Engineering single molecules to act as effective microscopic magnets could herald a new era in nanoelectronics. However, the magnetic fields generated in single‑molecule circuits are typically weak. Read more: ista.ac.at/en/news/quan...

Entanglement is a central feature of quantum physics. Achieving distributed entanglement between physically separated qubits could enable future advances. Now, ISTA physicists have engineered a quantum bath that autonomously syncs distant qubits using a common source of correlated photons.

A new paper by Gašper Tkačik and Alexis Bénichou at @istaresearch.bsky.social, together with Benjamin Zoller and Thomas Gregor from @pasteur.fr and @princeton.edu, has just been published in @pnas.org.

Roots avoid plant rot. 🌱 Researchers including ISTA’s Jiří Friml ‪@frimllab.bsky.social​ newly identified “saprotropism”: roots bend away from decaying plant matter—but not animal decay—by sensing acidic pH gradients in soil. Published in @science.org​. Read more: https://bit.ly/4aJkuY9

ISTA has launched its Responsible AI Program, made possible by a €5M donation from entrepreneur & philanthropist Garrett Camp. The initiative funds early-career scientists working on projects that promote fairness, transparency, privacy, and accountability in AI. Read more: https://bit.ly/4w8b6Fw

Auxin and the control of plant growth and development”, a concise @currentbiology.bsky.social​ primer by ISTA researchers Valentin Leitner and Eva Benková is out now: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(26)00517-8 #Auxin #PlantScience #PlantDevelopment #PlantHormones #Botany

A year ago, as a resident journo at @istaresearch.bsky.social through the @frontiersmedia.bsky.social program, a conversation on a computational theory led me somewhere unexpected. The story, now in @thetransmitter.bsky.social, is about how mitochondria may shape synapses, memory and even behavior 👇

At yesterday’s ISTA Lecture, physicist Ignacio Cirac from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics offered a glimpse into the future of quantum technologies, discussing how even near-term quantum computers can already serve as powerful tools for scientific discovery. 📸 © Anna Stöcher | ISTA

How do light particles behave when confined to billionths of a meter? How can these phenomena drive discoveries in imaging, communication, & quantum technologies? These are the questions driving Charles Roques‑Carmes, the newest #faculty member at ISTA. More: https://bit.ly/4axfYf9#faculty

We're delighted to announce the 9th Austrian Cryo-EM (ACE) Symposium - Sept 24-25, 2026 at IMP, Vienna. Organized with @istaresearch.bsky.social 🎤 Abstract deadline: Aug 5, 2026 📅 Info & registration: imp.ac.at/research/cryo-em-symposium/

Three ISTA Professors recognized among Europe’s leading life scientists. Plant geneticist Xiaoqi Feng, soft matter physicist Anđela Šarić, and biophysicist Gašper Tkačik have been elected as new members of @embo.org​. Congratulations! 👏 Read more about their research: https://bit.ly/4xUvkUV

Experiment-guided AlphaFold3 resolves measurement-consistent protein ensembles - @istaresearch.bsky.social @alex-bronstein.bsky.social @paulschanda.bsky.social @sankethvedula.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Connect at the ELLIS Sites ICML Fest...in Vienna 🇦🇹 on 30 June at @istaresearch.bsky.social. Meet the local AI/ML community and connect with the broader ELLIS network with the ELLIS Unit Vienna. 🔗 More info --> bit.ly/4etgJZc

AlphaFold—an AI tool that revolutionized structural biology and earned the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry—was trained on static crystal structures that dominate protein datasets. However, proteins are highly dynamic molecules. Read more: ista.ac.at/en/news/towa...

