Distinguished Speaker Seminar Series (DSSS)

The Distinguished Speaker Seminar Series is a joint colloquium of the Max Planck Institute for Biology and the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory. External (inter)national guest speakers alternate with our own scientists presenting a range of exciting research that reflects the diversity of our institutes. Each seminar is followed by  opportunities to discuss research findings further with the speakers in an informal small group or 1-1 setting.

Time: Thursdays at 11:00 am (according to announcement)
Place: In the lecture hall of the Max Planck House on campus, the MPI-Bio seminar room or online.
Organizers: Cátia Igreja, Gal Ofir

DSSS - Haplotype effects on gene expression and the evolution of complex traits

• Date: Apr 23, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Greg Gibson
• Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Integrative Genomics at Georgia Tech
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - The mechanisms and their evolvability: linking the micro- to macroevolutionary biology

• Date: Apr 30, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Mihaela Pavličev
• Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

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DSSS - Stomatal Heat Response Network that Controls Heat-Dependent Plant Water Loss and Interactions with Stomatal CO2 Sensor

• Date: May 4, 2026
• Time: 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Julian Schröder
• University of California, San Diego, School of Biological Sciences
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

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DSSS - Living in a toxic world: Interoceptive mechanisms of salt-sensing in C. elegans

• Date: May 7, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Dr. Piali Sengupta
• Department of Biology, Brandeis University, USA
• Location: MPI für Biologie, Max-Planck-Ring 5, room 0A01
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - The (epi)genetics underlying biochemical plant-organismic interactions

• Date: May 11, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Dr. Claude Becker
• Genetics, LMU Munich
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

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DSSS - tba

• Date: Jul 2, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Dr. Janusz M. Bujnicki
• International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Warsaw
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

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5th International Pristionchus Meeting

• Start: Jul 6, 2026
• End: Jul 7, 2026
• Speaker: Prof. Paul W. Sternberg
• Caltech
• Location: Max-Planck-Haus, Max-Planck-Ring 6, 72076 Tübingen

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DSSS - tba

• Date: Jul 9, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Dr. Maria Barna
• Genetics Department, Stanford University
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Jul 16, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Dr. Daniel Cadena
• Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Jul 23, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - Pattern Recognition Receptor signalling: seeing and responding to danger

• Date: Jul 30, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Dr. Clare Bryant
• Professor of Innate Immunity, University of Cambridge, UK
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Sep 17, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Dr. Aurora Ruiz-Herrera Moreno
• UAB Barcelona
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Sep 24, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Dr. Laurie Comstock
• Department of Microbiology, University of Chicago
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Oct 1, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Judith Berman
• Dept. of Molecular Microbiology & Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Oct 8, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Dr. Liam Dolan
• ÖAW Austrian Academy of Sciences
• Location: MPI für Biologie, Max-Planck-Ring 5, room 0A01
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

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DSSS - tba

• Date: Oct 15, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Dr. Sophie Martin
• Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Geneva
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Nov 12, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Dr. Cassandra Extavour
• Harvard University
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Nov 26, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Dec 3, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Prof. Dr. Christine Moissl-Eichinger
• Medical University of Graz, Austria
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Dec 10, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Speaker: Dr. Lora Sweeney
• Institute of Science and Technology Austria
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]

DSSS - tba

• Date: Dec 17, 2026
• Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
• Location: MPH lecture hall, Max-Planck-Ring 6
• Topic: Discussion and debate formats, lectures

[more]