How does an elastic line buckle within a curved surface? The answer, by @zhaoshh.bsky.social and @lepuslapis.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social, has now been #published @physrevlett.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1103/63py-ph5s

New preprint! Do you like ocean waves? We found similar waves on bacterial colonies! We found that this collective behavior, known as rippling, is nothing but surface waves on an active nematic. @princeton.edu @mpipks.bsky.social @ub.edu @icreacommunity.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Delighted to announce “Hydrodynamic Approaches to Active Matter: Successes and Future Challenges”, will now take place on 6–10 October 2025 at @mpipks.bsky.social, on the occasion of John Toner’s 71st birthday. We hope you will join us. www.pks.mpg.de/haam26

Now #published @physrevlett.bsky.social: the answer to the question that Euler did not solve three hundred years ago*. @zhaoshh.bsky.social doi.org/10.1103/63py-ph5s * Possible reasons include not having access to Mathematica and predating Riemann (in the non-ecological sense).

Congratulations! Prof. Igor Herbut (Simon Fraser University) awarded the "Physik-Preis Dresden 2025“

Research by N. Beato, P. Patil, @marinbukov.bsky.social now #published @physrevlett.bsky.social @physrevx.bsky.social: numerical and analytical tools adapted from statistical physics reveal phase transitions in quantum control landscapes. doi.org/10.1103/dqvj-p6fq doi.org/10.1103/27nn-cb3t

The call for our 2026 Distinguished PKS Postdoctoral Fellow is now open! Distinguished PKS postdoctoral fellows appear personally along with the departments and groups on the main research page of the institute. You can apply here: www.pks.mpg.de/PKSFellow26 Deadline is the 21st of November

Fully funded summer #internships in #biophysics @mpipks.bsky.social for Bachelor's and Master's students! Apply by the 30th of November 2025: www.pks.mpg.de/biophys-inte...

We welcome @fbrauns.bsky.social as a new group leader @mpipks.bsky.social and @mpi-cbg.de!

Now #published as a Letter @physreve.bsky.social: "Geometry of T1 transitions in epithelia" doi.org/10.1103/kdnb-bxdx My first single-author paper deploys a silly amount of Olympiad geometry on a fundamental biophysics problem, summarised in the attached thread! @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de

A new call for the ELBE Visiting faculty program is now open! No matter if you are junior or senior faculty, if you work on math/physics/computer science/ML applied to life sciences, you are welcome to submit an application to come and collaborate with the groups at CSBD! Deadline is November 30th.

Truly chuffed for our fearless food physicists @mpipks.bsky.social + collabs from AT @istaresearch.bsky.social, IT & ES who won this year’s Ig Nobel - the #NobelPrize of hearts❤️for cracking the science of perfect pasta !🍝Kudos to all for intrepidly consuming lots of cheese in the name of science!😋

IG Nobel Prize in #Physics 2025 to @mpipks.bsky.social researchers for elucidating the phase behaviour of cacio e pepe sauce. The work highlights how physics can also be applied to solve daily-life problems! nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03045-0

Passive morphogenesis of the gut: work by @zhaoshh.bsky.social @lepuslapis.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social and collaborators at Princeton University, @flatironinstitute.org now #published @pnas.org: doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2505160122

Very honored to receive this prize from the Spanish Physical Society! Thanks a lot to all my collaborators, who make this possible!

Congratulations to @ricardalert.bsky.social on being awarded the "Young Investigator Prize in Theoretical Physics” by the Spanish Royal Academy of Physics and the BBVA Foundation! The award is in recognition of his contributions to biological physics. www.fbbva.es/noticias/fal...

Bacteria are surrounded by water! New work @natphys.nature.com by @ricardalert.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social & collaborators @ Princeton University shows that water capillary forces organise bacterial colonies into gas, nematic streams, and droplet states. nature.com/articles/s41567-025-02965-y

New #preprint: "Control of lumen morphology by lateral and basal cell surfaces", a great #biophysics collaboration with Chandraniva Guha Ray, @markusmukenhirn.bsky.social, Alf Honigmann @biotec-tud.bsky.social @poldresden.bsky.social. arxiv.org/abs/2509.04316 @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de

Another #preprint: "Elasticity and plasticity of epithelial gap closure", from the #PhD work of Maryam Setoudeh: arxiv.org/abs/2509.05110 This one required a lot of (I think) beautiful #mechanics! @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social

Another look at the drosophila wing! Frank Julicher @mpipks.bsky.social looks at how the wing forms within the pupal phase of morphogenesis. He discussed the physics underlying a hexatic crystalline order found in the wing epithelium that is controlled by cell size heterogeneity. #MBIMPG2025

Paper alert!🧪 We derive a theory that underpins interface resistance with a physical foundation and look at how it changes droplet growth and recovery kinetics! Awesome collab with @bosste.bsky.social Tyler Harmon @hymanlab.bsky.social @m-pol.bsky.social and Frank Jülicher @mpipks.bsky.social 1/4

Multiple PhD positions available! A new call of our International Max Planck Research School for Quantum Dynamics and Control is now open. We offer a large variety of projects in Physics and Chemistry. Application deadline is October 31st www.imprs-pks.mpg.de/application/...

#ERCStG @erc.europa.eu for Alexander Wietek @mpipks.bsky.social and his project "MoNiKa: Strong correlation physics in Moiré, Nickelate and Kagome superconductors" - many congratulations!

