How does a fish know when to blend in? Scientists identified a key circuit controlling camouflage in zebrafish – from cells in the retina sensing light to nerve cells in the brain controlling the release of a hormone that pales the skin to match bright backgrounds. www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-11...

#pictureofthemonth: The pic shows 30 different protein types with spatial resolution in a neuronal „atlas“ created with the imaging method SUM-PAINT. More: www.biochem.mpg.de/jungmann November – institute calendar of @mpibiochem.bsky.social and @mpiforbi.bsky.social Image by Eduard Unterauer"

ÜBERRASCHENDE ZUSAMMENHÄNGE: #DARMBAKTERIEN ALS AUSLÖSER DER #MULTIPLEN #SKLEROSE? Allgemeinverständlicher Vortrag am 11.11.25 um 19 Uhr mit unserer BMC Grupppenleiterin Dr. Anneli Peters ⬇️ (vor Ort & Hybrid) www.bi.mpg.de/wws

Blau, weiß, grünlich: Wie schafft es der Kuckuck, seine Eierfarbe an unterschiedliche Wirtsvögel anzupassen? LMU-Forschende zeigen: Die Farbe wird über die Mutterlinie vererbt – das ermöglicht Anpassung ohne Aufspaltung in spezialisierte Populationen. @mpiforbi.bsky.social www.lmu.de/de/newsroom/...

Two weeks left to apply for our graduate school IMPRS-BI and join us as a PhD student! Find out more: imprs-bi.mpg.de

3 days left to apply for our emerging scientist talk series!! www.bi.mpg.de/ess

How does the brain maintain dormant core abilities even when they're not used? A new study in female canaries shows that their neural circuit for song learning remains intact throughout life, even though the females usually never sing. Read more: www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-10...

What is the genetic basis of bird migration? Find out in our next keynote lecture by Miriam Liedvogel @genmig.bsky.social, Professor of Ornithology at the Uni Oldenburg and Director of the Institute of Avian Research! 📍October 21 at 11am in House 4 in Seewiesen Art by @somedonkey.bsky.social

Our PhD students led a summer school on animal bioacoustics in The Gambia! Ten undergrads learned to record, analyze & understand wildlife sounds — supported by the Bridging Minds Max Planck Africa Initiative.

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀? Visit our career fair at the Open Day! Scientist, service empolyees, trainees or HR: Meet your future co-worker and ask them all your questions! Find out more (in German): lnkd.in/d2TuWrQx

We are happy to welcome Joseph Parker, the Director of the Center for Evolutionary Science at Caltech, as keynote speaker at our Institute next week! Join us for his lecture on October 14, 11 am in the large lecture hall in Martinsried! Art by @somedonkey.bsky.social

#pictureofthemonth: A male white-browed sparrow-weaver in the Kalahari savannah takes a break from feeding its chicks. Find out more: www.bi.mpg.de/gahr October – Institute calendar of @mpibiochem.bsky.social and @mpiforbi.bsky.social Picture by Lisa Trost

The Neuroscience School for Advanced Studies "Brain Plasticity: Neural Basis of Individuality" led by LIP Director Ulman Lindenberger and Tobias Bonhoeffer @mpiforbi.bsky.social has just ended at San Servolo, Venice! #nsas

How do we investigate the complexities of the brain? Step into our labs and find out firsthand! From experiments to lab tours – have a look on October 25 and talk to us about our research! 🧪🧠Find out more (in German): mpi.lineupr.com/tdot/

From DNA to proteins: How do we investigate how life unfolds? ✨ Hands-on, minds-blown: Get exciting insights into our leading life-science research in Martinsried at our Open Day! Find out more (in German): mpi.lineupr.com/tdot/

Elektrizität als Sprache von Lebewesen: Für ein “Heimspiel Wissenschaft” kehrt unser Wissenschaftler Etienne Serbe-Kamp in sein Heimatdorf ins Allgäu zurück, um mit spannenden Mitmach-Experimenten für Forschung zu begeistern!🧪🧠⚡ Mehr Infos: heimspiel-wissenschaft.de/veranstaltun... @maxplanck.de

