Barcelona Collaboratorium

At the Collaboratorium, our talented early-career researchers regularly take time to share the work that has shaped their journeys so far. We organise it in a simple format after lunch, but this represents a powerful way to learn from each other, build confidence and grow as a community. We recently got amazing presentations from Eric Macwan, Ansgar Jordan, Diego Carmona Campos. Thank you to all of you who have already presented, and thanks in advance and to those who will step up next!

Consider this call!

We closed the symposium yesterday with a public town hall in Barcelona: How should researchers learn to use AI — truly understanding what it does and the causal mechanisms behind results — to ensure robustness and reproducibility? Key takeaway for you: AI literacy must go beyond tools to causal reasoning, data provenance and validation by design. Huge thanks to our speakers and to a curious, question-packed audience that kept the debate lively and insightful. A big thank to our panel James Sharpe, Michele Catanzaro, Noelia Ferruz and Mafalda Dias, and our organizers Marta Solís Mateos. #AI #Causality #ResearchIntegrity #Reproducibility #ScienceOfAI #BCNCollaboratorium #DataGovernance

Last seminar of the year: wrapped! Huge thanks to everyone who joined us throughout the season and again today after the 2025 BCN Collaboratorium Symposium. Today’s talk was a visual feast and genuinely fascinating. Gratitude to Dr. Tim Liebisch and Prof. Franziska Matthäus for closing on a high note. “From images to mechanisms: quantitative analysis and modeling of multicellular systems” #BCNCollaboratorium #EMBLBarcelona #Imaging #Modeling #MulticellularSystems #ScienceCommunity

This symposium is a success! Thank you all for being part of these study days on causality in biology and the use of artificial intelligence.

This morning we hosted David Brückner (Biozentrum, Univ. Basel) — chaired by James Sharpe (EMBL Barcelona) — for a tour of self-organization in development via dynamical systems + information theory, with concrete case studies on organoids and gastruloids. Thanks to all who joined!! #EMBLBarcelona #BCNCollaboratorium #SystemsBiology #SelfOrganization #InformationTheory #DynamicalSystems #Organoids #Gastruloids #Causality

Our Collaboratorium co-chair James Sharpe was in Oxford yesterday to deliver the prestigious Jenkinson Memorial Lecture — a recognition of his pioneering contributions.

Después de nuestro simposio del lunes 10 y martes 11 de noviembre, organizamos un evento abierto al público: ¡y estás invitado/a! “Beber café alarga la vida.” ¿Cómo saber si ese titular muestra causalidad o solo correlación? En un mundo lleno de datos y titulares llamativos, necesitamos una lectura analítica. La IA detecta patrones, pero sin una buena interpretación puede inducir a error. Por eso la ciencia y el periodismo científico son clave para traducir datos complejos en información clara y rigurosa. Aprendamos a leer los datos con pensamiento crítico. 📅 Miércoles, 12 de noviembre, 18:00 📍 Sala Ramón y Cajal, plaza interior del PRBB, C/ Dr. Aiguader, 88, Barcelona 🗣️ El evento será en español y en catalán. Más información para registrarse en este enlace: https://lnkd.in/dXM5uxqP #BCNCollaboratorium #EMBL #CRG

How do living tissues know what shape to take? That’s the question behind our last regular seminar of the year at the Barcelona Collaboratorium. On Thursday, 6 November (10:00 CEST), we will welcome David Brückner from the Biozentrum, University of Basel, to talk about “Information flow in self-organized developmental systems.” When an embryo develops, millions of cells move, communicate, and organize themselves into complex structures — muscles, organs, entire organisms. But how do these cells “know” what to do? David’s work combines mathematical models, physics, and information theory to show how cells share information (through both chemical signals and mechanical forces) to create reliable biological patterns. Interesting, right? 📍 Location: Barcelona Collaboratorium 🎙️ Host: James Sharpe (EMBL Barcelona) #EMBLBarcelona #BCNCollaboratorium #ScienceInBarcelona #DevelopmentalBiology #SelfOrganization #InterdisciplinaryScience

Today at the Collaboratorium, we welcomed Timothy Saunders (University of Warwick) for a truly inspiring seminar on “The emergence of complex structural organisation in skeletal muscle.” His research explores how, during development, individual muscle cells coordinate to form highly ordered 3D tissues. Using advanced live imaging in zebrafish, his team discovered that muscle cells twist, skew and rearrange in a beautifully choreographed process — transforming from a fluid-like, dynamic state into a stable, glass-like structure. This work sheds light on one of biology’s most fascinating mysteries: how living systems build themselves with precision, adapting continuously to mechanical and spatial constraints. Timothy was hosted by James Sharpe (EMBL Barcelona) as part of our Seminar Series. #Collaboratorium #EMBLBarcelona #CRG #Science #DevelopmentalBiology #Morphogenesis #Zebrafish