Heraeus_combi_250x250 Poster Award for Laura Brinkmann

October 2024 - Congratulations to Laura Brinkmann who was awarded the Poster Prize of "The Cytoskeleton as Active Matter" seminar in Bad Honnef, Germany, for her presentation "Structure and mechanics of strained membrane-bound F-actin".


2024_Retreat Retreat 2024

September 2024 - This year retreat brought together CYTAC students and PIs in the beautiful Mariaspring house near Göttingen. The programm inlcuded a series of student talks as well as in-depth interactive sessions with focus on experimental and methodological challenges. Cooperative projects were reviewed and strengthened dirung very productive discussions. We want to thank Tobias, Saheli, Nilay, Pratima and Laura for organizing the programm of the retreat


2024_Hackathon Gö Cytoskeleton Hackathon

September 2024 - The cytoskeleton Hackathon took place at the MPI-NAT. After three days of intensive work, six teams presented a selection of intriguing projects. Two teams were awarded prizes sponsored by Alumni Göttingen. The jury's prize went to the 'Mitosis chromosome separation' project which analyzed in great detail the optimal parameters of microtubule growth. The popular vote prize went to the Im2Cym team which created a tool for generating a digital twin for a cell's cytoskeleton network, based on a supplied experimental image. A more detailed account of the event will appear in an upcoming publication on the benefits of hackathons for academic teaching.


Figure Bruns et al 2024 250 x 250 New paper by the RTG student

July 2024 - "Sarcomere, troponin, and myosin X-ray diffraction signals can be resolved in single cardiomyocytes" by Hendrik Bruns et al. (Project B2) is now online in Biophysical Journal. Hendrik and his colleagues were able to record high-quality diffraction images for individual cardiac cells, including both eqatorial and meridional reflection. Congratulations!


Bayer_Visit_2024-250x250 RTG excursion to Bayer Pharamceuticals

May 2024 - The RTG CYTAC students visited Bayer Pharamceuticals branch in Berlin. During their visit, they were given a comprehensive tour that explored the company's labs and research facilities. The RTGs were able to get a behind-the-scenes look at the production process and enjoyed discussions with team members. We want to thank Dr. Florian Mann for organizing this visit!


Networking_Meeting_cut-250x250 RTG Networking Meeting

March 2024 - The CYTAC Networking Meeting took place on March 8. The meeting kicked off with scientific pitches, for which the students were challenged to summarize their projects in ultra short presentations. A special focus of the meeting was placed on exploring the interconnections between the different projects and brainstorming collaborative opportunities. It was a nice event to update on each other's progress and discuss the results.


Pallavi_Kumari_cut-250x250 EU Fellowship for the RTG PostDoc

February 2024 - The RTG CYTAC Post-Doctoral researcher Dr. Pallavi Kumari was selected for the prestigious and competitive Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. Congratulations!

Dr. Kumari's research focuses on understanding the origin of stretchability in vimentin intermediate filaments and their direct interaction with actin filaments at the single filament level, employing state-of-the-art biophysical techniques.

Graphical_abstract_Elena-250x250 Publication by the RTG student

February 2024 - Excellent start of the year for Elena Todisco from the RTG CYTAC. Congratulations to her publication in Developmental Cell! The study highlights a multiscale effect connecting cortical F-actin, contractions, and cytoplasmic organization and affecting oocyte quality, with implications for female fertility.


Figure_Pallavi_paper-250x250 First CYTAC Publication

October 2023 - The first CYTAC Publication is out! Pallavi Kumari published The unique biomechanics of intermediate filaments – From single filaments to cells and tissues In this review, the authors demonstrate that intermadiate filaments contribute important properties to cell mechanics, which recently have been investigated with state-of-the-art experimental and computational methods.


Retreat_2023_cut-250x250 RTG CYTAC Retreat in Neudietendorf by Erfurt

September 2023 - We meet at Neudietendorf near Erfurt for our first RTG retreat. This is the first CYTAC event in which the students present their projects and discuss the ideas in a big round with PIs and RTG collaborators. It has been a success (und fun) for all the RTG members!


Welcome_day_cut-250x250 Welcome Day

March 2023 - RTG 2756 Welcome Day: Most of the PhD students of the first cohort have arrived and started their research work.


Minisymposium_cut-250x250 Mini-Symposium on "Cytoskeleton Physics and Biology"

May 2022 - Mini-Symposium on "Cytoskeleton Physics and Biology" took place on May 22. The key speakers were Laurent Blanchoin (Cytomorpholab, Grenoble, France) with Directed Actin Cytoskeleton Self Organization, Contractility and Motility and Friedrich Frischknecht (Heidelberg University, Germany) with the talk on The strangely (non-)dynamic cytoskeleton of a parasite.


Past Events