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:

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-...

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

🎉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

Apply now! @vbcscitraining.bsky.social offers more than 25 fully-funded PhD positions! GMI group leaders are also recruiting new students.

Interested in the most recent developments in plant science? Join the Mendel Early Career Symposium on May 21-22 at the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social to exchange with experts about their science and career trajectories. Register by March 13th for a talk. More here: www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/news-eve...

New paper! Research led by the Dagdas lab at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social has identified a selective autophagy receptor in liverwort Marchantia polymorpha involved in degrading membraneless organelles.

We are hiring! Join the vibrant community at the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social as a Technical Assistant, ElektrotechnikerIn, or HR Team Assistant. Follow the links for more information and to apply!

Duckweeds are an important plant research model but have been challenging to modify genetically. A study published in @newphyt.bsky.social by the Marí-Ordóñez group at the GMI, presents a new and highly reproducible method for genetic transformation in the duckweed species Spirodela polyrhiza.

Please share! My group at @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social is offering a post-doctoral position (4 years). We look for a structural biologist with experience in Cryo-EM/Cryo-ET to investigate the mechanisms of host invasion by pathogenic fungi. Deadline February 28th! uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

Registration is now open! The 4th edition of the Mendel Early Career Symposium will take place on 21-22 May at the GMI, part of the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social. This two-day event brings together researchers across career stages to discuss the latest research in all areas of plant science.

The 11th Vienna Ball of Sciences is this Saturday at Vienna City Hall! This elegant evening will be a celebration of scientific knowledge. Don’t miss the GMI photo wall a photo with Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics and namesake of the GMI. More:https://www.wissenschaftsball.at/en/

This holiday season, the GMI reflects on a successful 2025 with a look back on key milestones and achievements. In 2025, researchers at the GMI advanced fundamental knowledge of plant adaptation and evolution. Here are some of the research highlights:

Happy New Year from the GMI! We look forward to another exciting and successful year filled with scientific innovation, collaboration, and discovery. Wishing you a happy and healthy start to 2026!

This holiday season, the GMI reflects on a successful 2025 with a look back on key milestones and achievements. In 2025, researchers at the GMI were recognized for their scientific excellence and outstanding achievements:

This holiday season, the GMI reflects on a successful 2025 with a look back on key milestones and achievements. This year, we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the GMI with a series of special events:

Season's Greetings from the GMI! As 2025 comes to an end, we wish you a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season. We highlight the winning design from this year’s holiday card competition by Zeynep Begüm Sen, PhD student in the Ma lab.

Congratulations to Dr. Jian Yi Kok, researcher from the Berger lab at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social! He successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled “Mechanisms and Evolution of Chromatin Mediated Control of Transcription”.

🎉Congratulations to Dr. Vikas Shukla, researcher from the Berger lab at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social! He successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled “The Interplay Between Chromatin States and Transcription Factors Fine-Tune Gene Expression in Land Plants”.

Group leader Frédéric Berger, at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social, joins special research area (SFB) “Meiosis” in the second funding round from the @fwf-at.bsky.social! The consortium consists of 9 research groups from the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social, @istaresearch.bsky.social, @jku.at & @embl.org.

In a recent interview with the @oeaw.bsky.social, Ortrun Mittelsten Scheid of the GMI discusses the advantages, opportunities, and risks presented by new genomic technologies (NGTs) and the recent loosening of regulations in the EU. Read more ⤵️

The @viennabiocenter.bsky.social hosted a visit from the Business Agency of Vienna as part of @interreg.eu Austria-Czechia project, JOBITY. The learned about the Vienna BioCenter and the GMI, & toured the Core Facilities, heartbeat bio, Quantro Therapeutics & a:head with @lisavienna.bsky.social.

The @embo.org Workshop at the GMI and the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social has come to a close! From November 25th-27th, researchers attended inspiring talks and engaged in discussions on the topic of plant evolution. #EMBOplantEvo

New paper! @plantophagy.bsky.social and his team, including @victorsmh6.bsky.social and @marintianava.bsky.social at the GMI of the @oeaw.bsky.social, discovered an important player in plant adaptation to stress: selective autophagy receptor, CESAR. Read more: www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/detail/n...

This year’s @embo.org Workshop is held at the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social. Open to 120 participants, it is over-enrolled with 180 attendees! Thank you to the organizers @isabelmonte.bsky.social, Aino Komatsu, @moodytomato.bsky.social, and Liam Dolan for making this event possible. #EMBOplantEvo

Congratulations to Magnus Nordborg of the GMI and @oeaw.bsky.social who, together with Leandro Quadrana and @pierrebaduel.bsky.social, has received an @fwf-at.bsky.social Grant for the project “Genetic and epigenetic determinants of transposon dynamics”. More here: www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/detail/n...

The Protein Technology Hub of the @imbavienna.bsky.social, GMI & @impvienna.bsky.social at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social developed a new cross-linking mass spectrometry workflow, revealing protein interactions that were previously undetectable. More: www.viennabiocenter.org/about/news/b...