Mechanobiology across the tree of life

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Session
12:00 – 13:30	Registration and light refreshments
13:30 – 13:45	Opening remarks
13:45 – 14:30	To be confirmed Caren Norden – Gulbenkian Institute of Science, Portugal
14:30 – 18:00	Session 1
14:30 – 15:00	Information flow and self-organization in developmental systems David Brückner – University of Basel, Switzerland
15:00 – 15:15	Selected short talk #1
15:15 – 15:30	Selected short talk #2
15:30 – 16:00	Coffee break and meet the speakers
16:00 – 16:30	Multiscale mechanosensing through microtubules Olivier Hamant – École normale supérieure de Lyon, France
16:30 – 16:45	Selected short talk#3
16:45 – 17:00	Selected short talk #4
17:00 – 18:00	Poster sneak peek
18:00 – 19:30	Dinner in Canteen
19:30 – 21:00	After dinner drinks

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Session
09:00 – 12:00	Session 2
09:00 – 09:30	To be confirmed Stephan Grill – Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany
09:30 – 09:45	Selected short talk #5
09:45 – 10:00	Selected short talk#6
10:00 – 10:30	Coffee break and meet the speakers
10:30 – 11:00	To be confirmed Daria Bonazzi – Institut Pasteur, France
11:00 – 11:15	Selected short talk #7
11:15 – 11:30	Selected short talk #8
11:30 – 12:00	To be confirmed To be confirmed
12:00 – 13:30	Lunch and meet the editors
13:30-16:00	Session 3
13:30 – 14:00	To be confirmed Karen Alim – Technical University of Munich, Germany
14:00 – 14:15	Selected short talk#9
14:15 – 14:30	Selected short talk #10
14:30 – 15:00	Coffee break and meet the speakers
15:00 – 15:30	Mechanical and chemical cell-cell interactions in bacterial biofilm communities Knut Drescher – University of Basel, Switzerland
15:30 – 15:45	Selected short talk #11
15:45 – 16:00	Selected short talk #12
16:00 – 16:30	Flash talk session 1
16:30 – 18:00	Poster session 1 (odd numbers)
18:00	Free evening

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Session
09:00 – 12:00	Session 4
09:00 – 09:30	Physics of Hydra morphogenesis Kinneret Keren – Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
09:30 – 09:45	Selected short talk #13
09:45 – 10:00	Selected short talk #14
10:00 – 10:30	Coffee break and meet the speakers
10:30 – 11:00	To be confirmed Ethan Garner – Harvard University, USA
11:00 – 11:15	Selected short talk #15
11:15 – 11:30	Selected short talk #16
11:30 – 12:00	Mechanics of abscission: we built this bridge on microtubules Agathe Chaigne – Utrecht University, The Netherlands
12:00 – 13:30	Lunch
13:30-16:30	Session 5
13:30 – 14:00	To be confirmed Thomas Lecuit – Marseille Developmental Biology Institute, France
14:00 – 14:15	Selected short talk #17
14:15 – 14:30	Selected short talk #18
14:30 – 15:00	Coffee break and meet the speakers
15:00 – 15:30	Measuring active processes in insect mechanosensation Natasha Mhatre – University of Western Ontario, Canada
15:30 – 15:45	Selected short talk #19
15:45 – 16:00	Selected short talk #20
16:00 – 16:30	To be confirmed Ulrich Schwarz – University of Heidelberg, Germany
16:30 – 17:00	Flash talk session 2
17:00 – 18:30	Poster session 2 (even numbers)
18:30 – 20:30	Conference dinner in the canteen
20:30 – 23:30	Party

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Session
09:00 – 12:30	Session 6
09:00 – 09:30	To be confirmed Orion Weiner – University of California, San Francisco, USA
09:30 – 09:45	Selected short talk #21
09:45 – 10:00	Selected short talk #23
10:00 – 10:30	Coffee break and meet the speakers
10:30 – 11:00	Predicting future organismal forms from biomechanical insights Naomi Nakayama – Imperial College London, United Kingdom
11:00 – 11:15	Selected short talk #22
11:15 – 12:00	Keynote speaker: To be confirmed Manu Prakash – Stanford University, USA
12:00 – 12:15	Closing Remarks and Poster Prize Announcements
12:15 – 12:30	Packed lunch and departure

On-site registration fees include:

• Admission to the event
• Possibility to submit an abstract
• Meals and coffee breaks as indicated in the programme
• Conference materials
• Access to the online event platform
• Access to all the livestreamed talks
• Video library of the recorded talks during the event and for four weeks afterwards. Please note: at the request of individual speakers, some talks are not recorded.
• A letter to support your visa application (for more information, check the ‘Travel and accommodation’ tab)

Accommodation and travel are not included in the fees. Participants are expected to book and pay their own expenses.

