I am thrilled to share my PhD work with @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social @embl.org: www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... A fun collaboration with Bernat Corominas-Murtra, Adrián Aguirre-Tamaral, @bart-smeets.bsky.social , Jef Vanghel and Tom Belpaire! Read the story in the comments below ⤵️

Double preprint! 👇 Check out our latest studies on timing, heterogeneity and collective behaviour (with a fun tiny bonus on evolution!) 1. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 2. arxiv.org/abs/2605.13234

First pre-print from the lab, a collaborative effort led by Jess Bourn @bournsupremacy.bsky.social, a fantastic PhD in my group. We resolve a key problem in development + evolution: how do we quantify heterochrony and link temporal variation to phenotype? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our beautiful mosaic embryo made it to the cover! 🔥

A very pleasant surprise to see that we got the cover for this paper 🥳 @natphys.nature.com

✨ At the last DB unit unit seminar @embl.org, Jaroslav Ferenc @jarofrnc.bsky.social a postdoc in the Ikmi group @aikmi.bsky.social, showed how tissue-specific metabolic preferences drive developmental decisions #devbio #nematostella #devmetabolism

🎓 Congratulations to Kristina Mirkes from the Vu group @hanhtkvu.bsky.social @embl.org who has successfully defended her PhD thesis titled “Regulatory mechanisms of size-dependent growth dynamics in Schmidtea mediterranea” #DevelopmentalBiology #Planarian #PhDDefense #newdoctor

Unplanned reunion with former @embldbunit.bsky.social labmates @aliseleit.bsky.social and @jorgelazaro.bsky.social at #EED2026!!

Here the published version of our work on uncoupling different types of tissue phase transitions during development! Find out more on how contact surface tension-driven rigidity transitions trigger tricellular junction formation and initiate epithelial organization! @natphys.nature.com

✨At this week's DB unit seminar @embl.org, Serena Flori @serenaflori.bsky.social, a postdoc in the Vincent group @floravincent.bsky.social, presented her work on the structural basis of diatom responses to marine heatwaves. You can also check out her paper here: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Glad to see this out in its final form! www.nature.com/articles/s41... What changed since the preprint? Wonderful experiments disentangling the effect of receptor binding vs tissue porosity on Nodal diffusion, plus one of the smoothest review experiences! Thanks @natcellbio.nature.com & reviewers 🙏

✨ This week, Nikki Cannon, a PhD student in the van Gestel group @jordivangestel.bsky.social, presented her work on creating an end-to-end assembly and annotation pipeline for Dictyostelids at the DB unit seminar @embl.org

Many thanks @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social from @embl.org Heidelberg for visiting us @centuri-ls.bsky.social and giving a truly exciting talk on cell division timing and phase transition during embryogenesis 🤩! Developmental biology is really cool 😎

🔥New work from the Crocker group @justinmcrocker.bsky.social @embl.org on the mechanistic and evolutionary basis of dominance from cis-regulatory variation in Drosophila Congratulations to Noa @ottilie.bsky.social and all the authors 🥳

🔥New paper from the Ikmi group @aikmi.bsky.social @embl.org who discovered a "secret" second valve in Nematostella vectensis that acts as a pressure release system. Congratulations to all the authors 🥳

✨ At this week's DB Unit Seminar @embl.org , Levin Riedel, a phD student in the Ikmi group @aikmi.bsky.social, presented his work on the effects of neuropeptides on morphogenesis and development of Nematostella vectensis larvae and polyps.

✨ At this week's DB seminar @embl.org, Jlenia Vitale, a postdoc in the Petridou group @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social, presented her work on the interplay between cell-cell adhesion and mitochondrial activity during tissue phase transitions in Zebrafish and killifish embryos 🐟🔬#DevelopmentalBiology

🔥 Fantatstic work by Antonella Ruggiero and colleagues @embl.org and @szndohrn.bsky.social that opens new doors to understanding the decision-making mechanisms of phytoplankton and the hidden complexity of single-celled life in our oceans #Diatoms #DevelopmentalBiology #SingleCellRNA #Phytoplankton

Apart from learning, there are also important (and fun) networking activities going on at #EESBioOsc. #SciencePubQuiz

When conference participants take part in a human experiment... How to get a group of humans to spontaneously synchronize their walking behaviours in the absence of "leaders" (watch out for the one who was attempting to cheat the system!) What are the most important cues here? 😏 #EESBioOsc

Happening now: poster session at #EESBioOsc. Lots of interesting discussions.. who will win the poster prize? 🧬🔬

Are you a postdoc in the job market? Do you have a cool story in the making? You forgot to have lunch and just run your gel backwards? You can't sleep because of the prospect of applying to 100 places and getting two replies only? Apply! 🧪🐟https://www.germanfishmeeting.org/from-postoc-to-pi

Great start at #EESBioOsc 👏

Exciting news 🎉 Ali, who has been a postdoc in the Aulehla group @embl.org, is heading off to an incredible next chapter. Congratulations Ali on your Emmy-Noether funded group leader position at the Faculty of Biology at the University of Freiburg. We are so proud to have had you with us!

