Developmental regulation: from molecular to ecological niches

Chairperson: Allison Bardin
Institut Curie, CNRS UMR 3215/ Inserm U934, 26, rue d’Ulm, 75724 Paris, France
Phone: +33 (0)1 56 24 65 62
Email: allison.bardin@curie.fr

Vice-chairperson: Lionel Christiaen
Michale Sars Centre, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Phone: + 47 55584360
Email: Lionel.Christiaen@uib.no

A series of “Conférences Jacques Monod” has been held since 2012 to address current questions in developmental biology.  The program of the conference in 2026 (May 18-22th) will focus on the “niche concept” at diverse scales and its impact on developmental biology, representing the conceptual and technical expansion of the field towards metabolism and environmental science. 

While the concept of a “niche” originally derives from ecology and has evolved extensively over time, it can also apply more broadly across scales of development. Indeed, the development of an organism requires coordination with the extrinsic environment as well as exquisite regulation between cells and tissues, necessitating communication in space and time between cells over short and long distances- representing distinct “niches”.

In the 2026 meeting, the niche concept at different levels and its applications to developmental biology will be explored while also discussing broad and emerging topics in developmental biology, through the exploration of six subthemes:

1. Ecological and environmental niche control of development.
2. Stem cells and regenerative niches.
3. Temporal and tissue-level niches.
4. Signalling and gene regulatory networks for patterned fate choices.
5. Mechanical niches, morphogenesis, and cell-cell-interactions.
6. Metabolites, metabolism, and physiology.

Outstanding invited speakers on these six topics will be complemented by the participation of more junior scientists in selected oral presentations chosen from abstracts as well as flash-talks by poster presenters (post-docs and PhD students). Flash-talks will provide each speaker 5 minutes to describe their key findings with 3 slides and allow the presenter to advertise their upcoming poster. These very short talks are an excellent occasion for young students and postdocs to feature their work and to present in front of an elite group of experts in the field. We will also strongly encourage young scientists to present their work in the form of posters, which have been extremely lively and dynamic at past meetings.

Invited speakers

(provisional titles)

• Allison Bardin (Insititut Curie, Paris, France) 
  Niche constraints on an adult organ
• Christian Braendle (iBV, France) 
  Natural variation in egg laying behavior and the emergence of obligate viviparity in nematodes
• Marianne Bronner (California Institute of Technology, US) 
  Gene regulatory subcircuits underlying neural crest identity along the body axis
• Clotilde Cadart (Institut Cochin, France) 
  Energetics of polyploid Xenopus embryo development
• Chen-Hui Chen (ICOB at Academia Sinica, Taiwan) 
  What can we learn from monitoring every single cell in a living fish?
• Lionel Christiaen (University of Bergen, Norway) 
  From deterministic to regulative ascidian development in a changing ocean
• Susana Coelho (Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Germany) 
  Molecular Regulation of Development in Brown Algae
• Julia Cordero (University of Glasgow, UK) 
  Cellular diversity and multi-tissue interactions regulate plasticity in the regenerating intestine
• Justin Crocker (EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany) 
  Drosophila in Context: evolution, toxins, and behaviour
• Joaquina Delás (University College London, UK) 
  Cis-regulatory strategies for cell fate choice: spatial, temporal and synthetic patterning in the vertebrate neural tube
• Claude Desplan (Department of Biology at NYU, US) 
  1 receptor gene per neuron
• Edouard Hannezo (Institute of Science and Technology, Austria) 
  Morphogenetic robustness via mechanochemical feedbacks
• Pedro Hernandez (Insititut Curie, France) 
  Cytokine–microbiota crosstalk in early-life gut homeostasis: insights from zebrafish
• Yen-Ping Hsueh (Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Germany) 
  Predator-prey interactions between carnivorous fungi and nematodes across scales
• Vincent Laudet (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, Japan) 
  Eco-Evo-Devo of anemonefish pigmentation
• Pierre-François Lenne (IBDM, France) 
  Mechanical control of body axis formation
• François Leulier (IGFL, CNRS/ENS de Lyon, France) 
  Inter-Organ Signalling during Adaptive Growth
• Deirdre Lyons (University of California, San Diego, US) 
  Asymmetric mRNA partition mediated embryonic patterning in spiralian development revealed by spatial transcriptomics
• Marie Manceau (CIRB, College de France, France) 
  Developmental bases of colour pattern implementation in birds
• Roberto Mayor (University College London, UK) 
  United in Motion: Integrating Chemistry and Mechanics in Collective Cell Migration
• Stéphane Noselli (iBV, France) 
  Brain lateralization in Drosophila
• François Parcy (CNRS, France) 
  The making of flowers : function and evolution of floral regulatory complexes
• Diana Pinheiro (IMP, Austria) 
  Connecting the dots: uncovering the mechanisms linking fate and shape in vertebrate gastrulation
• Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University, Cambridge, US) 
  A developmental perspective on regeneration and stem cells 
   

Deadline for application: January 31, 2026

Registration fee (including board and lodging)

• 560 € for PhD students
• 780 € for other participants 

Application for registration 

The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should deposit online before the deadline: 

• their curriculum vitae
• the proof of their student status
• the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
• the abstract of their presentation:

The abstract must respect the following template:

• First line: title
• Second line: list of authors
• Third line: author's addresses
• Fourth line: e-mail of the presenting author

Abstract should not exceed 600 words. No figures.

After the deadline, the organizers will select the participants. Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.