Kudos to all poster presenters and congratulations to Marios Eftychiou (@jdemeul.bsky.social lab), who got the runner-up poster award, and Wannes Hermans (@joanampereira.bsky.social lab), who won the Best Poster Award 🏆 🙌 #VIBAIscienceday

Great mix of talks from across all @viblifesciences.bsky.social research areas at our first-ever #VIBAIScienceDay. Sharing another mini photo dump while we digest lunch and gear up for more science this afternoon.

And we're off for a full day of VIB.AI science! 🤩 What a treat to bring the entire community together from Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels and Leuven, and to do so in this beautiful location. Welcome to the church of AI in Biology. 😇 #VIBAIscienceday @viblifesciences.bsky.soci#VIBAIsciencedayl

Super excited about this work led by the one and only @deismic.bsky.social!

One week left to apply! 🚨 We are hiring for two exciting roles at the intersection of AI and life sciences: 👉 Head of the Machine Learning Expertise Unit 👉 LLM Engineer Don’t miss your chance to apply by October 31! https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-list

Such a treat to host @gioelelamanno.bsky.social (EPFL) today and be the first to hear more about his lab's latest work, posted just two days ago on bioRxiv. Missed the talk? Here's the preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.13.682018v1

We're very much looking forward to your talk!

Join us: Large Language Model Engineer at VIB.AI You'll work closely with top scientists, backed by strong infrastructure and a mission to make a lasting impact on health and society. 📅 Apply before October 31st 🔗 https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-description/123988

AI and synthetic biology in the news today. 📰 @demorgen.be writes about a recent preprint describing how AI was used to design synthetic bacteriophages that target antibiotic-resistant E. coli. 👉 Article (in Dutch), with quotes by @steinaerts.bsky.social https://tinyurl.com/bd2jxsay

We're hiring: Head for Machine Learning Expertise Unit You’ll help deploy cutting-edge ML methods across diverse biomedical domains, from single-cell genomics to protein design. 📍 Based in Leuven, Belgium 📅 Apply before October 31st 🔗 https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-description/123990

In a few weeks, the full VIB.AI community will flock together at Irish College in Leuven. We're already looking forward to talks from all of our core and affiliated labs and a keynote by Matthew Blaschko. 🤩

As our center continues to grow, we’re looking for a highly organized and proactive Administrative Assistant to help keep things running smoothly, from financial processing and logistics to travel coordination and event support. https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-description/122382

One month ago, we wrapped up the 2025 Machine Learning & AI in Life Sciences Summer School: a week of hands-on training, deep collaboration, and serious brainpower, co-organized by VIB and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB). #ThrowbackThursday

Last week, VIB.AI researchers joined the global community at #SCG2025 in Stockholm, bringing fresh AI perspectives to one of biology’s most data-rich frontiers. Big thanks to the organizers and to the community for the energy, insight, and inspiration.

We're growing the VIB.AI Machine Learning Unit, and we're hiring! 📌 Head of the Machine Learning Unit 📌 LLM Engineer Both roles are based in Leuven, Belgium, at the heart of a thriving research ecosystem. https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-list Apply by October 31st.

The 2025 VIB.AI International PhD Call closes June 22nd. We’re offering 4 fully funded PhD positions across labs tackling big questions in biology with AI and machine learning, covering protein design, computational neuroscience, gene regulation, and more. 👉 https://tinyurl.com/53nc9vnd

Congratulations to Klaas Vandepoele @vandepoelelab.bsky.social on receiving an @erc.europa.eu Advanced Grant! His multiCODE project aims to decode the regulatory code of gene expression in plants using a powerful combination of single-cell genomics, AI, and synthetic biology. Congratulations! 👏

Two days left to apply before our group leader call closes. Build your own group. Access core funding, top infrastructure, and a collaborative research environment at the intersection of AI and life sciences. https://tinyurl.com/y35m6khy

We want to build models that help us understand how biological systems work. And for that, we need scientists who live at the interface of machine learning and biology. We’re recruiting Group Leaders! https://tinyurl.com/y35m6khy Call closes June 14th

The @joanampereira.bsky.social lab is hiring a PhD student via the VIB.AI International PhD Call 2025! Work on deep learning & network-based methods for protein bioinformatics, evolution & structure-function prediction. 📍 Leuven 🗓️ Apply by June 22nd → https://tinyurl.com/53nc9vnd

We want to connect: To link model builders with data generators. To bring together scientists asking why cells behave the way they do, and others figuring out how to model that behavior. If you're working on AI in biology, consider joining! https://tinyurl.com/y35m6khy

Join the @steinaerts.bsky.social Lab via the VIB.AI International PhD Call 2025! Use ML to decode how DNA sequences control gene activity. Work with single-cell & spatial genomics, deep learning models, and CRISPR validation. 📍 Leuven 🗓️ Apply by June 22nd → https://tinyurl.com/53nc9vnd

The @ppjgoncalves.bsky.social lab is recruiting a PhD student via the VIB.AI International PhD Call 2025! Join to develop machine learning tools for neuroscience, focusing on simulation-based inference & neural circuit modeling. 📍 Leuven 🗓️ Apply by June 22 → https://tinyurl.com/53nc9vnd

The Vorobieva Lab is recruting a PhD student through the VIB.AI International PhD Call 2025! Work on protein design, membrane proteins & nanopores using AI-driven methods. 📍 Based in Brussels 🗓️ Apply by June 22→ https://vib.ai/en/vibai-international-phd-call-2025 📅 Start in Autumn/Winter '25/26

Looking to start or relocate your lab? We're hiring Group Leaders to join our growing center at the intersection of AI and biology. Based in Belgium (Leuven or Ghent) Start: Q1/2 2026 Deadline: June 14, 2025 https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-description/110906 Please share!

