Apply now for #PhD positions @mpi-cbg.de and in the #biophysics division @mpipks.bsky.social!

Rainy day @mpi-cbg.de.

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

Peer pressure shapes the gut: latest publication in @pnas.org by @lepuslapis.bsky.social, @zhaoshh.bsky.social from @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social with colleagues from @flatironinstitute.org and Princeton University. www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

Now #published @pnas.org: "A model for boundary-driven tissue morphogenesis", a great #biophysics #devbio collaboration led by @danielalber.bsky.social @zhaoshh.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2505160122 @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social @flatironinstitute.org

A ring of cells deforms into a triangular keyhole in just 15 minutes. Meet the hindgut, a model for boundary-driven morphogenesis! Out now in @pnas.org at doi.org/10.1073/pnas... with @zhaoshh.bsky.social, Alex Jacinto, Eric Wieschaus, Stas Shvartsman, @lepuslapis.bsky.social (1/8)

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

Early-career researchers: want to run your own lab? 🌟Max Planck Research Groups offer 6+ years, up to €2.7M in funding, open-topic freedom, team support & tenure-track opportunities. Intrigued? 😃Apply by Oct 14, 2025! www.mpg.de/max-planck-r...

Amazing opportunities to start your own research group!

Become a Theory Fellow at Janelia. 🔍 Use computation & theory to tackle biological problems. 🖥️ Leverage state-of-the-art computational infrastructure 🤝 Collaborate across scientific disciplines Apply by Nov. 3 @ https://janelia.link/theoryfellowprogram

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

New preprint on MDCK cysts and lumen mechanics. #EpithelialMechanics Check out @lepuslapis.bsky.social fantastic Skythread: bsky.app/profile/lepu...

Congratulations to Kai Simons, one of our founding directors, for receiving the Cothenius-Medal of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina @leopoldina.org for his insights into the function of cell membranes. 🎉 www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

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

The moral of the story is that building the #bridge between #evolution & #morphogenesis is hard. I still think it needs a concerted push, because, to paraphrase the classic: "Everything in biology, even the #CF, starts making sense in the light of evolution." I add, it is #stuff_that_matters (12/12)

We are all super happy and proud to see our work on the function and evolution of the #cephalic #furrow published in @nature.com. Let me say a few things about the background and history of this work on the #Evolution_of_Morphogenesis (1/12)

New preprint: We study Lotka-Volterra ecological dynamics through computational algebraic geometry. By encoding feasibility & stability on the real Grassmannian, we prove certain ecological networks are mathematically impossible 🧮🌿 arxiv.org/abs/2509.00165

Dresden researchers @paveltomancak.bsky.social @bruvellu.bsky.social, Carl Modes, @cuencam15.bsky.social ‬ & colleagues published in @nature.com that a tissue fold in fruit fly embryos buffers mechanical stresses & may have evolved in response to mechanical forces. www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

New #preprint: "Strata of Ecological Coexistence via Grassmannians" with Türkü Özlüm Çelik, Georgy Scholten, Kexin Wang, Giulio Zucal - a great, first collaboration with #mathematics @csbdresden.bsky.social @math-mpicbg.bsky.social: arxiv.org/abs/2509.00165 @mpi-cbg.de @mpipks.bsky.social

When we talk about mathematicians, we often try to show what they looked like. Here is a short list of famous mathematicians/scientists with no known portrait (AFAIK): Pythagoras (c. 570–495 BCE) Zeno of Elea (c. 490–430 BCE) Al-Khwarizmi (c. 780–850) Nicole Oresme (c. 1320–1382) 1/2

We have a fully funded 3y postdoc position open!!!! Come join us @mpi-cbg.de and @poldresden.bsky.social to understand the role of Membranes in Controlling Biogenic Crystallization :) this is part of our #HFSP funded project with @noemijimenezrojo.bsky.social and @vmonje.bsky.social! Applications👇

On our way to the @mpi-cbg.de faculty retreat with @paveltomancak.bsky.social @nadlerlab.bsky.social, Eric, Alex - using the only acceptable means of transport.

