Institute of Molecular Biotechnology

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...

What powers discovery isn’t just ideas—but the environments, people, and questions behind them. #exploringtheunknown #InsideIMBA

Carina Seidl in the Tanaka Lab obtained a fascinating microscopy image of an axolotl tail section, showing muscle tissue (grey), neuromuscular junctions (pink), neurons (yellow) and cell nuclei (cyan).

Explore the science behind the image: imba.science/tanaka_lab

Scientific curiosity at IMBA inspired this year's art series, created from research images. Today's kaleidoscope is based on research from the Tanaka Lab investigating how axolotls can regenerate their tails, rebuilding not only muscle, bone and skin but also complex neuronal networks.

What powers discovery isn’t just ideas—but the environments, people, and questions behind them. #exploringtheunknown #InsideIMBA

Anton Goloborodko produced this beautiful artistic rendering of the spiral staircase model of the mitotic chromosome., showing chromatin fibers (white) selected DNA loops (rainbow) and condensins (red) forming a helical backbone.

Explore the science behind the image: imba.science/goloborodko_lab

Scientific curiosity at IMBA inspired this year's art series, created from research images. Today's kaleidoscope is based on an artistic rendering of the spiral staircase model of the mitotic chromosome, produced by the Goloborodko lab using new tools for analyzing 3D chromosome structure.

What powers discovery isn’t just ideas—but the environments, people, and questions behind them. #exploringtheunknown #InsideIMBA

Julian Ross at the Burga Lab imaged the early development of the roundworm C.elegans, using fluorescent labeling to mark the DNA (in red) and microtubules (in green).
Explore the science behind the image: imba.science/burga_lab

Scientific curiosity at IMBA inspired this year's art series, created from research images. Today's kaleidoscope is based on research from the Burga Lab, which used roundworms to uncover a process for silencing selfish genes that could represent the first step in the evolution of genomic imprinting.

ERC Advanced Grant for Sasha Mendjan Sasha Mendjan, Senior Group Leader at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, was awarded an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for hi...

More: imba.science/MendjanERC

Congratulations to IMBA Senior Group Leader Sasha Mendjan on receiving an ERC Advanced Grant for his research on heart development. The funded project will support research of the Mendjan lab’s cardioid (heart organoid) models to study processes that are key to forming a functional heart.

What powers discovery isn’t just ideas—but the environments, people, and questions behind them. #exploringtheunknown #InsideIMBA

Heidar Heidari Khoei of the Rivron Lab captured this beautiful image of a dormant human blastoid. Fluorescent markers were used to highlight the cell wall (white), trophoblast (cyan), epiblast (yellow) and hypoblast (magenta) cells.

Explore the science behind the image: imba.science/rivron_lab

Scientific curiosity at IMBA inspired this year's art series, created from research images. Today's kaleidoscope is based on 2024 research from the Rivron Lab, where scientists studying human blastoids discovered a potential molecular "pause button" in the earliest stages of human development.

The Jachowicz Lab studies how transposable elements -which make up more than 50% of the mammalian genome and were once dismissed as “junk DNA” influence the early stages of embryonic development. Read more about the Jachowicz Lab’s research: imba.science/JachowiczLab

In 2025, the Brennecke lab revealed how ancient endogenous retrotransposons diversified like Darwin’s finches, each adapting to a specific cell type within the Drosophila ovary. Read more about the Brennecke Lab’s research: imba.science/BrenneckeLab

Recently, the Burga lab revealed that genetic imprinting - a process in mammalian development by which genes are inactivated depending on which parent they come from - may have evolved from genome defense mechanisms against selfish genes. Read more about their research: imba.science/BurgaLab

Today, we’re celebrating World RNA Day by highlighting three IMBA research groups focusing on RNA research.

Congratulations to Mustafa Alaabo, PhD student in Daniel Gerlich’s lab, who was awarded a competitive fellowship by the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds for his research on DNA repair by homologous recombination.

Want to explore these and other discoveries made at IMBA? Check out our 2024 IMBA Research Report: imba.science/research24
#exploringtheunknown #InsideIMBA