About

Our upcoming international symposium in 2026 is entitled "Mechanochemical signals at cellular interfaces". This three-day meeting will foster interdisciplinary exchange and networking by bringing together leading scientists in the fields of cell and developmental biology, mechanobiology, biophysics, and multiscale imaging. Join us in Münster to discuss the latest advances on signaling at cellular interfaces and its impact on cell states across scales!

Speaker

Yohanns Bellaiche
Institut Curie, Paris
Scaling of tissue flow with animal size

Timo Betz
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Dystrophin as a homeostatic tension regulator in reconstituted muscle tissue

Maik Bischoff
University of Münster
Coiling a Duct – How Cell Motion Shapes Chiral Organ Architecture

Dorothee Bornhorst-Ohmstede
University of Münster
tba

Laura Capolupo
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI), Basel
Villus driven coordination of intestinal crypt morphogenesis

Morgan Delarue
LAAS-CNRS, Toulouse
Cell biosynthesis under mechanical pressure

Anne Erzberger
EMBL Heidelberg
How geometry drives the self-organisation of living matter

Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich
TU Dresden
Regulation of plasma membrane tension through hydrostatic pressure and actin protrusion forces

Stephan Grill
MPI Dresden
tba

Stefanie Grosswendt
Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin (MDC)
tba

Edouard Hannezo
Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Klosterneuburg
Emergent mechanism of mechano-sensing and shape sensing

Diana Khoromskaia
University of Münster
Modelling spatio-temporal control of mitotic furrowing

Jop Kind
Hubrecht Institut, Utrecht
High throughput multiplexed epigenetic profiling in single cells with MAbID

Nicoletta Petridou
EMBL Heidelberg
Tissue phase transitions in development: More than just mechanics

Matthieu Piel
Institut Curie, Paris
Water movements in and out of the nucleus

Diana Pinheiro
Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Wien
Linking fate and form during vertebrate gastrulation

Rashmi Priya
The Crick Institute, London
Living machines: how to build a functional heart

Simone Reber
MPI Berlin
Intracellular density homeostasis

Mauricio Rocha-Martins
MPI Münster
From chaos to order: how developing tissues regrow and self-reorganize to repair damage

Katja Röper
University of Cambridge
Mechanisms and mechanics of tube morphogenesis’

Erik Sahai
The Crick Institute, London
Signalling and spatial patterns at tumour-stroma interfaces

Frank Schnorrer
Institute for Developmental Biology Marseille 
Muscle building: the making of a fly steak

Jakub Sedzinski
University of Copenhagen
Mechanics of basal body patterning during multiciliated cell development

Brian Stramer
King's College London
Dynamic regulation of extracellular matrix stability during development

Saskia Suijkerbuijk
University of Utrecht
Spatiotemporal regulation of cell competition in intestinal cancer

Hervé Turlier
CNRS Toulouse
Inverse design of mechanochemical tissue patterning

Katarina Wolf
Radboud University
Impact of lamin-A/C expression modulation on cancer invasion and metastasis in vivo

Program

May 27, 2026

Session 1

13:00 - 13:10    Welcome  

13:10 - 13:40   Stephan Grill:
                             tba

13:40 -14:10    Nicoletta Petridou:
                             Tissue phase transitions in development: More than just mechanics

14:10 - 14:40   Jakub Sedzinski:
                             Mechanics of basal body patterning during multiciliated cell development

14:40 - 14:50   Short Talk 1: Diana Khoromskaia
                             Modelling spatio-temporal control of mitotic furrowing

14:50 - 15:00   Short Talk 2: Karthik Subramaniam Kalyankumar
                             tba

15:00 - 15:30   Coffee break 

Session 2

15:30 - 16:00   Matthieu Piel:
                             Water movements in and out of the nucleus

16:00 - 16:30   Simone Reber:
                             Intracellular density homeostasis

16:30 - 17:00   Jop Kind:
                             High throughput multiplexed epigenetic profiling in single cells with MAbID

17:00 - 17:10   Short talk 3: Nelly Drobjazko
                             Biomechanical control of cell fate transitions

17:10 - 17:20   Short talk 4: Shashank Jaitly 
                             Immune Tolerance at the Embryo–Maternal Interface

17:20 - 19:30   Posters and Pizza

May 28, 2026

Session 3

09:00 - 09:30   Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich:
                             Regulation of plasma membrane tension through hydrostatic pressure and actin
                             protrusion forces

09:30 - 10:00   Timo Betz:
                             Dystrophin as a homeostatic tension regulator in reconstituted muscle tissue

10:00 - 10:30   Rashmi Priya:
                             Living machines: how to build a functional heart

10:30 - 11:00   Edouard Hannezo:
                             Emergent mechanism of mechano-sensing and shape sensing

11:00 - 11:10   Short Talk 5: Mauricio Rocha-Martins
                             From chaos to order: how developing tissues regrow and self-reorganize to repair
                             damage

11:10 - 11:40   Coffee break (30 min) 

Session 4

11:40 - 12:10   Herve Turlier:
                             Inverse design of mechanochemical tissue patterning

12:10 - 12:40   Brian Stramer:
                             Dynamic regulation of extracellular matrix stability during development

12:40 - 13:10   Anna Erzberger:
                             How geometry drives the self-organisation of living matter

13:10 - 13:20   Short Talk 6: Maik Bischoff
                             Coiling a Duct – How Cell Motion Shapes Chiral Organ Architecture

13:20 - 15:30   Posters and lunch 

Session 5

15:30 - 16:00   Katja Röper:
                             Mechanisms and mechanics of tube morphogenesis’

16:00 - 16:30   Frank Schnorrer:
                             Muscle building: the making of a fly steak

16:30 - 17:00   Yohanns Bellaiche:
                             Scaling of tissue flow with animal size

17:00 - 17:10   Short talk 7: Dorothee Bornhorst
                             tba

May 29, 2026

Session 6

09:00 - 9:30      Laura Capolupo:
                             Villus driven coordination of intestinal crypt morphogenesis

9:30 - 10:00      Morgan Delarue:
                             Cell biosynthesis under mechanical pressure

10:00 - 10:30   Saskia Suijkerbuijk:
                             Spatiotemporal regulation of cell competition in intestinal cancer

10:30 - 10:40    Short Talk 8: Stefanie Grosswendt
                              tba

10:40 - 10:50    Short Talk 9: Gitanjali 
                              Elucidating the role of YY1 in type R vessel specialisation and function in long bone

10:50 - 11:20    Coffee break 

Session 7

11:20 - 11:50    Diana Pinheiro:
                              Linking fate and form during vertebrate gastrulation

11:50 - 12:20    Katarina Wolf:
                              Impact of lamin-A/C expression modulation on cancer invasion and metastasis in vivo

12:20 - 12:50    Erik Sahai:
                              Signalling and spatial patterns at tumour-stroma interfaces

12:50 - 13:00    Conclusion

Registration

Free registration will start on February 1, 2026 here.

The number of participants is limited (first come, first serve).