On-site Academia	€750
On-site PhD Student	€650
On-site Industry	€950
On-site Journal Editors*	€300

* Editors from scientific journals are allowed to attend at a reduced rate, but asked to contribute to the conference in return by taking part in ‘meet the editors’ sessions or other planned activities within the programme. Please contact Catherine Casas-Saavedra to ask for the special registration link for editors.

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Virtual registration fees include:

• Access to the online event platform
• Access to all the livestreamed talks
• Opportunity to submit questions
• Video library of the recorded talks during the event and for four weeks afterwards.
  Please note: at the request of individual speakers, some talks are not recorded.

Virtual Academia	€190
Virtual PhD Student	€240
Virtual Industry	€290

Note: Accredited journalists may be eligible to register for complimentary on-site or virtual press registration. Registrants may be required to provide accreditation or equivalent proof of press membership after registration. Please contact Catherine Casas-Saavedra for more information.

Confirmation and payment

Registration will be on a first come, first served basis. You can register and submit your abstract without paying the conference fee in advance but your place can only be confirmed after payment of the registration fee.

If you are added to our waiting list, please consider taking advantage of our offerings to participate virtually.

On-site participants: types of payments accepted are international bank transfers and credit card payments.

Virtual participants: we are only able to accept card payments. In exceptional cases we can accept bank transfers. Please contact events@embl.de for details.

Cancellation policy

If you are no longer able to take part in the conference, please inform your conference contact responsible for this event. Your registration and the submitted abstract will be deleted.

Please also check our Terms and Conditions for the cancellation policy.

Abstract submission

Only participants registering to attend the on-site event are eligible to submit an abstract. Unfortunately, abstracts will not be accepted from virtual participants.

After registration you can submit your abstract via a separate link that will be provided in the email confirmation. Alternatively, you can access the link on the confirmation page directly after registering. The same login credentials are used for both processes.

Things to keep in mind when preparing the abstract:

Abstract body: The limit of 2,000 characters refers to manually typed text and excludes spaces. If an error occurs try using a different web browser (preferably Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox).

If you copy-paste the text into the form, hidden formatting might still be included which may cause the text to exceed the 2,000 character limit resulting in an error message. We recommend you clear all formatting before pasting in the text.

If you have special symbols in your text, make sure you are using Unicode characters, otherwise these will not be recognised.

Title: The title should not exceed 20 words. Only the first word of the title should start with a capital letter and the rest should be lowercase.

Authors and affiliations: Please fill in the author’s details as requested in the online form. The compulsory fields are: First Name, Last Name, Organisation Name (Affiliation or Company), Country and Email.

Kindly mark only one author in the role of First Author and please don’t forget to indicate who will be the Presenter.

Please enter your co-authors correctly via the system by adding accounts together with their organisation/institute. Do not copy-paste them into the body of the abstract text, as they will not be indexed in the abstract book.

Presentation types: When submitting your abstract, you can apply for an oral or poster presentation. A selection process will take place with the results announced 3 weeks after the abstract submission deadline (delays may occur).

For detailed instructions on how to submit a conference abstract, follow the instructions provided in this video.

Please check our FAQs pages for further information on how to submit an abstract.

Financial assistance

Limited financial assistance is provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO in the form of registration fee waivers, travel grants and childcare grants. 

Your place in the meeting is only confirmed by paying the registration fee, which is mandatory even when receiving a fee waiver.

Registration fee waiver

The fee waiver will cover the registration sum that you have paid to attend the course or conference.

Travel grant

The travel grant will cover the cost of travel to an on-site event (airfare, train, bus, taxi, accommodation, visa) and is provided up to specified caps which are normally as follows:

–up to €400 for participants travelling to an EMBO | EMBL Symposium from within Europe.

–up to €1000 for participants travelling to an EMBO | EMBL Symposium from outside Europe.

The organisers may reduce the grant cap to accommodate more participants. Recipients will be notified of their travel cap amount when they are informed of the outcome of their application. Receipts (and boarding passes for air travel) must be provided via email with your signature for all costs incurred within two months of completion of travel.

Childcare grant

There is the possibility to apply for a childcare grant to offset child care costs incurred by participants, speakers and organisers when attending a conference. Eligible costs include (but are not limited to) fees for a baby-sitter or child-care facility and travel costs for a caregiver. Please note that priority will be given to early stage researchers.

You may apply for a childcare grant at the same time when submitting your abstract. There is a limited amount of funding available for the childcare grants and funds will be distributed amongst eligible applicants.