In our latest paper in @natchem.nature.com, we reported how the crystalline environment alters protein dynamics. If you want to get the big picture quickly, have a look at the News & Views article by Lars Schäfer. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @istaresearch.bsky.social

Big applause for the recipients of this year’s Outstanding PhD Thesis Awards! 👏 Their work embodies what ISTA stands for: being open to new perspectives, connected across disciplines, & courageous in the face of complex questions. Read more: https://bit.ly/4eK4WVc @zdunajova.bsky.social​

What can glaciers tell us about our changing world? 🗻 Watch Episode 1 "The Last Stable Glaciers?" of our new documentary series "Ice, Water and Rock: Studying the World‘s Glaciers" to find out. 👉 bit.ly/4esoQ8h #glaciers #GlacierResearch

Congratulations to Ora Computing co-founders and ISTA alumni, Stefan Sack and Raimel Medina, for raising 3.5 million Euro seed round for their AI start-up! Both completed their PhDs at ISTA with the Serbyn group and now serve as Ora's CEO and CTO, respectively. 🔗 https://bit.ly/3QHmlWz

ISTA physicist Georgios Katsaros and his team have won a €2.8 million ERC Advanced Grant for the project SPINSWAP, aiming to directly observe and harness a special quantum connection at the heart of superconductivity. 🔗 Learn more: https://bit.ly/4oJzJ9f @erc.europa.eu​

Professor Leonid Sazanov and postdoc Ziyu Zhao just published their latest research in @cp-molcell.bsky.social.

Celebrating the Class of 2026 🎓 Heartfelt congratulations to our 48 new PhD and 4 MS graduates. We’re incredibly proud of you! 💚 📸 © Adrian Almasan #ISTAresearch #PhDLife #GraduationCeremony

Register now for the ISTA Lecture by Ignacio Cirac to learn how quantum devices are pushing the boundaries of what’s computationally possible, and how near-term quantum computers can already serve as powerful tools for scientific discovery even in the presence of errors. 🔗 https://bit.ly/3RPhzXn

A new paper by ISTA alum Lena Schwarz, Gaia Novarino, and colleagues from the Novarino group, @meduniwien.ac.at, @univie.ac.at, and @cemm.oeaw.ac.at just got published in @nature.com.

Österreichs höchstdotierte privat gestiftete Förderung für klimarelevante Grundlagenforschung, der #ZeroEmissionsAward, geht 2026 an Lavinia Saltarelli (künftig @istaresearch.bsky.social) und Emmanuel Oluwasogo (Fachhochschule Kärnten). Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 🏆👏 www.fwf.ac.at/aktuelles/de...

New ISTA scientist Lavinia Saltarelli wins Austrian Zero Emissions Award from @fwf-at.bsky.social​'s alpha+ Foundation for research on lithium–sulphur batteries to create the basis for more efficient energy storage. She will join the Freunberger Group in July. Congrats! 👏 🔗 https://bit.ly/4fMYa3a

📢 New publication. We answered an old question in structural biology: (how) does the crystal lattice impact proteins? In particular, how does the crystal restrict the protein's dynamics? We used local probes of dynamics: the rotation of aromatic rings. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Several techniques cannot reveal all protein conformations that may be essential for biological function. In particular, crystallization can lock molecules into a limited set of rigid structures, while the same protein can breathe much more freely in solution. Read more: bit.ly/4fNr579

@acm.org​ named Prof and VP Monika Henzinger as the 2026-2027 ACM Athena Lecturer, recognizing her outstanding contributions to the fields of dynamic graph algorithms and web algorithms, as well as her dedicated mentoring and service to these communities. Congratulations, Monika!

The Board of Trustees has unanimously reappointed Martin Hetzer as President of ISTA for a second term. Since taking office, he has guided ISTA through a period of growth, attracting top talent, and fostering research transfer to economy and society. 🔗 https://bit.ly/4upf0sB

We're hiring! My group at @istaresearch.bsky.social ( @ellis.eu Unit Vienna) offers postdoc openings in the area of Trustworthy Machine Learning and Transfer Learning. Theory, algorithms or applications are all welcome. Have a look at cvml.ista.ac.at/Postdoc-ML.h... and spread the word!

When scientists study the genetics of human characteristics or disease, they typically look at a person’s own DNA. But the reality is far more complex than this. Read more: ista.ac.at/en/news/huma...

Congrats to ISTA Alumn Verena Schmied, winner of the ANA Best Thesis Award! 👏 Using human retinal organoids, she studied the role of microglia — the brain’s immune cells — in neuronal development, viral stimulation, and the potential protective effects of ibuprofen during embryonic development.