We are recruiting PhD students! Join us in exploring the multiple dimensions of biological intelligence at our international and fully funded graduate program IMPRS-BI in the Munich area, Germany! 🔔 Application period: 1 October to 10 November 🧪 Apply here: imprs-bi.mpg.de

Lisa Fenk @fleyes.bsky.social @mpiforbi.bsky.social presenting at @univie.ac.at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social today on the remarkable world of eye muscles in dipteran flies. Check out the original description of fruitfly eye movements here: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Call them Dr., please! 🎓 We are incredibly proud of our recently graduated PhDs and wish them all the best for their future! 🎉✨

𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵? Then join us at our Open Day and get exciting sneak peaks behind the scenes of one of Europe’s largest life science campuses in Martinsried. Find out more (in German): mpi.lineupr.com/tdot/

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...

Curious about how your body and brain interact when you learn? Find out more at our next "Emerging Scientist Talk" with Christopher Zimmerman, a postdoc at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute! 📍September 30 at 11am in NQ105 in Martinsried Art by @somedonkey.bsky.social

Open Call for Expressions of Interest: become a Max Planck Director & redefine what’s possible in science! We offer scientific independence, long-term stable funding & exceptional infrastructure. Lead your own department & open new frontiers of research. Apply by 31 Oct 2025 → www.mpg.de/directors

Apply now to become a speaker at our Institute! We invite excellent postdocs in neuroscience, ecology and other fields related to our research to apply for our Emerging Scientist Talk Series. Apply by October 24: www.bi.mpg.de/ess @chr-mayer.bsky.social @fleyes.bsky.social @michaelahau.bsky.social

🧪Want to work in the lab like a pro? Do hands-on experiments yourself at our Open Day! In our visitors’ laboratory, we offer different courses – and that’s only one of many exciting program points throughout the day! Find out more (in German): mpi.lineupr.com/tdot/ @mpibiochem.bsky.social

Thrilled to share that our work is now published in Science! ✨ We found a preference for visual objects in the mouse spatial navigation system where they dynamically refine head-direction coding. In short, objects boost our inner compass! 🧭 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧵1/

Come find out at our Open Day on October 25! Tours, talks, experiments – we'll give you exclusive insight into what we do. More details: mpi.lineupr.com/tdot/ @mpibiochem.bsky.social

From RNA to evolution: Come join our next keynote lecture on the choreography of brain development by @debbysilver.bsky.social, Professor at Duke University! 📍September 15 at 11am in NQ105 in Martinsried Art by @somedonkey.bsky.social

Third-party imitation is not restricted to humans: When blue-throated macaws observed how other animals reacted to specific hand signals from humans, the birds reproduced those reactions. www.mpg.de/25325205/090... @mpiforbi.bsky.social @loroparque.bsky.social

Blue-throated macaws can learn to respond to unknown gestures by observing interaction of peers, an ability referred to as third party imitation, so far documented only in humans. Read more: www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-09... Scientific paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... @loroparque.bsky.social ‬

#pictureofthemonth: Nr5a2 is a pioneer factor that controls activation of the #genome at the beginning of life. The illustration depicts this process. More: www.biochem.mpg.de/hooking-an-a... September – institute calendar of @mpibiochem.bsky.social & @mpiforbi.bsky.social Image: Wataru Kobayashi

🧠🧪Brain-bending news: A new study reveals how changes in cell behavior and number affect the formation of distinct grooves and ridges in the brain. Read more: www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-08... Scientific publication: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

SAVE THE DATE: We, the @mpiforbi.bsky.social and @mpibiochem.bsky.social,‬ are opening our doors for you on October 25! Tours, talks, experiments – Join us to learn more about us and our science! More information: mpi.lineupr.com/tdot/

In robins, males and females sing to defend a territory. A new paper in @royalsocietypublishing.org shows that both increase vocal effort when hearing the song of an intruder, regardless of its sex. This highlights the role of female birdsong in displaying aggression: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Are you passionate about communicating science on social media? Join our communications team as content creator! We are looking for someone with video skills to take over our institutes' social media accounts. Apply here: www.bi.mpg.de/2775468/job_...