Application

On-site participants

You may apply for financial assistance when submitting your abstract. In your application you will be asked to answer questions regarding why your lab cannot fund your attendance and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.

Virtual participants

If you are attending virtually, you can apply for financial assistance in the submission portal by the abstract deadline. Read the instructions on how to apply for financial assistance. Only submissions for financial assistance will be accepted. Presentation abstracts cannot be submitted here and will be declined. 

In your application you will be asked to summarise your current work,  answer questions regarding why your lab cannot fund your attendance, and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.

Selection

The scientific organisers will select the recipients of all financial assistance during the abstract selection process. Results will be announced approximately 6 – 8 weeks before the event start date, however for some events this may be delayed. Selection results do not impact your admission to the meeting. Selection for registration fee waivers and travel grants is based on scientific merit, your current work or study location, the reasons for needing financial support, and the impact this event will have on your career.

Childcare grants will be allocated in the same timeframe (6-8 weeks before the event start date). Please note that priority will be given to early-stage researchers.

Reimbursement

Costs will be reimbursed after the meeting only once a reimbursement form and original receipts (from travel costs) have been received.

Further details

View our list of external funding opportunities or refer to the FAQ page.

At our conferences we also offer the option to become an event reporter. By attending the meeting, sharing your insights on social media, and writing a detailed report, you can offset the conference fees. Please read the instructions on how to apply.

Visa

We can send you a registration confirmation to support your visa procedure (not an official invitation letter) after you have paid the registration fee. Please contact the conference officer responsible for your event. For more information, please see here.

Travel

If you are travelling to Heidelberg via aeroplane, train, car or long-distance bus, you can find useful information here.

Accommodation

Accommodation is not included in the conference registration fee.

As further changes in our events are possible, you should book flights, trains and hotels with flexible options and favourable cancellation conditions.

Invited speakers please be wary of fraudulent ‘hotel services’ contacting you to ask for payments, see our Accommodation Scam Alert for more information.

The hotels below have rooms on hold for participants until 11 May 2026, in some cases at special rates. Please email the hotel directly, quoting the booking code EES26-06 to confirm the exact price of the room.

Hotel Bayrischer Hof  Click here to contact the hotel directly	B&B Hotel Click here to contact the hotel directly	The Heidelberg Exzellenz Hotel Click here to contact the hotel directly
Hotel Holländer Hof  Click here to contact the hotel directly	InterCity Hotel Heidelberg Click here to contact the hotel directly	Hotel ibis Heidelberg Click here to contact the hotel directly
Leonardo Hotel Heidelberg City Centre Click here to contact the hotel directly	Meininger Heidelberg Click here to contact the hotel directly (for this hotel please use code: EMBL2026)	Hilton Heidelberg
Hotel Monpti Click here to contact the hotel directly	Premier Inn Heidelberg City Zentrum Click here to contact the hotel directly	Staycity Aparthotel Heidelberg Click here to contact the hotel directly
Staycity Aparthotel Heidelberg Click here to contact the hotel directly	Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Heidelberg Click here to contact the hotel directly

Please note that as of 1 October 2025, Heidelberg City Council is introducing an overnight stay tax for tourists visiting Heidelberg (including work related trips). The cost will be 3.50 EUR per night for the first five nights of a consecutive stay and will be added to the hotel’s nightly rate. Please contact the individual hotel directly if you have any questions.

Local transportation

Conference shuttle buses

Conference shuttle buses are free of charge for participants, and depart from designated bus stops near the hotels to EMBL and back, mornings and evenings.

The bus stops for this conference are:

• Staycity Aparthotel (Speyerer Str. 7)
• Kurfürsten-Anlage (Opposite Main Train Station)
• Premier Inn City Zentrum (Kurfürsten-Anlage 23)
• Leonardo Hotel Heidelberg City Center (Bergheimer Str. 63)
• Neckarmünzplatz (Heidelberg Tourist Information)
• Peterskirche (Bus stop)
• Hans-Böckler-Str. 22l (Bus stop)
• ISG Hotel (Im Eichwald 19)

View Conference shuttle bus stops and hotels in a larger map. Please note that not every bus stop will be used for every event.

Other local transportation

In addition to the shuttle busses, there is also the public bus 28 that serves the EMBL campus and taxis can be easily booked at any time. For more information, see here.

Further details

Address: EMBL, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.

For more information about accommodation and travel, please refer to the FAQ page.

Here you will find useful information for when you are onsite at the event.

Catering

All meals and coffee breaks as indicated in the porgramme are included in the registration fee. Our catering staff will prepare a variety of vegetarian meals, meat and fish dishes, soups, pasta, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a variety of desserts.

