This was great fun in 2024! Really worthwhile supporting this sustainable conference format, particularly if you enjoy dipping into talks at all hours of the day
Hopefully I will see some GMT +00:00 inhabitants in Manchester and the rest of you on the big screen!
MEEHubs2026 registration and abstract submission is now online! 🚨🦠✨
Join us Aug 3 - 5, 2026 at one of the 7 hubs or online.
We are incredibly excited about our lineup of speakers, and hope that you submit an abstract to contribute too!
More information and registration links at:
meehubs.org
Book cover with a green gradient background for "The Organism–Environment Pairing: A Historical and Philosophical Reappraisal" by Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda (MIT Press, 2026). The book series label “The Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology” appears at the top. The title is set in large, bold lettering using three colors: white (“The” and “Pairing”), warm yellow (“Organism–”), and bright green (“Environment”). The subtitle appears below in smaller white text, and the author’s name is printed at the bottom. In the lower right, a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) rests on clusters of pink milkweed flowers. Behind it, a large pale-green butterfly silhouette fills the background; its outline follows the shape of a red lacewing butterfly (Cethosia biblis). The layered butterflies visually echo the book’s central idea of an organism–environment pairing.
What a joy to finally share the cover of The Organism–Environment Pairing (@mitpress.bsky.social)! The 📗 will be out on May 12 📆! I look forward to the conversations it sparks among scientists, philosophers & historians! mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282... #evosky #histsci #philsci #philsky #booksky 🌱🐋
Register for Theory across Biology 2026: 12 June, Bern.
One-day meeting on mathematical & theoretical approaches in biology with chalk talks and flip-chart sessions. Ideal for theorists, modelers, and interdisciplinary biologists.
Abstracts by: 10 May 2026
Register by: 24 May 2026: buff.ly/svAZ8NF
Last few days before the deadline! Please get in touch if you (or anyone you know) are interested
I'm looking for students with a background in any of a broad range of subjects, including microbiology, theoretical ecology, computational biology and dynamical systems.
If that sounds intriguing get in touch and we can discuss how to tailor the general topic to your specific interests!
Do you have an interest in quantitative microbiology and interdisciplinary research? I'm recruiting a UK PhD student to develop high-throughput ecological screens to help us understand how chemical inputs impact microbial ecosystems: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
This is from Woodward and Diament (1991, www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2...) - is it what you were looking for? There's also another version of the same thing here: sites.lifesci.ucla.edu/eeb-kraft/wp...
One week left to submit an abstract for this! Sun, sea and spectacular speakers - what more can you ask for from a conference?
If you are interested but are being put off by travel costs or fees, get in touch - we will be offering bursaries and fee discounts for selected participants
🚨 Fully funded PhD studentships 🚨
We have three fully funded PhD studentships available for Oct 26 start. Funded by the MRC DiMeN programme & the BBSRC Yorkshire Biosciences DTP. Details below as they are advertised. Contact me here or via email for more details or to discuss an application
Aww thanks Snorre
🔊 Applications for the tenure-track illuminate global challenge fellowships at Queen’s are now open!
Comes with 5 years protected research time, a PhD studentship, & 60k start-up. I had one of these before getting my FLF, happy to chat to anyone interested!
www.qub.ac.uk/Research/fel...
I am excited to announce two PhD opportunities! Come and join our interdisciplinary team in Sheffield, UK.
- Destroying forever chemicals with microbes and cold plasma: tinyurl.com/mth8ymx5
- Learning how motile bacteria make decisions: tinyurl.com/2hmc9a8u
UK and overseas students welcome to apply!
As well as providing a networking space for the next generation of biological physicists, we will enjoy talks on:
• Transport across scales
• Data-driven modelling
• Active matter
• AI and machine learning
• Cells and tissues
• Animal behaviour
• Ecology and evolution
• Non-equilibrium systems
The Institut d'Études Scientifiques (IESC), on the coast of Corsica.
I'm delighted to announce that the Interdisciplinary Challenges (IntCha) meeting is returning in April 2026! Abstract submission is now open.
We encourage young scientists working at the interface between biology and physics to join us at the IESC in Corsica. Website here: intcha26.sciencesconf.org
Independent research fellowships leading to tenured positions at the John Innes Centre.
Repost = nice. Thank you very much!!!
We’re back! ✨ The next #MeeHubs26 is coming with 7 hubs across the globe and incredible lineups at each. Can’t wait to share more soon! meehubs.org
Excited to share the first results from my postdoc at @dmf-unil.bsky.social with @saramitri.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
New Independent Fellowship position in Microbiology to launch your lab in our department @johninnescentre.bsky.social (UK). We are conducting a broad search in the area of plant-associated microbial interactions. Message me if you have any questions.
Apply here: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/in...
New tenure track assistant professor position in molecular microbiology in our department @dmf-unil.bsky.social @unil.bsky.social! We are casting a wide net for an experimental molecular microbiologist. Apply here: wwwfbm.unil.ch/releve/appli...
Modeling predicts that metabolic diversity increases the ecological impacts of weapon gene transfer. Modeling scenarios for each column are shown across the top row. Bottom row: Example dynamics of the strains (attacker, target, transconjugant) during a contest using parameters that correspond to the cross (X) shown in the parameter sweeps directly below.
#Bacteria use weapons to outcompete rivals, but what happens if they're transferred? @prokaryota.bsky.social @jdpal.bsky.social &co show that HGT of toxin #plasmids is rare but recipients can thrive under relaxed nutrient competition, reshaping bacterial warfare @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/43vC3X7
If you're at the @physicsoflifeuk.bsky.social Physics of Life 2025 conference, come talk to me at my poster (#23) later on today! I'm looking at fixation and extinction on time-fluctuating metapopulations 🦠
Back to active matter; a new study I played a small role in as an experimentalist is now out in @naturephysics.bsky.social.
We find statistical signatures pointing to universal features of active systems, including conformal invariance:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
There is still time to apply to the Alma Dal Co School on Collective Behaviour! The deadline has been extended till March 16th. We would especially welcome applications from members of underrepresented groups. Limited travel grants are available. Apply now and join us! almadalcoschool.github.io
Come join our fun community @ox.ac.uk! Two postdoc positions available in the fabulous Slack and Foster labs www.fosterlab.uk/vacancies
Our framework explaining why ecological interactions change between contexts is out in Ecology Letters!
A lovely collaboration with @saramitri.bsky.social which provides experimentally-testable links between the physiology and ecology of microbes.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Please share: Still plenty of time to apply for PhD projects in my lab using single-molecule methods to look at disordered regions and condensin complexes!
Contact me at e.cutts@sheffield.ac.uk
For details on how to apply: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
PopDyn is on Winter break. We are working on the list of speakers for the 2025
sites.google.com/view/popdyn/
I take the occasion to share the Alma Dal Co School on Collective Behaviour (Venice 29/09-4/10 2025) with an amazing line up of speakers in memory of Alma Dal Co.
almadalcoschool.github.io
Thanks to co-authors Sean Booth and Kevin Foster!
New(ish) paper out: It's not just the Rohirrim who fight better when mobile.
We combine active matter theory with experiments to explore the impact of bacterial motility on short-range weapons. And it's big - we find up to a 10,000x enhancement of weapon efficacy!
doi.org/10.1093/isme...