Now (finally) #published @natcomms.nature.com: "A multi-tiered mechanical mechanism shapes the early neural plate" @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de A great collaboration of experiment and theory to explain the tissue flows shaping the #zebrafish neural plate! doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61303-1

We’re looking for a mathematical research and collaboration manager to join our new initiative of mathematics in a biology institute in Dresden, Germany! @csbdresden.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @math-mpicbg.bsky.social Please share widely: careers.mpi-cbg.de/jobs/5734151...

Novel Research in Biological Artificial Intelligence: Expressions of interest and nominations for a Max Planck Director to lead research in the field of Biological Artificial Intelligence @mpi-cbg.de and @csbdresden.bsky.social. More information: www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

Sunset at Dynamics Days Europe #DDays2025 in Thessaloniki! I talked about "Dynamics of small ecological communities" in a great mini-symposium organised by @yumeng0806.bsky.social, Bo-Wei Qin. My talk included our recent doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2025.101297 @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social.

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

Bird’s-eye view of the institute this morning.

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

Check out a fantastic video by @marionamec.bsky.social in the lab of Christina Kurzthaler, a PI at PoL, @mpipks.bsky.social, and @csbdresden.bsky.social, highlighting how micro-organisms move, including the 'run-and-tumble' strategy, which helps bacteria navigate their environment 🤓 Nice work!

Exciting new #research at PoL! 👩‍🔬🧫 Research Avenue 1 focuses on collective transitions in multicellular systems. We aim to reveal the physical principles underlying the emergence of functional structures in living tissues, examining how cell behaviors and interactions lead to complex organization.

Shiheng Zhao & Pierre Haas @lepuslapis.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de & @mpipks.bsky.social show in their publication @physrevlett.bsky.social that elastic shells with complex material properties, like cysts of cells, can behave in unexpected ways when subjected to force. www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

Now #published in Phys. Rev. Lett. as an Editors' Suggestion: "Mechanics of poking a cyst" - the first paper from the PhD work of @zhaoshh.bsky.social. journals.aps.org/prl/abstract... @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social

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

Meritxell Huch @merihuchlab.bsky.social, director @mpi-cbg.de, was elected to the Genetics/Molecular Biology and Cell Biology Division of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina @leopoldina.org. Congratulations! 🎉 www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

Outstanding success: 🎉 #TUDresden shines with 5 Clusters of Excellence. @dfg.de & @wissenschaftsrat.de announced that decision today. TUD has impressively proven its claim to be a top university for the 21st century. ℹ️ tu-dresden.de/tu-dresden/n...

Researchers have made a soft robot that can roll continuously without the benefit of an external force or any rigid structures, demonstrating that a simple shape-changing mechanism can generate a self-propelled, rolling motion.

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

Good news: there will be 3 scholarships available for Physics of Life MSc students starting in 2025! ✅ €300/month for 1 year ✅ No separate application—admitted students are automatically considered. Apply now ➡️ tud.link/vejrmx #Biophysics #PhysicsofLife #StudyinGermany #Masters #Biology

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...

🚨Attention students! Applications are open for the 'Physics of Life' #MSc at the @cmcb-tud.bsky.social! Learn from leading researchers in the field of #biophysics 👩‍🔬 This is an international, interdisciplinary programme that is tuition-free and taught entirely in English. Learn more: tud.link/ayajef

"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

A great opportunity to join us as a #postdoc in #biophysics, statistical physics, soft matter, continuum mechanics @mpipks.bsky.social. Application deadline: 2nd of May 2025!

On my way to the #DPG meeting in Regensburg. See you on Wednesday for some #Drosophila tissue mechanics and #biophysics!

Happy International Women’s Day!

New #preprint: "Euler buckling on curved surfaces" arxiv.org/abs/2503.04303 @zhaoshh.bsky.social and I ask the question that Euler left open: How does an elastic line buckle within a (general) curved surface? @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social

Developmental systems have regions that deform actively or passively from their active neighbors. We use a ring of tissue as a model to investigate this boundary-driven morphogenesis in its biological context, learning something about gastrulation and possibly blastopore geometries in the process!

New #preprint: "A model for boundary-driven tissue morphogenesis" arxiv.org/abs/2503.03688. A great collaboration with @danielalber.bsky.social @zhaoshh.bsky.social, Alexandre Jacinto, Eric Wieschaus, Stas Shvartsman. @flatironinstitute.org @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social