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Steffi (she/her)

@sillysciencelady.bsky.social
275 followers 395 following 54 posts

Probably thinking about meiosis evolution right now 🧬🪼 Postdoc in the Köhler group at EMBL Heidelberg. PhDone in the Hawley and Gibson labs at the Stowers Institute. 1st gen student and foster care experienced | chronically ill but thriving | she/her 🏳️‍🌈

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Reposted by Steffi (she/her)
EMBL @embl.org · 05/10/2026
EMBL congratulates Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel on winning the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.
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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 06/10/2026
BREAKING NEWS The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”
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Brynn Paulsen, PhD @brynnpaulsen.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
📣 Researchers in the Boulder/Denver area: I'm building a photo library of real researchers at work & looking for volunteers! If you're a grad student, postdoc, faculty member or research scientist, I'll take professional-quality photos of you - for free. Interested? DM me! @standupforscience.net
five photos showing researchers fitting and using an EEG cap in a laboratory. Text reads: “Are you a researcher in Boulder/Denver? Would you be interested in (free) photos of you at work? DM me! Or email: brynn@standupforscience.net.”
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Are you a postdoc or new faculty member who would benefit from an invited talk? My department is looking to bring someone for spring. Due to budgetary reasons, you must be either: 1. In driving distance to Orono, ME OR 2. Working on alpine or Arctic plants
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I have been a burned out PhD student turned postdoc for quite some time now. On the first day of my two-weeks long vacation, I am looking back to how I got here.
sillysciencelady.substack.com
I’m scared of taking time off work
Thoughts of a burned out postdoc
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SCOPE Policy @scopepolicy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Meet our Leadership: Stefanie Williams is our microSCOPE blog Director. She is a postdoc at EMBL in Germany. She received her Ph.D. at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, USA, where she began her research into the evolution of meiosis. @sillysciencelady.bsky.social
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Ben de Bivort @debivort.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We are hoping that word of this search goes far and that we draw a wide and diverse pool of applicants. Please take a look and share if you're inclined. 5 departments involved! • Organismic & Evol Bio • Mol & Cell Bio • Stem Cells & Regen Bio • Earth & Planetary Sci • Human Evolutionary Bio
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Ben de Bivort @debivort.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Hello friends, the Harvard Life Science departments have banded together to hire a new colleague working at the intersection of Life Sciences and AI. Could be primarily an experimentalist, or could be primarily a compute/theorist. academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/16773
academicpositions.harvard.edu
Tenure-Track Professor in Life Science and AI
The Life Sciences Departments in Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences seek to recruit a tenure-track professor whose research is at the interface of AI and life sciences, from methodological developme...
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Thanks ☺️
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Congratulations!!
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Max Farnworth @maxfarnworth.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
🚨 I am very happy (and relieved!) to announce that I secured Emmy Noether funding by the @dfg.de to start my own group at @unimainz.bsky.social , hosted by Marion Silies & Jakob von Engelhardt in August! 🚨 Website coming soon - open for name/logo suggestions. They better be funny tho!
static.klipy.com
Sophia Petrillo with Megaphone in Golden Girls
ALT: Sophia Petrillo with Megaphone in Golden Girls
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Congratulations! That is very inspiring. I’m currently waiting to hear back regarding my Walter-Benjamin position 🙏
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Maik Bischoff @maikbischoff.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
1/23 I have fantastic news! I am truly honored to have been awarded an Emmy Noether-Grant by @dfg.de @uni-muenster.de Since most of you are not from Germany, I will use the following posts to explain what this Program is, who Emmy Noether was and what my group in Münster will be doing. #cellbio
A picture of me and the Emmy Noether Program Logo
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SCOPE Policy @scopepolicy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
We're proud to share this interview with our co-founder @stepsbystef.bsky.social in @nature.com, on why science advocacy matters and why scientists belong in the policy conversation. Read his story:
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SCOPE Policy @scopepolicy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