"Crazy, chaotic, tiring, but extremely exciting!" That’s how @joanampereira.bsky.social sums up the first months of launching her lab at VIB.AI, combining deep learning, network analysis, and bioinformatics to study protein diversity and evolution. 👉 https://blog.vib.be/meet-joana-pereira

Cool positions for AI x biology in Belgium!

VIB.AI's International PhD call is now open! https://tinyurl.com/53nc9vnd If you're interested in applying AI to biology, take a look at the PhD projects across our labs. 🗓️ Deadline: June 22nd

In Episode 4 of @viblifesciences.bsky.social's brand new podcast Called to Science, @steinaerts.bsky.social reflects on the realities of doing science. 🎧 tinyurl.com/2wzmvymm

🔥 Just published! Thrilled to share that our work on funkyheatmap has just been published in the Journal of Open Source Software 🎉

Don't miss the opportunity to join the Machine Learning in Life Sciences Summer School, organized by @viblifesciences.bsky.social and @sib.swiss. Expect a dynamic hackathon-style format with expert guidance and inspiring lectures. ✉️ Submit your application by Tue! https://tinyurl.com/krvaajwb

We are looking for additional Group Leaders to join the growing computational biology community at VIB. If you are excited about combining AI and machine learning with fundamental biology, we would love to hear from you! https://vib.ai/en/opportunities#/job-description/110906

🚨PhD position in AI in Microbiology! We’re looking for a PhD researcher passionate about developing automated systems for microbiological research. 🌍 More info & apply: jobs.vib.be/j/109363/phd... @vibmicrobes.bsky.social @vibai.bsky.social

We released our preprint on the CREsted package. CREsted allows for complete modeling of cell type-specific enhancer codes from scATAC-seq data. We demonstrate CREsted’s robust functionality in various species and tissues, and in vivo validate our findings: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New tool 💪 from @steinaerts.bsky.social lab: CREsted, a DL-based approach for predicting cell type-specific reg. elements, applying it to many datasets, incl. mouse cortex, human PBMCs & glioblastoma, demonstrating its ability to identify key TF binding sites: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@joanampereira.bsky.social is off to an amazing start of her lab at vib.ai, congrats to the team !

Congratulations to @joanampereira.bsky.social on being awarded a prestigious FWO Odysseus grant! 🙌 The grant will power the growth of her newly established lab at VIB.AI and the KU Leuven Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

How can AI help us unlock the next era of medicine? @tijd.be spoke to @yvansaeys.bsky.social (VIB-UGent), Tom Taghon (UGent) and Sarah Teichmann (University of Cambridge) about the @humancellatlas.org and how efforts in Ghent contribute to it. 📰 https://tinyurl.com/y292t9es 📸 ©Jonas Lampens

Fantastic study and collaboration led by stellar postdoc @ioansarr.bsky.social, it was a pleasure to host you in the lab (& thanks to @embo.org for the visiting fellowship)

How does gene regulation shape brain evolution? Our new preprint dives into this question in the context of mammalian cerebellum development! rb.gy/dbcxjz Led by @ioansarr.bsky.social, @marisepp.bsky.social and @tyamadat.bsky.social, in collaboration with @steinaerts.bsky.social

Congratulations to Camiel Mannens, postdoc in the Aerts lab, on obtaining an MSCA fellowship to investigate how genes control brain cell types across different species. 👏

The start of a fantastic adventure!

👩‍💻 By integrating #AnimalResearch and new approaches, we create a path toward clearer, more robust insights Researchers at @vibai.bsky.social & @viblifesciences.bsky.social used AI on human & animal data to reveal how brain cells evolved in the last 300M years

KU Leuven turns 600(!) this year and is celebrating with a public event this weekend! The @steinaerts.bsky.social lab is offering guided lab tours. Want a behind-the-scenes look? All tours on Saturday are full, but you can still register for Sunday! www.kuleuven.be/600years/exp...

This has been a fantastic adventure - to capture the genomic regulatory code underlying brain cell types (using deep learning models trained on chromatin accessibility), and then use these models to compare cell types between the bird and mammalian brain

In a new study, Nikolai Hecker, Niklas Kempynck et al. in the team of @steinaerts.bsky.social explore 300 million years of brain evolution through the lens of enhancer codes. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

It's difficult to translate this headline quoting our Science Director @steinaerts.bsky.social, but suffice it to say that the enormous potential of AI in research amazes even the experts at times. Nice comprehensive article in De Morgen this week [in Dutch] 👇 www.demorgen.be/beter-leven/...

🚨 We're hiring! Join the University of Antwerp as a Postdoc in Molecular AI. 🔬 Develop AI for billion-scale metabolomics data & explore small molecules as life's building blocks. 📍 Antwerp, Belgium 🗓️ Apply now: bit.ly/4gpl4e7 #PostDoc #Metabolomics #ResearchJobs #MolecularAI #vacancy #bioinformatics

Congratulations to Thomas Guiziou (VIB-VIB Center of Structural Biology) and Tom Luijts (Cancer Research Institute Ghent), who won the awards for the two best posters of the day! 👏 #VIBAIsymposium

Great start of the new VIB.AI center at the #VIBAIsymposium Looking forward to collaborate on exciting new research projects #AI #synthetic