✨ At last week's DB Unit Seminar @embl.org, Camilla Autorino @cami-autorino.bsky.social, a postdoc in the Petridou Group @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social, presented her work on how tissue rigidity phase transition shapes morphogen gradients in zebrafish embryos 🐟🔬

Hard to think the EMBO/EMBL symposium on the cellular mechanics of #symbiosis is already over @embl.org. Some personal scientific heroes in there, and a very unique collegial and open minded vibe (and great dancers💃🏻 ) #EESSymbiosis Wonderful way to reconnect with science after 🐣! #womeninscience

That’s a wrap on our Mechanics of Symbiosis meeting in Heidelberg 🎉 Had an amazing time organizing this with @berasymbionts.bsky.social, @floravincent.bsky.social & Tom Richards. Safe trip home everyone! #EESSymbiosis @events.embl.org

🔥Exciting new paper from the Ikmi group @embl.org! The authors identified a set of mesoscale mechanical modules that can be used to predict species-specific shapes by combining a comparative analysis of cnidarian larval morphogenesis with active surface theory #morphogenesis #cnidaria

✨ At this week's DB seminar @embl.org, Laura Sanchis Pla, a PhD student in the van Gestel group, presented her research on the defense strategies of bacteria in response to protistan predation. She explored the diverse life-history decisions that bacteria make to survive in natural environments.

✨In the DB unit seminar this week, Amrutha Palavalli, a postdoc in the Vu @hanhtkvu.bsky.social group @embl.org, presented a new approach to studying the life history evolution and identifying the trade-offs of the flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea #planarians #sciRNAseq

We have extended the abstract deadline by a week! Looking forward to seeing you many of you here!

✨At this week's DB seminar @embl.org , Alvin Han, a postdoc in the Arendt group, presented his work on the variation of microbiome and symbioses of Platynereis species across European coastlines 🪱 #TREC #microbiome

And just like that, #EESCollectivity is done! These last four days just flew by and we want to thank every participant, speaker, and organiser for making the first edition of the EMBO | EMBL Symposium 'Collectivity in living systems' such a success. We hope to see you at another event soon! 👋

Less than a week left for abstract submission for #EESMechanobiology - join us in this long-standing meeting on the mechanics of life.

Excited to share our new review in @dev-journal.bsky.social on tissue phase transitions during development! @karengrace12.bsky.social @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social 🔗 doi.org/10.1242/dev....

✨This week at the DB unit seminar @embl.org, Paco Majic Bergara @hhydrochaerus.bsky.social, a Crocker group postdoc, presented his project on how developmental noise across different scales, from genotype to phenotype, has the potential to affect evolutionary trajectories.

✨ At this week's DB seminar, Silvia Zanna, a PhD student from the Ikmi group @aikmi.bsky.social @embl.org , presented her work on the characterisation and function of migratory cells in Nematostella vectensis #cnidarian #develepmentalbiology #migration

Switching fields or wanting to become an expert in #zebrafish research? The @mblscience.bsky.social 2026 Zebrafish Development & Genetics course offers a fantastic opportunity to learn from leaders in the field! Application deadline: March 2 Please spread the word! www.mbl.edu/education/ad...

For International Day of Women and Girls in Science, #IDWGS2026, we are featuring some of our 'Transitions in development' interviewees from the past year. Browse our full series here: journals.biologists.com/dev/collecti...

A fantastic line up of speakers! Register is now open.

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! 🧪 Don't forget to send in your nominations for the FEBS | EMBO #WomenInScience Award. Deadline: 15 May Read more: https://www.embo.org/the-embo-communities/febsembo-women-in-science-awardees/nominate-for-the-women-in-science-award/#WomenInScience#award

Very last chance to join us (Deadline tomorrow Feb 10!) at this Developmental Biology meeting! Have a nice story? Come and discuss it with editors from @embojournal.org @plosbiology.org and @dev-journal.bsky.social ! A one hour info session from @erc.europa.eu will also be presented!

✨ This week’s DB unit seminar @embl.org featured Shuchang (Jim) Hu, a PhD student in the Vu @hanhtkvu.bsky.social and the Dorrity groups @mwdorr.bsky.social, who shared fascinating findings on Phagocata velata, a flatworm that uses two different regeneration strategies depending on the context

✨At this week's DB seminar, Cyril Cros, a postdoc in the Arendt group @embl.org, presented his work on integrating single-cell and electron microscopy datasets of a marine worm. This approach combines molecular and structural data to provide new insights into cellular organization and function 🪱

Yesterday, EMBO Press hosted a #webinar "Peer review in practice: Insights from EMBO Press editors" part of a pilot project in collaboration with EMBL#webinar aimed at encouraging the engagement of postdocs in the #PeerReview process. 🧪 #LifeSciences #research

Recruitment for the EMBL International PhD Programme is officially open! 🔊 At EMBL, we train young scientists to become skilled and creative future leaders in academia, industry and other sectors. Start your career in the life sciences with us! 🔎 Read more here: tinyurl.com/4jdt2ra5

📣 Please spread: we’re hiring a Lab Manager! It is a critical position in our new lab. As our lab moves to Barcelona and joins the @crg.eu, we’re looking for a Lab Manager to help build the lab and set the lab atmosphere. 🔗 Apply here 👉 recruitment.crg.eu/content/jobs...

✨ At this week's DB seminar, Magdalena Schindler @lena-schindler.bsky.social, a postdoc in the Petridou group @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social @embl.org, presented her work on how cell cycle synchrony affects tissue-level mechanical transitions at the onset of morphogenesis in zebrafish embryos 🐟 🔬

Do not miss Camilla's talk tomorrow!

The call for Health + Life Science Alliance post doctoral fellowships has just opened: lnkd.in/dw9zxKSN. Joint with my group @embl.org , Victoria Ingham Uni. Heidelberg, and Felix Hol at Radboud Univ., we are exploring how climate and chemistry shape mosquito behaviour for next-gen. vector control