Max Planck Institute of Biophysics

Our Green Yard Sale at the MPI of Biophysics was a great success! 💚

Organized by our Sustainability Group, it promoted Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle while donating the profits to Klimaschutzinitiative-Riedberg e.V. 🌿♻️

#Sustainability #GreenYardSale #MPIBiophysics

Photo of Sergio Cruz and text: Sergio Cruz-León receives the 2026 Theory & Computation Postdoctoral Research Award

🎉 Congratulations to our postdoc @sergiocruzleon.bsky.social for receiving the 2026 Theory & Computation Postdoctoral Research Award from the Biophysical Society! 🎉 Sergio will present his work at the Theory & Computation subgroup Symposium during the 2026 Biophysical Society meeting.

A diverse group of young people in running gear smile for the camera.

Our colleagues laced up their running shoes for this year’s “Lauf für mehr Zeit” charity run 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️.
 It was the perfect opportunity to combine fitness, team spirit, and supporting a meaningful cause—all in one day! 💙
A big thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to making a difference. ✨

And what better way to wrap up the day than with a poster session? Our current #imprs_cbp students shared their work and a beer or two while discussing science at the @mpibp.bsky.social 🍺 #phdlife #gradschool

We’re excited to welcome our new faculty member, Till Stephan! He shared his group's research on mitochondrial architecture using fluorescence nanoscopy. @goetheuni.bsky.social

#imprs_cbp

Amazing week learning and discussing science! Thank you Florian Wilfling, Till Stephan and Alexandra Stolz for joining us! Looking forward to our last day on Monday! #imprs_cbp #phdlife

We welcome our new faculty member Ramachandra Bhaskara! His group uses simulations and modeling to study complex biological systems at the interface of biology, physics, and data science.
#imprs #imprs_cbp @goetheuni.bsky.social

Another day full of science at the #imprs_cbp symposium! We heard from Eszter Lodinski on bacterial proteins linked to antibiotic resistance and Inga Hänelt on membrane transport proteins.
@goetheuni.bsky.social @mpibp.bsky.social

In the afternoon we dove into the computational world. From cryo-ET data processing with Beata Turonova to molecular simulations by Ramachandra Bhaskara, Gerhard Hummer, and Jürgen Köfinger. @goetheuni.bsky.social @mpibp.bsky.social #imprs #imprs_cbp

That’s a wrap! Thanks to all speakers and participants for joining us on this week’s cellular biophysics journey. See you at next year’s #imprs_cbp symposium! 🎊✨

We followed with a day packed with CryoEM! We heard about the cryoEM from Werner Kühlbrandt, STEM-EELs from Bonnie Murphy and CryoET from Martin Beck.

This morning we travelled into the fascinating world of neurons and synapses with @erin-schuman.bsky.social. We learnt how protein synthesis takes place in neuronal dendrites. 🧠

@mpibrain.bsky.social

#imprs_cbp #gradschool #brain

What do we do in case of conflicts at work? We heard from Ulrike Trojahn and Andreas Münch about conflict reporting and management at our institute!

#imprs #imprs_cbp #ombudsperson #gradschool

We ended the day with a fun twist: the @MPIbp #openscience Ambassadors taught reproducibility using LEGO! Thanks to @UniGlasgow for sharing their #openresources. eprints.gla.ac.uk/196477/

We love science communication! Thanks to Melek Özdemir for presenting the @MPIbp comms team’s projects. Want to share your work? IMPRS-CBP offers training in communication.

Ever thougth about pulling a protein apart? Nina Morgner shared how her group uses native mass spectrometry to explore protein structure.

#imprs #MassSpec @goetheuni.bsky.social

A productive morning with Profs. Dötsch, García-Sáez and Helfrich! We learnt about transcription factors, cellular death and biosynthetic pathways. All before lunch time! #sciencemorning #gradschool @mpibp.bsky.social @goetheuni.bsky.social

Great session with Melanie McDowell today!
She shared exciting insights into how proteins find their way into the ER.

#imprs #imprs_cbp #phd #gradschool #biophysics

We had a great start of the #IMPRS Symposium on Cellular Biophysics to welcome our new students. Thank you for your fascinating talks Michaela Müller-McNicoll, Bernhard Hampölz and Christian Münch 👏

#imprs_cbp #phd #biophysics

Do you know IMPRS-CBP? We're the International Max Planck Research School on Cellular Biophysics. Since 2021 we train the next generation of PhD students in biophysics together with @maxplanck.de @mpibp.bsky.social @goetheuni.bsky.social @unimainz.bsky.social & @fias.bsky.social

#imprs #imprs_cbp

We're very excited to welcome the new generation of #IMPRS students during our Symposium on Cellular Biophysics 🧪 This morning, we heard spokespersons Volker Dötsch and Martin Beck, and coordinator Pamela Ornelas, introduce the doctoral program to the new students!
#imprs_cbp #biophysics #gradschool

We’re looking forward to the IMPRS-CBP Symposium on Cellular Biophysics at the @mpibp.bsky.social ! Join us on Sept 15–22 for a week+ of talks from our faculty as we welcome our new students! 🧑‍🎓Learn more here: imprs-cbp.mpg.de/symposium-on...

The small GTPase Ran defines nuclear pore complex asymmetry Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) bridge across the nuclear envelope and mediate nucleocytoplasmic exchange. They consist of hundreds of nucleoporin build…

My PhD paper is in press @cellpress.bsky.social and now online: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...!

Contents: weird #NPCs in yeast and flies, #CLEM, in situ #cryoET and more!

Made possible by the amazing @becklab.bsky.social team at @mpibp.bsky.social and collaborators! #TeamTomo

We’re hosting the @embo.org Practical Course on In-situ structural biology by CryoFIB and CryoET in April 2026! 🧬❄️ You can expect hands-on training, cutting-edge methods, and a chance to work alongside leading experts in structural biology. 🔗 Apply by Dec 8, 2025: meetings.embo.org/event/26-in-...

Events

Curious? Read more about the event and don’t miss future announcements here: www.biophys.mpg.de/events-outre...

Our researchers shared their work in public lectures, and our Electron Microscopy Facility opened its doors for exclusive guided tours 🔬

Guests enjoyed our virtual reality exploration of the cell 🦠 discovered protein structures 🧪 cooled off with liquid nitrogen ice cream 🍦 and more!

Science came to life at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics during the 2025 Night of Science of @goetheuni.bsky.social! 🌙✨

👏 Congrats to Schara Safarian on his nomination for the Paul Ehrlich & Ludwig Darmstaedter Early Career Award—Germany’s top honor for young life science researchers! 🎉

Hear his talk on Sept 15: 👉 goethe-university-frankfurt.de/150458316/Ea... #Biophysics #EarlyCareerAward #ScientificExcellence

From India to Germany: Pratima Verma and Deepshikha Ghosh shared their journeys as international scientists with 30 students at Friedrich Dessauer Gymnasium and offered insights into biophysics, skills & career paths in research. 🧪 #scienceforall #scienceoutreach #biophysics #imprs2impress