Agenda
March
Event Details
Benjamin Judkewitz (University Hospital Charité) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Thomas Chaigne (Fresnel). Location: Hexagone Date: 02.03.2026 Time: 1:30 PM CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to
Event Details
Benjamin Judkewitz (University Hospital Charité) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Thomas Chaigne (Fresnel).
Location: Hexagone
Date: 02.03.2026
Time: 1:30 PM
CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09
Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024
Title: The smallest vertebrate brain knows how to sing.
Abstract: In this talk I will describe our work on Danionella cerebrum, a tiny fish that is small and transparent even in adulthood, when neural circuits and behavior have matured. Despite having the smallest known adult vertebrate brain, Danionella displays a rich set of behaviors, including courtship, shoaling, schooling and – remarkably – acoustic communication. I will discuss recent insights into their vocalisation behavior, brain-wide processing of acoustic stimuli, and how these tiny fish solve a big problem posed by underwater acoustics: tell the direction of a sound source.
Time
Location
Hexagone Auditorium
163 Avenue de Luminy
Event Details
Ricardo Martinez-Garcia (CASUS Görlitz) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Pierre Ronceray (CINaM). Location: Hexagone Date: 16.03.2026 Time: 1:30 PM CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend
Event Details
Ricardo Martinez-Garcia (CASUS Görlitz) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Pierre Ronceray (CINaM).
Location: Hexagone
Date: 16.03.2026
Time: 1:30 PM
CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09
Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024
SELF-ORGANIZATION AND ROBUSTNESS IN COMPLEX ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS.
Complex systems often self-organize into macroscopic regular patterns despite the stochastic dynamics and structural heterogeneity governing the microscopic scale. These emergent patterns, in turn, give rise to new functions and features, such as enhanced robustness to external perturbations. In many cases, however, different microscopic processes and interaction mechanisms can produce seemingly indistinguishable patterns that imply very different system-level consequences. Dryland ecosystems, where vegetation self-organizes into kilometric regular patterns in response to increased aridity, provide a paradigmatic example of this ambiguity: models invoking different plant-level interactions reproduce observed patterns, yet predict opposite responses to environmental perturbations.
Using ecological systems as examples in which robustness is directly linked to real-world challenges, I will show how this ambiguity arises in complex systems with intrinsically different microscopic dynamics and structures, dominated by interactions that are either local among sessile components or driven by encounters among moving components. I will then discuss ongoing efforts in my group to develop an understanding of complex-system robustness while capturing the microscopic interactions underlying self-organized patterns.
Time
Location
Hexagone Auditorium
163 Avenue de Luminy
Event Details
Kerstin Göpfrich (Heidelberg University) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Felix Rico (DyNaMo). Location: Amphi 12Date: 23.03.2026Time: 1:30 PM CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to
Event Details
Kerstin Göpfrich (Heidelberg University) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Felix Rico (DyNaMo).
Location: Amphi 12
Date: 23.03.2026
Time: 1:30 PM
CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09
Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024
Title: RNA design: Folds for synthetic cells
Abstract:
RNA design is still in its infancy compared to protein folding and DNA nanotechnology. Nonetheless, fundamental questions on the origins of life in an RNA world as well as the rise of RNA therapeutics make RNA design a highly exciting upcoming field. The vision of our group is to create a lipid vesicle as a simple model of a cell, capable of self-replication and evolution, thatoperates based on custom-engineered molecular hardware made from highly functional and folded RNA. We have recently developed a software tool, pyFuRNAce, to streamline the design of functional RNA nanostructures. By integrating specific membrane aptamers, RNA sequences which target lipid membranes, into cytoskeleton-like RNA nanostructures, we control membrane mechanics and pore formation in giant unilamellar lipid vesicles. We further show that mutagenesis can lead to emergent phenotypes and functions even in relatively simple systems. Since all our RNA nanostructures are produced by transcription from a synthetic gene, they can, in principle, transfected and expressed in cells. Due to their compatibility with directed evolution pipelines, and the possibility to integrate target aptamers and ribozymes, we envision that they contribute to the development of evolvable synthetic cells.
