Deadline approaches: Applications for our workshop “Tracing evolution through cell lineages” are open until 29 May. 12–14 Oct 2026 | MPI EvolBio, Plön For researchers working on cell lineages & evolution. Apply: lnkd.in/eZnJuYcr

Can noisy decision-making be an advantage? A PNAS study shows that erratic behaviour is not always just a cognitive limitation. In strategic situations, caring less about immediate gains can provide long-term benefits. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3882136/news... #EvolutionaryBiology #GameTheory

Congratulations to Markéta Kaucká on being re-elected as representative of our institute in the BMS of the Max Planck Society. She helps bring perspectives from researchers and our institute into discussions on scientific and structural developments across the MPG. #MaxPlanck #Science #Research

New insights from sharks into the evolution of the face in jawed vertebrates. Conserved genetic programs but altered cell behavior contribute to the diversity of facial shapes in jawed vertebrates. #Development #Evolution #GRNs #FacialShapes #Sharks #NeuralCrest www.evolbio.mpg.de/3881031/news...

Facial diversity in birds and mammals doesn’t just come from different signals – but from how cells respond to them. A new study in Science Advances shows evolution acts on both: signal placement and cellular interpretation. More Info: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3879733/news... @marketa-kau.bsky.social

How do cell lineages evolve, and how does that shape trait evolution? Join our symposium Tracing Evolution Through Cell Lineages (Plön, 12–14 October). Hear perspectives from leading scientists and contribute with your own. Read more at: workshops.evolbio.mpg.de/event/145/ #EvoDevo #StemCell

How does food affect the gut microbiome? A new study shows that microorganisms in food may help maintain diversity in the gut. #Microbiome #MathematicalBiology www.evolbio.mpg.de/3875249/news... @florencebansept.bsky.social

Can multicellularity evolve without direct benefits? A new theoretical study suggests it can — through ecology. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3874781/news... #Evolution #Ecology

#Lunar #Clocks - “The dating tool of #marine organisms” #GEO highlights Tobias Kaiser’s research at #MPIEvolBio, where 11 #Clunio marinus strains help reveal how lunar #rhythms are encoded in #genes. #MaxPlanck #Chronobiology #SciComm #EvoBio #Ecology #Biodiversity www.evolbio.mpg.de/3873148/news...

Today at MPI for Evolutionary Biology: Frank Hilker from Osnabrück University joined our Career & Science Seminar, invited by Michael Sieber from the Department of Theoretical Biology. Topic: tipping points and cascades in coupled human-natural systems. #CareerInScience #ECR

Do bold animals always live fast and die young? Not necessarily. A new study shows that in house mice, the link between personality and lifespan depends strongly on the environment — especially food quality. Read more: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3869863/news... @fragdarm.bsky.social

How do immunity, infection dynamics and NPI adherence interact? An international team outlines the research needs: stepwise models + longitudinal data on perceived vs actual immunity, peer effects and information (incl. social media). www.evolbio.mpg.de/3868225/news...

Embryos are most alike in mid-development — the classic developmental “hourglass”. New research shows this pattern is already built into individual cell lineages. Find out more: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3867602/news... @marketa-kau.bsky.social @amordamatac.bsky.social

Today we have Yuriy Pichugin visiting us from the @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social discussing the Evolution of informed dispersal strategies in trophic meta-communities in our #WueBiT seminars

Warum sind Kinder keine halben Kopien ihrer Eltern? Wie beeinflusst die DNA unsere Fruchtbarkeit? Rajalekshmi Narayana Sarma beantwortet diese und weitere spannende Fragen übermorgen bei der Women Science Show. 📅05.03.2026 🕖19:00 Uhr 📍STUDIO Filmtheater Kiel @uni-kiel.de @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social

Our very own Rajalekshmi N. Sarma is on the line-up! 🎤 Women Science Show (Science Comes to Town) — Thu, 5 March 2026, 7.00 pm, STUDIO Filmtheater, Kiel. Six 10-minute talks from early-career women researchers. Free entry — bring friends & family 😊

🌓🌊🦟 Wed 4 March 2026, 19:00 (Eutin): Eutiner Landesbibliothek, Schlossplatz 4. Dr Tobias Kaiser (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology #KaiserLab) — “The Moon, the Sea & the Mosquito”: a journey through biological clocks. Hosted by SHUG. #chronobiology

Beyond Mendel: a new genetics agenda Most traits aren’t “one gene–one trait”. A Genetics perspective calls for new experimental paradigms to capture polygenic effects in real environmental context—backed by large-scale automated phenotyping and new infrastructure. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3866699/news...

