA. Our researchers recently discovered a potential evolutionary origin of genomic imprinting, uncovered how chromatin guides precise limb regeneration in the axolotl, and described how a single amino acid shapes genome defense.

👩🏻🎓 At the recent ÖAW Kinderuni Day at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, IMBA researchers Laura Kracht, Christian Krauditsch, and Marlene Müller guided young learners through an exploration of cells—the fundamental building blocks of the human body. Thank you to everyone who took part!

An institute like IMBA runs on the work of many people in different roles and from diverse backgrounds, supported by a range of funding sources. This glimpse into life at IMBA offers a look at the structure and people behind the science.

In 2024, Elly Tanaka and Barbra Kraus stepped into their roles as Scientific and Business Directors, respectively, taking on the responsibility of shaping IMBA’s future. In this interview, Tanaka and Kraus reflect on their vision, their priorities, and the path ahead.

New organoid models allow scientists to study human development and disease, but most comply with tight and important ethical standards. In this glimpse into life at IMBA, Jürgen Knoblich, Arabella Meixner, and Nicolas Rivron reflect on how ethics and compliance shape research beyond the lab.

PhD education is a formative chapter in a researcher's career. In this interview, former IMBA PhD students Alison Deyett and Viktoria Holzmann look back on their time at the institute and share how the experience shaped both their science and their next steps.

In our latest “Behind the Science”, IMBA Group Leader Julius Brennecke and new IMBA-IMP joint Group Leader Sven Klumpe explore how a chance seminar sparked a collaboration that led to a breakthrough in transposon biology - published in Cell last March. 👉 Full article: https://imba.science/4lPndT1