Jan Rombouts

Our cells are experts at navigating inherently noisy and complicated environments.

EMBL researchers are using theoretical physics approaches to uncover fundamental principles behind how cells use complex information to self-organise.

www.embl.org/news/science...

We‘re looking for a motivated Master student to join our team!

Do you want to optogenetically control metabolic activity to see how metabolism affects patterning and morphogenesis? 💡🧫🧬🔬

Then please apply!
#optogenetics #metabolism #devbio #hESCs

Please RT. Thank you!🙏

⏰ Deadline extension for #EESBioOsc ⏰

You now have until 14 January to submit your abstract for the EMBO | EMBL Symposium 'Biological oscillators: rhythms and synchronisation across scales'! 👉 s.embl.org/ees26-04-bl

Come work with us! We are looking for a postdoc in #philbio or #philphysics to work on an interdisciplinary project that adopts the lens of self-organization & active matter to explore the boundary between living & nonliving systems www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... #academicsky #philjobs #HPS #evosky

Abstract deadline extension alert! 🚨 You now have until 25 November to submit your abstract and be one of 22 selected short talk speakers for #EESCollectivity ➡️ s.embl.org/ees26-01-bl

Explore how collective behaviours arise from fundamental principles across biological systems. 🦠🐒🧬

Only a few days left for abstract submission at the brand new EMBO|EMBL Symposium Collectivity in living systems: emergence, function and evolution. We have stellar speakers in cell, animal collectives & beyond @priscaliberali.bsky.social @icouzin.bsky.social @ricardsole.bsky.social

Join us!

🧬 The EMBO | EMBL Symposium 'Biological oscillators' just opened for abstract submissions!

If you want to investigate shared principles of oscillations, rhythms, and synchronisation, then #EESBioOsc is for you!

📥 Submission deadline: 6 January 2026 https://s.embl.org/ees26-04-bl

Postdoc in Theoretical Biophysics Two postdoc positions (each for two years, funded by Amidex Foundation) are available in theoretical biophysics within the theory group at DyNaMo (Aix-Marseille University).

Two 2-year postdoc positions in my theory group — for studying the interplay between metabolism and morphogenesis at the edge of the Calanques and the Mediterranean. More information can be found on: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/381176
#biophysics

This is interesting

Have you submitted your abstract for #EESCollectivity? No? It's about time! This new event will discuss how collective behaviours arise from fundamental principles across biological systems, from cells to animal groups. 🦠🐾

👉 Join us and submit your abstract by 18 Nov: s.embl.org/ees26-01-bl

What I really like about this paper is the combination of mathematical technique, interesting dynamics and biological experiments which each form an essential part of the story.

Finally, we predicted the distribution of observed patterns in an amazing set of experiments done by Michael. Primary cells from mouse embryos were confined to thin rectangular domains, effectively creating a one-dimensional system: a perfect setup to compare experiment and theory.

At these transitions, patterned steady states appear that are saddle points in phase space. They strongly influence the transient dynamics, by lengthening the time the system takes to evolve towards the attracting state: a polarized pattern where all particles are on one side.

We found a way to, in specific cases, analytically compute the parameter regions where patterns form. In addition, we studied the long-term behavior using numerical bifurcation techniques. These revealed a set of transitions as the size of the confining domain increases.

In this preprint, we use a nonlocal advection-diffusion equation that describes aggregating particles/cells. Such equations are flexible and general, but mathematically nontrivial to study on bounded domains.

Please allow me to introduce... our new preprint 🎉 Together with Michael Zhao, Anna Erzberger and Alexander Aulehla, we investigate pattern formation due to aggregation in confined systems.

You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533

@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social

More info in @lendertgelens.bsky.social's thread 👇
bsky.app/profile/lend...

Mechanistic origins of temperature scaling in the early embryonic cell cycle - Nature Communications Researchers reveal mechanisms underlying non-Arrhenius temperature scaling of early embryonic cell cycle timing, using modeling, cross-species data, and reconstituted oscillations in frog egg extract.

The theory was part of my PhD work at KU Leuven with @lendertgelens.bsky.social, experimental work by colleagues in Leuven, the Yang lab (U Michigan) and Ferrell lab (Stanford).
Find the paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A plot showing the duration of the early embryonic cell cycle of 5 different species as a function of temperature. Higher temperatures mean faster cycles, up to an optimum, beyond which the cycles slow down and eventually stop.

Many years in the making but now finally online! What determines the temperature scaling and thermal limits of cell cycle duration in embryos? We tackled the question using a combination of dynamical systems analysis and experimental measurements in embryos and in cycling Xenopus extracts.

Brand-new conference on collective behaviour! Join us to foster a community to study how interactions among the constituents trigger fascinating collective phenomena: biofilms, fish schools, tissue self-organisation, bird swarms & many more!

Thanks to amazing speakers for helping us realise this!

We are searching for an enthusiastic scientist to join our team and establish annual killifish as a model system for early developmental biology and biophysics! @embl.org @embldbunit.bsky.social

Apply here:
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hei...

Please re-post 🙏

We’re looking for curious, innovative science leaders at EMBL Heidelberg! 🔬🧬🦠

Join a vibrant, interdisciplinary community where collaboration and innovation are nurtured at all levels.

Take a look at these four open positions 👇

🚨Job alert in theory/math devbio 🚨
I’m currently advertising postdoc positions to join my group. We’re building reaction-diffusion models to understand some of the crazy things embryos can do. We are based in a beautiful part of Scotland :). Please share! www.abdnjobs.co.uk/vacancy/rese...

Ready to explore what's next in the life sciences? 🧬🔍 Then check out our new 2026 EMBL Annual Poster 👉 s.embl.org/2026-poster

Join us for another year of asking the big questions in the life sciences. See you in 2026?

#EMBL #lifesciences #molecularbiology #bioinformatics

Sketch of membrane-enclosed compartment with particles on its surface, which interact with an adjacent structure

🧵 🧪 1/ Hi! I’m excited to share our latest work, now on arXiv:

Repulsive particle interactions at cellular interfaces enable selective information processing (arxiv.org/abs/2506.14739)

Where we explore how the physical properties of living systems can help cells process spatial information.

Experimental embryology postdoc available in my lab at the @biology.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk working on the evolution of vertebral counts. Reach out if you’re passionate about EvoDevo, enjoy lab work and microscopy and are into or could get into cichlid fishes. Deadline on the 16th June. Please share!

We are organizing a conference for young researchers at the intersection between physics & biology: www.embl.org/about/info/c... @embl.org @events.embl.org @intcha.bsky.social
Please consider applying/registering -- the deadline is already in one week!

🚨🚨Please repost!! 📢📢
Still time to submit short talk abstract for EindPBS2025!
Five themes this year:
• Mechanobiology
• Protein pattern formation
• 4D Genome
• Stochastic biology
• Biohydrodynamics
bit.ly/EdinPBS2025

Recently got your PhD on a cell or developmental biology topic in Belgium? Check out this call! Last week to submit your application! Thanks for reposting in your network :)

📣 Deadline extension alert! 📣

Good news for anyone who didn't have time to prepare an abstract for #EESTCBio: the submission deadline has been extended to 25 February! 🦬🧬 Submit your abstract here: s.embl.org/ees25-03-bl