Institute of Molecular Biotechnology

IMBA scientists have joined forces with three other organizations to accelerate research and potential treatments for Coffin-Siris syndrome, a rare ARID1B-linked disorder causing severe neurodevelopmental delays: https://imba.science/48wLU1o

🚨 New Science paper from the Gerlich lab!
The team shows how cohesin helps broken DNA find the right template: by opening local DNA loops to shrink the search area and by keeping the damaged strand close to its sister copy: science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw0566

Now hiring! The Mendjan Lab at IMBA in Vienna is looking for postdoctoral researchers to work on an ERC-funded project aiming to study human heart development and disease through pioneering cardiac organoid technology. More: https://imba.science/3Me3dgo

#research #jobs #europe #biology

Now hiring! Join the Jachowicz Lab at IMBA in Vienna as a research assistant and work directly on an ERC-funded project aiming to understand changes in 3D genome organization and transcriptome during early mouse development. #research #jobs #europe #biology

Congratulations to Žiga Vičič, PhD student in Joanna Jachowicz’s lab, who received the “Out of the Box Award” jointly with Felix Haslhofer (@maxperutzlabs.ac.at) for their project aiming to develop a modular cell-line system to facilitate the study of protein function. More: imba.science/4rjDAe5

IMBA is recognized among Austria’s top public, non-university research institutions for its strong contribution to innovation and patent development, according to a new European study: www.oeaw.ac.at/imba/researc...

🚨 New paper alert!

Scientists in the Burga lab show for the first time how toxin-antidote elements—selfish genetic elements that perpetuate by poisoning those embryos that don’t inherit them—evolved from normal cellular proteins. More: https://imba.science/3M3fRyq

A journey from Elly's early career to her work at the @mpi-cbg.de, @impvienna.bsky.social, and now at IMBA: www.fwf.ac.at/en/discover/...

Weekend long read, anyone? The @fwf-at.bsky.social features IMBA Scientific Director Elly Tanaka in a new article that lays out how she pioneered research in regeneration biology, bringing axolotls as a model organism to the molecular era.

New paper alert! Researchers at the Proteomics Tech Hub at the Vienna BioCenter have developed a new cross-linking mass spectrometry workflow that allows scientists to more easily detect and study protein interactions that were previously undetectable. More: https://imba.science/47QaCJA

Great career opportunity at @viennabiocenter.bsky.social: The @impvienna.bsky.social is looking for a new Junior Group Leader in cell and molecular biology, synthetic biology, genomics, gene regulation, development, cancer, immunology or infection biology.

More: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...

Congratulations to Max Kellner, former PhD student in Josef Penninger’s lab, who was awarded a Vienna BioCenter PhD Award for his thesis, in which he developed bat-derived organoids to investigate why bats can carry highly pathogenic viruses without falling ill. More: https://imba.science/4r5X0TE

New paper alert! Scientists in Julius Brennecke’s lab at IMBA and Clemens Plaschka’s lab at @impvienna.bsky.social solved a decade-old puzzle, uncovering how the information molecule mRNA travels from the cell’s nucleus to its periphery. More: https://imba.science/3Xl2hJ3

In our latest interview, Kristina Stapornwongkul, the newest group leader at IMBA, shares her journey to joining the institute, why she chose IMBA as the next step in her career, and her vision for her lab exploring how metabolism shapes embryonic development: https://imba.science/49fCrxl

IMBA has secured funding from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) to establish a new position that will support data management for cryo-Electron Tomography, one of the newest and most data-intensive research areas on campus. More: https://imba.science/4ngJN7b

🎉 Congratulations to Nina Corsini and Oliver Eichmüller, researchers in Jürgen Knoblich’s lab at IMBA, who were recognized with the German Tuberous Sclerosis Foundation’s Award for their research on tuberous sclerosis using cerebral organoids. More: https://imba.science/3Jej5hy

Twice the labs, twice the cake: A shared PhD journey at the Vienna BioCenter In September 2025, a joint publication from the Brennecke lab at IMBA and the Plaschka lab at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) revealed how PIWI proteins protect animal genomes from...

Read the full interview here: imba.science/476V442

🔬 👩🏻🔬 🧪 What’s it like doing a PhD between two labs? In our latest Behind the Science, Júlia Portell i de Montserrat, shared PhD student in the Brennecke lab at IMBA and the Plaschka lab at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, tells us more about her unusual but rewarding journey:

Before Jürgen Knoblich became known for his groundbreaking brain organoid research, he studied asymmetric cell division in Drosophila at the @impvienna.bsky.social.

📖 Read the full milestone essay: https://www.imp.ac.at/achievements/research-milestones/knoblich-asymmetric-cell-division

Congratulations to Heidar Heidari Khoei, postdoc in Nicolas Rivron’s lab, who recently received the 2025 Royan International Research Award for his work on stem-cell based models of the human embryo. More: https://imba.science/4q5qjoQ

Congratulations to Sakurako Nagumo Wong, former PhD student in Jürgen Knoblich’s lab, who was awarded the 2025 Rabitsch Award for her remarkable contributions to the study of human cortical development and neurodevelopmental disorders. Read more: https://imba.science/4gPHh6l

🎉 Congratulations to Max Kellner, former PhD student in the Penninger Lab, who was presented with the ÖGBMT Life Sciences PhD Award Austria. The award recognizes Kellner’s PhD research on how dangerous viruses emerge from natural reservoirs like bats. More: https://imba.science/3KiRYSN

- YouTube

Oguzhan Kaya, postdoc in the Knoblich lab, has a research a project that was recently funded with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. Find out more: https://youtu.be/_WEhll-cirI

No research, no answers.
IMBA Scientific Director Elly Tanaka is among five renowned ÖAW scientists acting as ambassadors of the “No research, no answers” campaign in Austria - aimed to highlight the crucial role of science in advancing society.
More about the campaign: http://imba.science/3KgScd7

- YouTube

Sara Wighard, postdoc in Alejandro Burga’s lab, has a project that was recently funded with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. Find out more: https://youtu.be/jzfyZMdqduY

🎉 Congratulations to Christos Kyprianou, Postdoc in Nicolas Rivron's lab at IMBA, who received a Seal of Excellence Postdoctoral Fellowship to study the causes of implantation failure in human embryonic development. More: http://imba.science/3VUjpop

IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology: Career & Education

For more job opportunities in scientific, administrative, and technical roles, visit our career site. https://imba.science/careers

Techniker für Prototypenbau in der Forschung

Apply to the position: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/imba/career-education/open-positions/techniker-fuer-prototypenbau-in-der-forschung

We are #hiring! Join the Mechanical Engineering Center as a Technician and contribute to prototype construction in research.

📰 New paper alert!

In a collaborative project with the lab of Clemens Plaschka at the IMP, the lab of Julius Brennecke has revealed how PIWI proteins kickstart transposon silencing in reproductive cells.

The findings are published in Molecular Cell: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...