Emil Mallmin and colleagues at MPI EvolBio show that simple ecological models can reproduce real-world species abundance patterns—and help identify when ecosystems are fragile vs. resilient. Read and find out more here: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3865637/news...

Today is Darwin’s Day 🧬 — a reminder that evolution isn’t just history but a living process. At the MPI for Evolutionary Biology we explore evolutionary change — how life adapts, diversifies, and evolves — using theory, experiments, and data from nature. #DarwinsDay #Evolution #EvolBio

Today is the #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience ✨ To celebrate, we’re opening registration for our workshop "Women in Evolutionary Biology II" — keynotes, research, networking, and discussions on equality & inclusion in science. 📍 Plön (Germany) | 🔗 workshops.evolbio.mpg.de/event/144/ov...

No lone winners: P. fluorescens SBW25 forms air–liquid mats within days. Ancestors scaffold the surface; mutants spread. c-di-GMP (sessile↔motile) helps diverse types coexist. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3864353/news...

Why fungi may become human pathogens: A new study from Kiel University (CAU) and MPI-EvolBio shows that more efficient protein production and lipid metabolism help fungi adapt to the human body — a growing risk under climate change. Image © Dr. Marco Guerreiro www.evolbio.mpg.de/3863722/why-...

Female scientists have to wait longer for their articles to be reviewed than their male colleagues. An analysis of 36.5 million papers in the life sciences shows that for females it took 115 days to reach a decision, compared to 101 days for men journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... @plosbiology.org

Open access now: Insights from the Women in Evolutionary Biology Workshop (MPI-EvolBio, May 2024) in Evolution — 5 recurring equity themes + practical strategies. Next workshop already funded for 2026. doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Expressions of interest: Director at MPI EvolBio (f/m/d) — We invite expressions of interest from distinguished scientists in evolutionary biology with a bold, long-term research vision that complements our Institute. More information: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3856225/Dire...

A new #PNAS Commentary spotlights our #MPI-EvolBio work: jumbo phages can transfer large mobile genetic elements between bacteria, expanding how we think about gene exchange in microbial communities. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3858689/pnas...

Why mate with more than one male? A new study in house mice shows: the payoff depends on the environment. Multiple paternity was linked to larger litters only under standard, less nutritious food. With high-quality food, litter size stayed high either way. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3856402/news...

A “Hulk” wall lizard is spreading from near Rome and changing the rules: wherever the green-and-black form appears, yellow and orange throat colour forms vanish. Data from 220 populations suggest a rapid collapse of diversity that lasted millions of years. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3853774/news...

Why doesn’t innovation spread until everyone is innovative? A new Current Biology study shows how female choice keeps behavioural diversity alive — innovative and less innovative animals pair up more often than chance. Read more 👇 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3852928/why-...

New milestone for wall lizards: 10 chromosome-level reference genomes released by MPI EvolBio, Wellcome Sanger Institute & collaborators — now >50% of described Podarcis species have high-quality references. A backbone resource for evo & pop genomics. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3851900/ten-...

As the year comes to a close, we are thankful for shared curiosity and inspiring discoveries. We wish everyone restful holidays and a great start to the year ahead — filled with new questions, fresh ideas, and exciting insights.

🎓 IMPRS EvolBio opens its 2026 PhD call! Up to 10 doctoral positions in evolutionary biology at MPI-EB — work in an international, cutting-edge research environment where others go on vacation. Start: Sept 2026 | Deadline: Jan 11, 2026 👉 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3848518/impr... #PhD #EvolutionaryBiology

Big congratulations to Dr Nikhil Sharma on receiving the Kiel Life Science Postdoc Award 2025! His outstanding work in theoretical biology and evolutionary graph theory makes us proud. Well deserved! 👏 #KLS #MPIEvolBio www.evolbio.mpg.de/3847270/kiel... (Photo: Christian Urban, Kiel University)

How does each face get its unique shape? A new study maps facial development at an unprecedented resolution, identifies early “positional programs” expressed by undifferentiated cells, and sheds light on their role in human facial shape variability. 🔗 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3846176/news...