Research from @mpiforbi.bsky.social ‪in @natneuro.nature.com shows that later-born inhibitory neurons mature more quickly in the developing brain. This allows them to synchronize with earlier-born neurons and maintain balanced networks. bit.ly/3TIghem ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

To be heard over roaring rivers, white-throated dippers swap from song to flashing their bright eyelids. New research reveals one of the clearest examples yet of animals switching between senses to communicate – showing how noisy environments can shape evolution: www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-08...

#pictureofthemonth: Pairs of white-browed coucals often duet. Here you see a coucal listening to a playback recording of its own species. Find out more: www.bi.mpg.de/goymann August – Institute calendar of @mpibiochem.bsky.social and @mpiforbi.bsky.social Picture by @dudumizi.bsky.social

Our latest Cell Scientist to Watch is Angelika Harbauer @harbauerlab.bsky.social. In this interview we learn more about Angelika’s career path, her thoughts on mentorship and how studying improv theatre helped her presentation skills. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

We might be nerdy, but we’re definitely fast! At the #B2Run Munich, 60 employees of the @mpibiochem.bsky.social ochem.bsky.social and @mpiforbi.bsky.social sky.social laced up their running shoes and showed the world that scientists can be seriously fit, despite spending a lot of time in the lab!

A new study comparing five different fish species shows that their larval hunting strategies diverged during the course of evolution. Read more: www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-07...

Come join our next talk in the "Emerging Scientist Series"! @marwakavelaars.bsky.social is a Postdoc @humboldtuni.bsky.social and will speak on decision-making in a complex world. 📍July 25th at 11am in House 4 in Seewiesen Art by @somedonkey.bsky.social

Our 3rd Joint IMPRS Seminar together with IMPRS-BI was a big success! Our students shared their research through talks and posters and connected with their peers at the annual #imprs BBQ 🍔 Congrats to the „best talk“ and „best poster“ award winners 👏 @mpibiochem.bsky.social @mpiforbi.bsky.social

New insights into the emergence of inhibitory neurons: Study shows that neurons born later in development mature more quickly than those produced earlier – and help to keep the brain in balance. Read more: www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-07... 🧪Scientific paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#pictureofthemonth: Illustration of the read-write mechanism by which ubiquitin tags are placed on histone H2A along genes to influence their expression. More: www.biochem.mpg.de/painting-gen... July – institute calendar of @mpibiochem.bsky.social and @mpiforbi.bsky.social Image by Tamara Bäßler

Happy #FluorescentFriday🧪! These confocal microscopy images by our PhD student Eliska show sensory neurons in the antennae of fruit flies. They look like colorful confetti because of a stochastic labeling technique that makes it possible to distinguish individual neurons.

Neurobiology of vocal creativity: Join our next keynote lecture by Michael Long, Professor of Neuroscience at NYU School of Medicine! 📍July 8th at 11am in NQ105 in Martinsried Art by @somedonkey.bsky.social

Switching research fields or taking a baby break? Our postdoc Swantje did it both! In this interview, she talks about her journey as a scientist and her secret science superpower: munichsoapboxscience.com/soapbox-scie... 🧪Curious about her research? Come to @munichsoapbox.bsky.social on July 5!

Upcoming Joint IMPRS Lecture with Brenda Schulman from the @mpibiochem.bsky.social this Thursday, 03 July at 4 pm CET! The talk is free for everyone, on campus or via Zoom. More info: imprs-ml.mpg.de/38279/Joint-... @mpibiochem.bsky.social @mpiforbi.bsky.social @tum.de @lmumuenchen.bsky.social

Congratulations Tabitha Hees for receiving the Otto Hahn Medal! 🥳 🧪 In an interview, she discusses her awarded research on mitochondria and explains the connection between their dysfunction, insulin, and neurodegenerative diseases: www.bi.mpg.de/news/2025-06...