Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nicoletta Petridou

@nicolettapetridou.bsky.social

1.5K followers 460 following 16 posts

Biologist inspired by physics | Group Leader, Developmental Biology Unit, EMBL Heidelberg

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Nicoletta Petridou @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social · Jun 11

Here our latest work on how morphogens trigger tissue phase transitions to tune their own length-scales and time-scales - An exciting collaboration with @zhvas.bsky.social @dianakhorom.bsky.social Bernat Corominas-Murtra and heroic experiments by the incredible @cami-autorino.bsky.social @embl.org

Camilla Autorino @cami-autorino.bsky.social · Jun 11

🔔 Proud to share the preprint of my PhD work in the Petridou group @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social @embl.org ✨

“A closed feedback between tissue phase transitions and morphogen gradients drives patterning dynamics” 🐟 🔁 📶

🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#devbio #biophysics

🧵⤵️

8 33

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 1d

Very sad news, John Gurdon has died.

A developmental biologist's developmental biologist, Nobel prize winner

His work is the foundation of much of today's dev & stem cell bio.

An inspiration to many, including me. Always asking questions & wanting the answers

www.magd.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS (1933-2025) | Magdalene College

Magdalene College is deeply saddened to announce the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS, who served as Master of the College from 1995 to 2002.

www.magd.cam.ac.uk

7 100 190

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Sara Wickstrom @sarawickstrom.bsky.social · 26d

My lab @mpi-muenster.bsky.social is looking for a computational biologist with a passion for imaging and spatial biology. A staff scientist position with long-term perspective! Apply and spread the word 🙏 jobs.mpi-muenster.mpg.de/jobposting/0...

Computational image analyst (m/f/d)

The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster, Germany, has an opening for a

jobs.mpi-muenster.mpg.de

1 86 87

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Jan Rombouts @janrombouts.bsky.social · 20d

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

2 11 24

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL @embl.org · Sep 4

Congratulations, Michael Dorrity and Anna Erzberger!

The two EMBL Heidelberg group leaders have received ERC Starting Grants that will enable ambitious projects related to developmental timing and tissue self-organisation, respectively.

Learn more: www.embl.org/news/awards-...

1 8 63

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · Sep 1

How did differentiation evolve to allow for complex multicellular systems? In this @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social‬ paper, Boolean networks are used to answer long-standing questions in the evolution of cell type diversity. @wcratcliff.bsky.social d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/115269531/j....

7 26

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Jan Rombouts @janrombouts.bsky.social · Aug 29

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.

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.

2 11 31

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Dr. Allyson Sgro @allysonsgro.bsky.social · Aug 21

Very excited to be co-organizing this meeting next February. Fellow collective behavior enthusiasts, this one is for you!

EMBL Events @events.embl.org · Aug 21

✨ How do bird flocks form or diseases emerge?

Join the brand-new EMBO | EMBL Symposium #EESCollectivity and explore how collective behaviours arise from fundamental principles across biological systems 🧬🦠🐒

💻 s.embl.org/ees26-01-bl
✒️ Submit your abstract by 18 Nov

6 11

Nicoletta Petridou @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social · Aug 22

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!

EMBL Events @events.embl.org · Aug 21

6 18

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Alex Schier @schierlab.bsky.social · Aug 10

Everything (and more) you wanted to know about Nodal Signaling. A Paradigm for TGFβ Signaling in Embryonic Development | Annual Reviews - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Nodal Signaling: A Paradigm for TGFβ Signaling in Embryonic Development | Annual Reviews

Nodal signaling molecules are TGFβ family ligands that arose early during bilaterian evolution and are crucial for several key steps in embryonic development. They regulate the specification of mesode...

www.annualreviews.org

5 14

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Mattia Serra @mattiaserra.bsky.social · Jul 31

We’re recruiting PhD students & postdocs excited about nonlinear dynamics and the physics of living systems. Help us spread the word!

UC San Diego School of Physical Sciences @ucsdphysci.bsky.social · Jul 31

💥CONGRATS💥 to @mattiaserra.bsky.social on receiving a $1.6M NIH MIRA award. Mattia's project will integrate math and physics to develop data-driven frameworks for discovering the mechanisms of biological processes.

1 5 17

Nicoletta Petridou @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social · Aug 8

with updated link:

embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/d...

2 3

Nicoletta Petridou @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social · Aug 8

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 🙏

2 25 38

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Typas Lab @typaslab.bsky.social · Jul 30

Ready to lead pioneering research that bridges systems-level investigations of biological systems to molecular mechanism? The EMBL Molecular Systems Biology Unit in Heidelberg is hiring a Group Leader!