Warum sind Kinder keine halben Kopien ihrer Eltern? Wie beeinflusst die DNA unsere Fruchtbarkeit? Rajalekshmi Narayana Sarma beantwortet diese und weitere spannende Fragen am Freitag um 21:00 Uhr im Frederik-Paulsen-Hörsaal bei der #NightOfTheProfs der @uni-kiel.de. @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social

🎉 Congrats to Prof. John Baines, associated member of the MPI for Evolutionary Biology, on being named a Highly Cited Researcher 2025 by Clarivate! Proud to see his work among the global top 1% of most cited research. www.uksh.de/Das+UKSH/Neu... (Photo-credits: UKSH)

Rajalekshmi N. Sarma (MPI EvolBio) will be speaking at Kiel University’s Night of the Profs this Friday! Catch her Science Show talk at 21:00 in the Frederik-Paulsen Lecture Hall. Free admission — bring your friends and family! More info: uni-kiel.de/de/veranstaltungen/night-of-the-profs (CAU Kiel)

Big cheers from MPI for Evolutionary Biology! 🎉 Our alumna Dr. Christin Nyhoegen wins the KlarText Prize 2025 for her piece “Penicillin and a Small Dose of Mathematics.” She shows how math helps improve antibiotic treatments and prevent resistance. 👏 #KlarTextPreis #MPIEvolBio #ScienceCommunication

Bacteria can borrow viruses to spread defence genes! 🦠🔬 Researchers at @MPI_EvolBio found that “jumbo phages” can carry bacterial mobile DNA, allowing the bacteria to hijack viral machinery for their own protection. 👉 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3840277/news...

WE ARE HIRING! Please spread widely! #Postdoc in #Evolutionary #Genomics -> www.mpg.de/25524526/ #Postdoc in #Molecular #Biology & #Cell #Signalling -> www.mpg.de/25524509/ @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social @maxplanck.de #ScienceJobs #EvoBio #MolBio #Ecology #Chronobiology #Marine #EntoSky #Biodiversity

Why are kids not half copies of their parents? How does our DNA control our fertility? Rajalekshmi Narayana Sarma from the @uni-kiel.de answers these and other exciting questions in her talk on 26.09 at 18:00 in the Pumpe. Free admission @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social #ScienceDay #KielRegion

Does population size shape protein coevolution? I explored this in my talk today at the MPI for Evolutionary Biology. Our work in mammals suggests the answer is yes - genetic drift is a major determinant of compensatory mutations. #evolution #genomics #proteinevolution @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social

🔬✨ Our bodies are mosaics! A new study reveals: Organs aren’t just “male” or “female” – they show overlapping patterns of sex-specific traits. Sex is a spectrum, not a box. 👉 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3837588/news...

Our current follow-up #modelling study with @gokhalecs.bsky.social, former colleague @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social, suggests that larval competition for space can actually drive the evolution of divergent reproductive timing, aka #allochrony, which results in spatial separation and reduced competition.

Could humans and AI one day form a single “evolutionary individual”? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology raise this question in a new publication exploring human–AI interdependence. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3836073/news...

In a just published OpEd, with @mkhochb.bsky.social‬, we draw upon Major Evolutionary Transitions thinking to outline future scenarios in which humans and AI might come to form new kinds of evolutionary units: humans as subsystems within an AI-coordinated whole. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... ‪

In this @PhysicsWorld podcast, Silvia De Monte — Senior Scientist at @EvolBioMPI — explores how physics helps decode complex biological systems, from predator-prey models to the human microbiome. Listen here: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3612354/podc...

🌍 Theory meets experiment! At the MPI Plön workshop on Evolutionary Rescue, researchers explored how models and data can work hand in hand. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3829720/scie... #EvoRescue25 #ScienceDialogue

Two midge strains, one coastline — yet no competition. Clunio marinus turns moon phases into maps: full moon vs. new moon means different times, different spaces. Time becomes space. Evolution dances by moonlight. 🌕🌑 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3828955/news... #Evolution #MoonTiming #MaxPlanck