Please wear your badge at all times when serving yourself.

No food or drinks are allowed in the auditorium.

Internet

Wi-Fi is available on campus using the EMBL-Events network and the event specific password, which will be provided on site. The eduroam network (secure, worldwide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community) is also available.

Photography

During the conference, an EMBL Photographer may be taking photos. If you would not like to appear in these, please inform the photographer or a member of the Course and Conference Office.

Charging stations

There are lockers available next to the stairs leading down into the Auditorium. You will find some of those equipped with sockets to charge your smartphone/tablet etc.

In most places the electricity is 220 volts AC (50 cycles). An adaptor and a plug that fits the German socket may be needed for your appliances/laptop (i.e. American, Japanese, etc.). A USB charging station for electronic devices is available at the registration desk.

Printing

We can help to print your boarding pass/train ticket. Please send it to events@embl.de and collect your print-outs at the registration desk.

Luggage

There are lockers available on-site to store your luggage, which require a 2 EURO coin to operate. There is another luggage room on level E0, which is free to use but remains unlocked during the conference.

Lost and found

‘’Lost and Found’’ items are kept at the registration desk until the end of the conference.

EMBL merchandise

If you are interested in purchasing EMBL merchandise (products presented in the glass display in the registration area), please email the EMBL shop to place an order.

Kindly note the EMBL shop is only open upon request and all purchases must be made in cash (Euros only).

Nursing room

There is a nursing room available in the ATC Rooftop Lounge on level A29.

Room for prayers, meditation, and yoga

There is a room for prayer, yoga, and meditation, located on level E0 behind the Auditorium. Please be respectful of others using the room.

EMBL campus map

Health and safety notes

Please take a moment to read our health and safety policy.

• Do not smoke in any EMBL building.
• Eating and drinking is prohibited in the Auditorium and all laboratories.
• Do not enter any restricted areas or the laboratories unless instructed to do so.

If first aid is required

• The first aid room is located next to the ATC Registration Desk (room 10- 205).
• Dial the Emergency number 222 from any EMBL internal phone only.
• Be prepared to answer the following questions: Where is the accident? What happened? How many injured?
• Emergency number 06221-387 7821 from mobile phones.
• Please report all accidents to the conference officer at the registration desk.

In case of fire

• Press the nearest fire alarm button or the Emergency number 222 from any internal phone.
• A loud fire alarm will go off if an evacuation is required. On hearing the alarm leave the building immediately following the escape route and fire wardens and head to one of the meeting points
• Do not use the lifts.

Beyond first aid

The Heidelberg University Hospital or ‘Universitätsklinikum‘ has a 24 hour accident and emergency facility and is at ‘Im Neuenheimer Feld 672’. It is a 8km or a 20 minute taxi ride away from EMBL. In a medical emergency, the ambulance service generally transports patients to this hospital.

Please remember to bring your own medication, if needed, to the conference. Note that the next pharmacy is a 4-minute drive from the EMBL, but for many medications you will be required to see a doctor to get a prescription.

Ensure in advance that your medical insurance will cover you during your visit in the event that you do need to see a doctor while in Heidelberg.

The EMBL course and conference office team are able to advise you on where to turn for emergency or non-emergency medical treatment in Heidelberg and can assist you in making appointments and / or arranging transport to get to the pharmacy or a doctor of your choice if necessary. Please note, we are not however permitted to personally accompany you off-campus.

Sightseeing

A variety of activities in Heidelberg can be found on the website of Heidelberg Marketing.

Access

Access to the event platform is given to all on-site and virtual participants.

You can use the event platform to:

• Access to all the livestreamed talks
• Opportunity to submit questions (for virtual participants)
• Video library of the recorded talks during the event and for four weeks afterwards. Please note: at the request of individual speakers, some talks are not recorded
• Access to the abstract book
• Opportunity to engage with speakers and other participants via the discussion area and chat functionality
• Other useful information (How to give a good scientific talk, or to make a good scientific poster, and more)

More information about the platform will be shared ahead of the conference.

Guidelines

• Please do not share the link to the course or donverence platfrom with anyone else
• Do not broadcast the conference to unregistered participants.
• You are encouraged to post about the event. Post unless the speaker specifically says otherwise, but be mindful of unpublished data. 
• Please do not capture, transmit or redistribute data presented at the meeting.

Additional information can be found in our Code of Conduct.

Time zone

The programme is planned based on the Europe/Berlin time zone, unless otherwise stated. Please take your time zone into consideration when planning your attendance.

Please find additional information including FAQs, terms and conditions, and travelling to EMBL on our Information for participants page.