We are beyond excited to reveal the full line-up for our Environmental Signaling in Plants summer school 2026! Registration is now open here eps.sites.uu.nl - we look forward to seeing you in Utrecht on 24th-26th August!

The advances we've made in statistics, experimental study design, and causal inference over the past century are remarkably useful for understanding our world. But there is never been a push to make people use them like we are seeing with generative AI. Perhaps take a moment to consider why.

A great overview, very close to what we do. For years we’ve known the cell wall speaks. At the @cellwalldynamics.com lab we’re now decoding its vocabulary. Each chemical and mechanical cue carries meaning, helping us understand –and soon guide– how plants grow and adapt.

LLMs are useful when they stay in their place: fixing grammar, formatting papers, improving code, or helping organise messy ideas. But they don’t think, create, or criticise. If we act as if they did, universities will just recycle what already exists, shaped by opaque systems and powerful companies

If Russia had intercepted a humanitarian flotilla in international waters, abducted those on board, and taken them to a detention centre, there would AT LEAST be a major diplomatic response — and rightly so. Why not now?

Just back from my first meeting with the Swedish Young Academy in beautiful Nynäshamn, south of Stockholm. I really enjoyed the open discussions, where shared challenges in academia became pathways to solutions, the mix of disciplines, and even a workshop on storytelling. A great start!

Here at #PDevSRC presenting our work on integrative approaches to deciphering cell wall integrity in the green lineage 🌱 Excited to share insights and connect with colleagues in plant development research!

Arrived in Southbridge for #PDevSRC 🌱 Excited for the talks ahead and to share our @cellwalldynamics.com work on plant cell wall integrity in plant development and more 🧱

🌱 Meet Manju, our new PhD student in the Cell Wall Dynamics team! From the Newah Indigenous community in Nepal🇳🇵 to Umeå, she’ll work on the VR-funded Watchers on the Wall project, using advanced tools to study how plant cell walls sense and respond to stress. 🔗 Read her interview: bit.ly/3JAsZK7

This is the lowest form of humanity! Nothing justifies this and the response (!) of all the western and Islamic (!) countries: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Europe must act as a power, not a subordinate. Smiling handshakes and weak deals with rogue leaders won’t be forgotten. History will judge us by what we choose to legitimise, and right now, we’re legitimising far too much on too many fronts.

Really happy to see this work published! Last year, when we started working with protoplasts, Stéphane connected us with Léa, who was incredibly helpful. She did a fantastic job teaching the students in our group protocols and tricks, and I’m really grateful. This pipeline will be useful for many!👇

"i asked grok" "i asked chatgpt" yeah well i asked carl sagan and he said the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge 🧪

Please spread the word: Position in plant development @umeaplantsciencecentre.se Looking forward to having a new colleague! www.upsc.se/jobs/6590-as...

Attending the 2025 International Conference on Plant Cell Wall Biology at UBC? Don’t miss the next session—I’ll be presenting my team member Nancy Soni’s work on the link between the cell wall and the cell cycle. Hope to see you there!

🧪🌾Are you at Plant Biology Europe #PBE2025 in Budapest and interested in cell walls? Don't miss the talks of Nanci Soni (Cell Biology) and Demtrio Marcianò (Phytohormones & Other Transmitters) tomorrow!

Nasrin Sabooni presented her poster at #ICAR2025 in Ghent🇧🇪 on transcription factors shaping cell wall integrity in Arabidopsis & cotton🌿🧵 From evolution to stress & fibre development—she’s got it covered! 🔗 www.cellwalldynamics.com/nasrin-saboo... #PlantScience #StressResilience #Cotton #Arabidopsis

Glad midsommar!! ☀️

Our PI Laura Bacete has been elected to the Young Academy of Sweden! 🎉 She’ll contribute to research policy, outreach, and interdisciplinary collaboration—bringing plant cell & molecular biology into broader discussions 🌱🧪 More here: www.cellwalldynamics.com/laura-bacete...

I’m truly honoured to be invited to this meeting — I honestly couldn’t believe it at first! Although travelling feels a bit uncertain these days, I’m really looking forward to being there and discussing the role of cell walls in plant development with you all 🌱🧱

🧪🌾Join the FASEB conference on "Mechanisms of Plant Development"! Our two group leaders, @laurabacete.bsky.social & @srobertgroup.bsky.social, will talk there. Follow these links to get an idea about their research: L. Bacete: www.upsc.se/researchers/... S. Robert: www.upsc.se/researchers/...

The beauty of our boreal #forests, #Calypso_bulbosa #Umeå or #Norna in Swedish! Thanks to the keen and trained eyes of ‪@hanneletuominen.bsky.social‬ we found this flowering specimen in mid forest🌲, and a few in vegetative state too :-)

Fair enough! @lorenzoorts.bsky.social and your take showed me I am wrong! Let’s hope this initiative helps solving those structural issues.

Respectfully, I think this is a wrong take. As a woman and a young PI, I won’t stop submitting to Nature, and I won’t worry about what others assume. (1/4)

”Att välkomna nya ledamöter är livskraften i en ung akademi. Jag tycker det ska bli spännande att få lära mig mer om deras forskning och vad de brinner för och vill engagera sig i året som kommer.” Gabriele Messori, ordf, professor meteorologi, UU. sverigesungaakademi.se/pressmeddela...