Time
Location
Amphi 12, Bat. B
163 Avenue de Luminy
Event Details
Ray Goldstein (University of Cambridge) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Patrick Breier (IBDM). Location: Hexagone Auditorium Date: 30.03.2026 Time: 1:30 PM CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link
Event Details
Ray Goldstein (University of Cambridge) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Patrick Breier (IBDM).
Location: Hexagone Auditorium
Date: 30.03.2026
Time: 1:30 PM
CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09
Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024
Title: Algal Phototaxis and the Evolution of MulticellularityAbstract:
A fundamental issue in biology is the nature of evolutionary transitions from unicellular to multicellular organisms. Green algae are models for this transition, as they span from the unicellular species to multicellular ones with tens of thousand of cells, all of which swim through the action of flagella that are closely related to the cilia found throughout the human body. The mechanism by which these organisms steer toward light (phototaxis) is of particular interest since they lack a nervous system and intercellular connections; steering is a consequence of the response of individual cells to light. In this talk I will describe experimental and theoretical work on the physical mechanism of phototaxis in species of green algae, spanning 3 orders of magnitude in cell number. We find an evolutionarily conserved dynamics, with a tuning between the time scales for an adaptive flagellar response to changing light levels and the spinning frequencies of the microorganisms. The implication of these results for the evolution of multicellularity are discussed.
Time
Location
Hexagone Auditorium
163 Avenue de Luminy
April
Event Details
The IBDM is hosting Manuel Théry (ESPC Paris) seminar, on April 17, at 11:30 A.M., in the Amphi 12 Bat. B. Find more details HERE. Location: Amphi 12 Bat. B
Event Details
The IBDM is hosting Manuel Théry (ESPC Paris) seminar, on April 17, at 11:30 A.M., in the Amphi 12 Bat. B.
Find more details HERE.
Location: Amphi 12 Bat. B
Date: 17.04.2026
Time: 11:30 AM
Title: From Morphogenesis to space partitioning by microtubules and motors
Time
Event Details
Solène Song (IBDM) will give a short internal seminar. Location: TBD Date: 27.04.2026 Time: 1:30 PM
Event Details
Solène Song (IBDM) will give a short internal seminar.
Location: TBD
Date: 27.04.2026
Time: 1:30 PM
CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09
Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024
Title & Abstract will be available closer to the seminar’s date.
Time
May
Event Details
Nicoletta Petridou (EMBL Heidelberg) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Thomas Lecuit (IBDM). Location: TBD Date: 11.05.2026 Time: 1:30 PM CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend
Event Details
Nicoletta Petridou (EMBL Heidelberg) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Thomas Lecuit (IBDM).
Location: TBD
Date: 11.05.2026
Time: 1:30 PM
CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09
Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024
Title & Abstract will be available closer to the seminar’s date.
Time
June
Event Details
Nicolas Minc (Institut Jacques Monod) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Delphine Delacour (IBDM). Location: TBD Date: 01.06.2026 Time: 1:30 PM CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to
Event Details
Nicolas Minc (Institut Jacques Monod) will give a short external seminar, hosted by Delphine Delacour (IBDM).
Location: TBD
Date: 01.06.2026
Time: 1:30 PM
CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09
Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024
Title & Abstract will be available closer to the seminar’s date.
Time
Event Details
Christopher Thomas (IBDM) will give a short internal seminar. Location: TBD Date: 08.06.2026 Time: 1:30 PM
Event Details
Christopher Thomas (IBDM) will give a short internal seminar.
Location: TBD
Date: 08.06.2026
Time: 1:30 PM
CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09
Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024
Title & Abstract will be available closer to the seminar’s date.
Time
Event Details
Sophie Brasselet (Fresnel) will give a short internal seminar. Location: TBD Date: 15.06.2026 Time: 1:30 PM
Event Details
Sophie Brasselet (Fresnel) will give a short internal seminar.
Location: TBD
Date: 15.06.2026
Time: 1:30 PM
CENTURI is also providing for off-campus participants only a zoom link to attend the seminar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85941690095?pwd=Nm5NVGhESGlUbG1FMnZ2dU5vSlkxUT09
Meeting ID: 859 4169 0095
Secret Code: 002024
Title & Abstract will be available closer to the seminar’s date.
Time
July
No Events
August
No Events
September
No Events
October
No Events
November
No Events
December
No Events
January
No Events
February
No Events