Despite telling people to not get me anything for my birthday, I received a bunch of cheeses, wines, delicacies from various countries, fancy teas and football jerseys. And a croissant. Legit.

This is 40!

Last week, Babette van Amen started her PhD in the group after expanding all sorts of weird bugs in @gautamdey.bsky.social 's lab for 6 months! Welcome Babette!

As I biked my lovely 5yo to her favorite activity, she asked "mama, why are we moving like slugs?" If you see her, she needs a lift back home.

Put some glitter on for a disco themed department party and the glitter won't go away so I guess that's who I am now.

Nothing can make you regret your parenting choices like being woken up at 2 am by the music box you gifted your 3 yo blasting "California gurls".

Flight home delayed, considering starting a monodiet of gruyère and chocolate.

Three-Year Funded Postdoctoral Position to study organelle architecture in mammalian oocytes – Terret-Verlhac Lab, CIRB, Collège de France (Starting 2026). For more information, please contact: [email protected]

Terrible conference venue. Also there was melted cheese last night! Really, it's the worst.

Spending a day with my daughter in Amsterdam (mostly to renew her passport) and just realised I booked a restaurant for us near the museum of prostitution. Another parenting win!

Everything is down this morning because THE TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION, AKA THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE doesn't work anymore. VINDICATION!!

How your email finds me

Student just referred to a 1985 paper as VERY OLD. Guess who's not invited to my 40th birthday party?

Oh lala 👀

We're recruiting junior team leaders @mrc-lms.bsky.social This time we're looking for those working in human metabolic disease. It's a great place to start your lab. Fantastic colleagues, exciting science, world class facilities. Join us! lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

Yesterday I did an experiment I've never really done before and it worked! Major credibility points scored with my lab. (Ok I had a ton of help from various PhD students from various lab including mine BUT STILL MAJOR WIN)

👋 Are you looking for a postdoc position? Do you think microtubules are fascinating? Then we might have the job for you! 2-year funded postdoc to join our lab! 👉 deadline 20/06 👇 check it out www.godinholab.com

"as a fungus, you're in it for the carbon" is already my favourite quote of the day. #NWOLife

On my way to Egmond aan Zee to hear about what the Dutch life science community is up to! #NWOlife

I had an excellent time at Choanocon in Paris meeting old friends (some who I had never met in 3D!) and making new ones. Congratulations to @thibautbrunet.bsky.social and team for some excellent organising. There was a squeaky pig, there were baguettes, there were weird bugs, the people were happy.

Invited my mother to my hockey game after swearing for years that it is all cool and not dangerous at all. There were probably 10 penalties, 2 people broke bones/ligaments, I have an enormous bruise and there was a fight involving almost everyone, so this went well.

In the current climate seems like a small problem but someone visiting me might be stuck in paris BECAUSE THEY FOUND A WW2 BOMB ON THE TRAIN TRACKS

Mood

Excited to announce the 10th "Choanoflagellates & Friends Workshop" over May 20-22 in our own Institut Pasteur in Paris: 2025choanocon.wordpress.com Registrations open til March 15, abstract til March 5. Pre-conference event for students/postdocs on 19/05. Plenty of slots for selected talks/posters!

Asked similar question before but I try again. Anyone knows proteins that localize like this? This protein is present in diplonemids/bodonids/euglenids/Naegleria, which have two flagella, but not in trypanosomatids that have just one flagellum. Potentially interesting for flagella/cilia community?

Very excited that the lab's first paper is out! We showed that in stem cells, Aurora B controls abscission dynamics by regulating microtubules stability and MCAK recruitment. Very happy with this streamlined version of our 2024 preprint. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Racky MacGruyereFace is back!

Someone stole my favorite tube rack, alert the authorities!!

As I finally made it back to the Netherlands (50h late ...), I will summarize my holiday with this one picture.

It really saddens me when I come to France to realize how much my people are unwelcoming to children in the public space.

Our lab has multiple open positions for post-docs to study the regulation and function of cytoplasm mechanics during embryo development. Details below 👇👇 Please Repost !!! @ijmonod.bsky.social @cnrs.bsky.social

As a final word for 2024, I asked my son and daughter what they wished for in 2024. My 4 yo daughter wishes for summer. My 2 yo son wishes for trams. Happy new year!

Rounding up 2024: This year, we (Amber) published a nice graphical review with FEBS. I got the ERC StG to start to understand why cells delay abscission, with an evolutionary perspective. 2 new people are starting in the lab next week on this project! (1/n)

We tried to play with a game my 2 year old received for Christmas and I'm sad to report that either it's absolutely unwinnable or we're total morons.

Only by running in my home town, which is by no means the Alps, do I truly grasp how incredibly flat the Netherlands are.

Merry Christmas to those celebrating! My grandmother's log, edition 2024. Heavy decorations courtesy of my little ones.

Academia broke: I love you Academia woke: you're a conflict of interest.

Watch @jpassmore.bsky.social make cells run around like headless chickens! Congrats all!

I'm in need of book recommendations! Because I'm often tired and do a ton of multitasking, I'm having trouble sticking with anything. Can be any fiction genre with preference for historical thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, and not too depressing.

We have an opening for a 4 yr PhD interested in membrane remodelling and cryo-EM/ET of a minimal cell division machinery: edu.nl/bukan You will be part of the EVOLF consortium in which 30 leading biochemists/biophysicists work together to explore if and how we can build autonomous synthetic cells.

Watch me justify my years of training and my 8 figures salary as I skillfully change all these "supplementary figure n" into "figure Sn".

A thought for all the other parents who cannot take credit for Sinterklaas presents because "Sinterklaas" brought them, but have to take the blame for withdrawing the presents because today is, in fact, not a holiday, and it's time to go.

I had the best time visiting @igflyon.bsky.social yesterday! Great science being done and very nice to catch up with old friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My daughter just referred to baguette as stokbrood. Currently abandoning her in the woods.

Duolingo and I are very in synch.

Thank you to our sponsors, NWO and the Center for Living Technologies for helping us put together this lovely gathering!

Wow, this week is the gift that keeps on giving (problems and rejections galore). Looking forward to hockey tonight but given how things are going, I fully expect to break a limb.

Science in the Netherlands. The new government is planning very strong cuts in the research and higher education budget. There was a national protest planned for today in Utrecht, which got cancelled yesterday by the organisers after advice from the mayor/police because of security threats. 1/3

Days since I was woken up every hour by the 2 yo for no reason: 0.