Exciting news! :)

Tack, Ronnie! Jag är väldigt glad över att få vara med i Sveriges unga akademi och att få fortsätta representera Umeå universitet till 2030 :)

Just back from a PhD retreat with the @umeaplantsciencecentre.se PIs on the beautiful Gulf of Bothnia coast in Skeppsvik, Sweden. Surrounded by forest and sea, we spent a couple of days talking about how to make the PhD experience better: from recruitment to supervision and dealing with stress.

It is sad that even basic research needs to be defended with utility. For me, basic research is in the same category as art: civilized societies can't do without it, because we all want to know who we are and what our place in the natural world is -- questions that only science can answer.

I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.

Probably my last visit to my favourite (so far!) installation at Bildmuseet in Umeå—Machine Auguries by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg—before it ends this weekend. A simulated dawn where AI-generated birdsong gradually replaces the real thing. Thought-provoking and quietly unsettling.

I guess it’s an April Fools’ joke, but ChatGPT now has a “Monday” mode—sarcasm and irony if these were just what the average Twitter user thinks they are. I gave it a rant about how “progress” somehow means building this, and its reply felt like the most honest ChatGPT reply I’ve ever had.

We can’t boost our competitiveness without future-proofing our foundations. Securing a just transition to fair, sustainable societies is essential, but noticeably lacking in the EU Commission’s recent proposals.

And continuing with conference news—postdoc Bastien Dauphin just gave a great talk at the UK Plant Biomechanics Conference 2025 🎤🌿 He’s using chemo-optogenetics to trigger local changes in the plant cell wall. New tools, new insights! #PlantBiomechanics #CellWallDynamics #Optogenetics

🎉 Big news! Our very own Nancy Soni and Demetrio Marcianò will be speaking at Plant Biology Europe 2025! #PBE2025 🧬🌱 🧪 Two talks, one big theme: how cell walls talk to the rest of the cell. Read more on our web page! 👇 www.cellwalldynamics.com/nancy-soni-a...

Excited to kick off the UPSC Symposium for Early Career Plant Scientists 2025! Third year helping organise this event—great to see it growing into a space for exchange and collaboration for young promising researchers 🌱 #PlantScience #ECRSymposium @umeaplantscicentre.bsky.social

Lately, I’ve felt like I’m failing at everything. But I remind myself that some of my best research ideas came from things not working as expected—a control behaving oddly, an unexpected pattern in a dataset. Science moves forward when we pay attention to what doesn’t fit. #AcademicSky

This may surprise some, and I’m sure some will offer alternative explanations, but for the same job—plus slightly more responsibility in my case—I was paid less than my (male) partner. In Norway, in 2023. There’s still so much to do. Happy (and combative) Women’s Day.

Is anyone organising something similar in Sweden, or would you like to help me set it up?

MADRE MÍA. Pensaba que ya estaba más que superado esto en España, pero no, el discurso reaccionario sigue ahí, y casi más vivo que en los últimos 50 años. Aupado por la propaganda tóxica del otro lado del Atlántico. Queriendo dividir y polarizar y con los derechos de todos en la mirilla. Vergüenza.

While (unsettlingly) this is probably necessary, it’s frustrating how quickly governments can boost defense spending. Why can't we see the same urgency for welfare, science, or the climate emergency? Instead, more money goes to the death industry to defend against wars others started.

How is Elon Musk even a fellow of the Royal Society? He’s an investor, not a scientist, and countless scientists have done more for science than he has. How can the Royal Society stand by while he harms US scientific infrastructure and democracy globally? Time to take a stand. bit.ly/3FdVECA

🌱🔬 Ever wondered how plants know when their cell walls need fixing? At the Green Cell Wall Dynamics Lab (Umeå University), we study how plants and algae sense and maintain their cell walls—key to growth, stress responses, and survival! 🧵👇

[NEWS FROM THE LAB] – A Week of Science and Fun: Lab Get-Together in Umeå: www.cellwalldynamics.com/a-week-of-sc...

Delighted to unveil the poster and speakers list of the Mechanism of Plant Development meeting. 2 keynotes by @bradylabs.bsky.social & @nikogeldner.bsky.social to honour the legacy of P. Benfey & J. Chory. Congrats to @minyaaa.bsky.social for her beautiful Mimulus image. ➡️ tinyurl.com/24fsjq6a

Rare moment - finding myself aligned with Macron's core message (though not all of it!). Europe has the wealth, skilled workforce & social protection to stand as an equal partner, not a vassal. If the US wants to go solo, Europe can thrive on its own terms 🇪🇺

On #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience let me remind you that we are NOWHERE NEAR parity. A few examples. 1. Women are credited less in science than men. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Today // Hoy 😊

Today —International Day of Women and Girls in Science— I had the special opportunity to share my journey with students at my former school in Las Pedroñeras, Spain. From there to Sweden, science has shaped my path, and I hope to inspire the next generation to follow their curiosity! #WomenInScience