Excited to share that the main project from my PhD is now out in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social! 📄 www.cell.com/cell-reports... @istaresearch.bsky.social

Science thrives when people are free: free to question, challenge, and belong. ISTA stands firmly with the LGBTQIA+ community, not only in June, but every day. Your identity is not a barrier to excellence. It is part of the brilliance you bring. Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

The success of Austria’s science system requires top non-university research institutions & well-funded, high-performing universities. Investing in science means investing in the country’s competitiveness & future. Good news that the search for sustainable university funding is moving forward again.

OUT NOW: ISTA’s Annual Report 2025 A year of ideas, impact, and progress — ready to unfold. PDF version 👉 https://bit.ly/4wXJSD1

Hair, nails, and horns—all made of #keratin —are among the toughest materials in animals.

In this recent publication, ISTA assistant professor Veronika Sunko and international colleagues experimentally demonstrate a magneto-optical Kerr effect in an A-type antiferromagnet. Read the paper in @natcomms.nature.com​: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72577-4

In this new bioRxiv preprint, Louise Fouqueau, postdoc in the Barton group at ISTA, teams up with a postdoc in Biomathematics at the University of Vienna to explore how demographic noise shapes phenotypic clusters in environmental gradients. DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.14.725167

More Space for Brave Science at ISTA: the foundation stone was laid to mark the construction of three new buildings on the ISTA campus. Offering more than 25,000 m², Lab 7 will provide our community with additional labs and offices, as well as a new cafeteria, health center, and learning center.

ISTA Professor Edouard Hannezo @ehannezo.bsky.social​ has been awarded the Ignaz L. Lieben Prize by the @oeaw.bsky.social​. As the academy​’s oldest distinction, this prize recognizes the scientific achievements of researchers under the age of 40. Congratulations, Edouard!

Check out this new @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social​ by researchers from @alex-bronstein.bsky.social​'s group and colleagues: The turn less taken: Investigating patterns in β-turn dynamics using large-scale molecular dynamics data. DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.07.721674

In a new bioRxiv preprint, researchers from the Hippenmeyer group and colleagues show that Pten orchestrates neurogenic radial glia lineage progression and tunes neocortical astrocyte production. DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.01.722191

How can science journalism cut through the noise in a complex world? To find out, join us on June 2 for a panel discussion with journalists from Australia, the UK & the US. Register now: www.ista.ac.at/ScienceJournalism26 @elisecutts.bsky.social​ @iiasa.ac.at​ @nadjahahn.bsky.social​

Together with colleagues, researchers from the groups of Matthew Robinson and Marco Mondelli demonstrate joint variable selection for omic biomarkers in time-to-event data in a new bioRxiv preprint. DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.30.721585

Check out this recent bioRxiv preprint in which postdoc Ilse Krätschmer, professor Matthew Robinson, and colleagues investigate the sex differences in the genetic basis of human recombination within 190,000 parent-child pairs. DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.30.721836

In a recent @natecoevo.nature.com​ News & Views article, ISTA postdoc @filipruzicka.bsky.social​ comments on the findings of Xia and colleagues, which show opposing fitness effects of mutations in fruit flies. “Reverse genetics of sexual antagonism”. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03036-y

In a recent paper, researchers from the Schanda group and colleagues have explored the potential benefits of paramagnetic doping for biomolecular 19F magic-angle spinning NMR on proteins. Now published in Magnetic Resonance, @group-ampere.bsky.social​: https://doi.org/10.5194/mr-7-29-2026

Plants can’t escape danger. So, how do they cope with stress? The molecule cAMP, which plays essential roles in mammalian cells, is less well understood in plants. As it turns out, plants evolved unique cAMP signaling to regulate cellular processes and respond to stress. https://bit.ly/4wkKBxO

In this new bioRxiv preprint, postdoc Fabrizio Olmeda, Professor @ehannezo.bsky.social​, and colleagues show that adult regenerative defects arise from discordant scaling of signal-dependent growth and patterning. 📄 DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.28.721472