Group Leader – Molecular Systems Biology Unit

Are you ready to lead groundbreaking research in Molecular Systems Biology? Join us at EMBL! We are seeking a motivated scientist to lead an independent research group, addressing original biological ...

embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com

1 78 71

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Eileen Furlong @eileen-furlong.bsky.social · Jul 30

To all post-docs: The Genome Biology dept ‪@embl.org
has an Independent faculty position. Fantastic place to set up your lab –great package: core funding, fantastic Ph.D. students, cutting edge core facilities & great colleagues. Closing date Sept 19th
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...

Group Leader - Genome Biology Unit

Are you ready to lead groundbreaking research in Genome Biology? Join us at EMBL! We are seeking a motivated scientist to lead an independent research group addressing exciting and original biological...

embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com

230 190

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

Theory of Living Matter Group @tlmcambridge.bsky.social · Jul 8

🚨 Join us tomorrow for this really exciting talk on the interplay between morphogen signalling and tissue organization! 🚨

Theory of Living Matter Group @tlmcambridge.bsky.social · Jul 1

🚨Next week, Wed 09/07 | 16:00 UK - Online Seminar🚨

"Feedback between morphogen signalling and tissue architecture drives robust developmental patterning" by Dr Zena Hadjivasiliou.

To attend online please register to our 📧 for the zoom link: lists.cam.ac.uk/sympa/subscr...

9 13

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL DB unit @embldbunit.bsky.social · Jul 5

It's Planarian Time at the DB Unit Summer School!
Today's practical is being led by the Vu group @hanhtkvu.bsky.social and focuses on size-dependent physiological changes throughout the life cycle of planarian flatworms #EMBLDevBio

3 10

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL DB unit @embldbunit.bsky.social · Jul 7

Day 6 of the DB Unit Summer School at EMBL started with an insightful lecture by Caren Norden @nordenlab.bsky.social on the impact of nuclear properties on the behaviour of Zebrafish retinal neuroepithelia. #EMBLDevBio

3 13

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL DB unit @embldbunit.bsky.social · Jul 7

Time for a new practical at the DB unit summer school @embl.org ! This session features the sea anemone Nematostella and explores the larva-to-polyp transition driven by neuropeptide signaling. Thanks to the Ikmi group @aikmi.bsky.social 🤩 #EMBLDevBio

3 11

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL DB unit @embldbunit.bsky.social · Jul 2

The DB Unit Summer School, "Transitions in Developing Systems," kicked off with an incredible talk by Thibaut Brunet @thibautbrunet.bsky.social from the Pasteur Institute @pasteur.fr on the fascinating transition from unicellularity to multicellularity in choanoflagellates #EMBLDevBio

1 6 26

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL DB unit @embldbunit.bsky.social · Jul 3

Day 2 of the DB Unit Summer School has now finished.
We had fantastic talks from Iain Cousin #collectivebehaviour and Karen Alim #physicsofbehaviour, along with an exciting practical session from the van Gestel group on aggregative development in wild-type slime mold species #EMBLdevbio

3 11

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL DB unit @embldbunit.bsky.social · Jul 2

At the DB Unit Summer School, it's already time for Practical 1!
Participants are exploring the theory of phase transitions, critical points, and bifurcations with James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social and Isabella Graf @isabellagraf.bsky.social and her group members @lwuerthner.bsky.social

4 12

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL DB unit @embldbunit.bsky.social · Jul 4

Day 3 of the DB summer school "Transitions in developing systems: from theory to experiments" started with a fantastic talk by Guillaume Salbreux, from the University of Geneva, who discussed transitions in populations of coupled phase oscillators #EMBLDevBio

3 13

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL DB unit @embldbunit.bsky.social · Jul 5

There's always more to learn at the DB unit Summer School @embl.org ! After two engaging practical sessions yesterday from the Aulehla and Petridou groups @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social , today we will be diving into data analysis #EMBLDevBio

6 19

Nicoletta Petridou @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social · Jul 2

Congratulations Ina! So well deserved 🤩

Reposted by Nicoletta Petridou

EMBL DB unit @embldbunit.bsky.social · Jul 2

Day 1 of the DB Unit Summer School: 'Transitions in Developing Systems: From Theory to Experiments'.
We are delighted to welcome all participants! Stay tuned for updates.
@nicolettapetridou.bsky.social @hanhtkvu.bsky.social @jordivangestel.bsky.social @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social @karenalim.bsky.social

4 16