#Quantum geometry + Floquet theory = unlocking time crystals, topology, and exotic phases in #physics: work by Paul Schindler and @marinbukov.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social now #published @physrevx.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1103/7l91-gw77

Activity-enhanced elasticity in entangled polymer solutions: research by Christina Kurzthaler @mpipks.bsky.social and collaborators @hhu.de @tuda.bsky.social now published @natcomms.nature.com! doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60210-9

New random walk model elucidates hidden spatiotemporal patterns governing the evolution of complex systems: work by Samudrajit Thapa, Holger Kantz @mpipks.bsky.social and collaborators now published @physrevlett.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.197101

Numerical study by researchers @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de and @csbdresden.bsky.social of small ecological communities reveals the importance of the full network structure of ecological interactions for ecosystem stability. News article: www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

Interaction networks and stability of coexistence in ecological communities: work by @yumeng0806.bsky.social, @szhorvat.bsky.social, @lepuslapis.bsky.social, Carl Modes @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social #published @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2025.101297

🐠🦠Why can’t bacteria swim like fish? At microscopic scales, physics changes — viscosity rules! Researchers at our institute study how microbes like E. coli overcome this challenge with clever strategies like run-and-tumble. Watch our new video: youtu.be/drwCRRD7CGY?...

What does the force required to poke a cyst of cells reveal about cyst mechanics? Research by Shiheng Zhao, Pierre Haas @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social now highlighted as an Editors' Suggestion in Phys. Rev. Lett.! doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.228402

You are cordially invited.

How do cells rotate together on a sphere? In our new video abstract, we describe our recent work on how cells move on the surface of a sphere—as they do in development, wound healing, or regeneration. www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Rn...

New #preprint: "Geometry of T1 transitions in epithelia" now available at arxiv.org/abs/2504.16765, using (a lot of) classical Euclidean geometry to understand the mechanics of isolated cell neighbour exchanges in epithelia. @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social

Universal and Nonuniversal Signatures in the Scaling Functions of Critical Variables: research by Gianluca Teza @mpipks.bsky.social and Attilio Stella (University of Padova) now published in Phys. Rev. Lett.: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.127102

Atom-by-atom assembly of giant molecules, utilizing a Rydberg atom to form a long-range chemical bond: research by Aileen Durst, Matt Eiles @mpipks.bsky.social, and collaborators @durhamuniversity.bsky.social now published in Phys. Rev. Lett.! doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.133401

Uncovering the role of cell size control and single-cell variability in long-term population growth: Research by Arthur Genthon @mpipks.bsky.social now highlighted as an Editors' Suggestion in Phys. Rev. E! journals.aps.org/pre/abstract...

Fragmented superconductivity in the Hubbard model as solitons in Ginzburg–Landau theory: work by Hannes Karlsson and @awietek.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social and collaborators @bist.eu @flatironinstitute.org now published in npj Quantum Materials! doi.org/10.1038/s41535-024-00718-3

"Unbuckling" in a minimal model of cell monolayers under compression: work by Chandraniva Guha Ray and @lepuslapis.bsky.social @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social now highlighted as an Editors' Suggestion by Physical Review Letters! doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.118402

Now #published in Phys. Rev. Lett. as an Editors' Suggestion: Unbuckling mechanics of epithelial monolayers under compression. journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.118402 @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social

Multiple PhD positions available! The call of our International Max Planck Research School for Quantum Dynamics and Control is now open. We offer a large variety of projects in Physics and Chemistry. The application deadline is April the 30! www.imprs-pks.mpg.de/application/...

Our call for Postdoc Positions in Biological Physics is open! Join our exciting and stimulating environment, with a rich variety of groups to collaborate. Deadline for applications is 2nd of May! Apply here: www.pks.mpg.de/biological-p...

@science.org has recognised the discovery of altermagnetism among the "Top Science Breakthroughs of 2024". Altermagnets were proposed by @libor-s.bsky.social and collaborators and, guided by their calculations, observed in photoemission spectra in 2024. science.org/content/article/breakthrough-2024

Uncovering nonequilibrium transitions in a template copying ensemble: Research by Arthur Genthon, Frank Jülicher @mpipks.bsky.social and Carl Modes, @stephangrill.bsky.social @mpicbg.bsky.social now published in Phys. Rev. Lett.: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.068402.

🧲✨ Ever wondered what makes magnets magnetic, or how superconductivity works? 🎥 Check out our new video by @marionamec.bsky.social, where the group of @awietek.bsky.social at @mpipks.bsky.social dives into these and other fascinating states of matter! With support of @dfg.de youtu.be/nY9_dIpJoJM?...

Nature has published an article on nanoscale mapping of altermagnetism coauthored by Libor Šmejkal @libor-s.bsky.social (MPI-PKS/MPI-CPfS).The experimental work confirms predictions of unconventional time-reversal symmetry breaking,boosting potential applications of altermagnetism in nanoelectronics

"Cacio e pepe" physics: In arxiv.org/abs/2501.00536v1, eight Italian scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems explain the physics behind a perfect dish of "cacio e pepe" and how to eschew the dreaded "mozzarella phase" - work featured @nytimes.com.

Forces folding curved cell sheets from a combination of laser cutting experiments and mechanical models. Work by @lepuslapis.bsky.social and collaborator now highlighted as an Editors' Suggestion in Phys. Rev. E: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.111.014420

You have a background in math/physics/computer science/ML and are looking for an interdisciplinary postdoc fellowship in life science, with free choice of host groups? Then join us at the CSBD as an ELBE postdoc! The application deadline is 14. February.

You are very welcome.

A new protocol for engineering hierarchical symmetries using external drives opens a new path to stabilizing quantum states in quantum computers and simulators - research by Z. Fu, R. Moessner, H. Zhao, @marinbukov.bsky.social now published in Phys. Rev. X: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.041070.