📝 Calling all science policy writers! Have something to say about science policy? We want to hear it! microSCOPE is open for guest submissions—both full drafts and pitches welcome. Bring your perspective, your evidence, and your voice. 250-800 words. Details & submission: Link in bio.
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SCOPE Policy @scopepolicy.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Join @spgatucsf.bsky.social and @scopepolicy.bsky.social for this FREE hybrid Science Policy Resume Workshop led by @abankston.bsky.social, a research advocate, government relations advisor, and former AAAS/ASGCT Congressional Policy Fellow. Tue 9/29 12pm PT/3pm ET. tinyurl.com/scipol-res
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Never received this advice, will strongly consider it 🫡
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
That would be lovely!
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the Node @the-node.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I don’t belong here: Thoughts of a first-generation academic @sillysciencelady.bsky.social discusses her experiences of belonging and the burdens that first-generation students face in academia, and how she is actively combating these thoughts and feelings. thenode.biologists.com/i-dont-belon...
thenode.biologists.com
I don’t belong here: Thoughts of a first-generation academic - the Node
As a university student working towards my bachelor’s degree, I didn’t even know what it would mean to add “Dr.” to my name. Six months into my postdoc, I
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Would love to hear from other first-gen academics: Any tips and advice you have to combat the mean things your brain tells you, how to deal with mean classist people in the work environment, and if you have any ideas on how we can start chipping at those systemic issues!
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I have been slowly finding my way back to creative interests outside of the lab. This piece, where I share my thoughts on being a first-generation academic, is one of the results: thenode.biologists.com/i-dont-belon...
thenode.biologists.com
I don’t belong here: Thoughts of a first-generation academic - the Node
As a university student working towards my bachelor’s degree, I didn’t even know what it would mean to add “Dr.” to my name. Six months into my postdoc, I
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EMBO @embo.org · 25/08/2026
Don't miss out! Register and submit your abstract now until 30 September for the EMBO Young Scientists’ Forum #EYSF2026 taking place in Dubrovnik, #Croatia, 28–30 October 2026. 🧪 event.fourwaves.com/eysf #LifeSciences #EarlyCareerResearchers
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Wyoming Wormboy @wyomingwormboy.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
With most 1st-year PhD students starting graduate programs this month, it seemed like a good time to address the most important dilemma faced by many incoming PhD students—how to choose rotation labs. Although perhaps obvious to those with experience, many of the key factors are often overlooked.
helpimascientist.com
Choosing rotations and a dissertation lab - Help, I'm a Scientist!
By David Fay Choosing a lab in which to carry out your PhD is admittedly one of the more important decisions you’ll make in your early scientific career. But it’s important to have some perspective. F...
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
From the abstract: “promoting a woman to Associate Professor increases female faculty by 1.5 members after 15 years, leads to six additional female PhD graduates over the following decade, and raises the number who subsequently remain in academia and reach tenured positions”
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
As I was trying to figure out how to properly visualize some data, @acollierastro.bsky.social’s voice popped into my brain reminding me of histograms (instead of violin plots because they kind if didn’t show what I wanted to convey). If you aren’t familiar with her work, I highly recommend her work!
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Reposted by Steffi (she/her)
Gabrielle A. Perry, MPH @geauxgabrielle.blacksky.app · 27/07/2026
I’m so happy and proud to announce that my nonprofit is awarding $100,000 in scholarships this upcoming 7th cycle of The Perry Second Chances Scholarship. The largest amount of money we have EVER awarded in one cycle. $10,000 PER WOMAN. Subscribe to thurmanperryfoundation.org to stay up to date.
THE PERRY SECOND CHANCES SCHOLARSHIP
$100.000
vailable
'Everyone Deserves A Second Chance!
- Gabrielle Angelique Perry, MPH, Founder & Executive Director
The mission of The Perry 'Second Chances' Scholarship is to annually provide fiscal resources to formerly incarcerated women and the daughters of anyone who has been impacted by incarceration. Women who are currently enrolled or recently accepted into an accredited 2-to-4-year educational institution will be given a one-time, $10,000 scholarship, paid directly to their institutions, to support their education & needs in order to thrive in their educational endeavors.
Applications open 11.15.2026 and close 2.27.2027, at www.theperryscholarship.org
Learn more at thurmanperryfoundation.org
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Ann Kennedy @antihebbiann.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Happy Monday! Come learn how jellyfish swim. In a review led by fluid dynamics maestro Alex Hoover, we outline how neuromechanical modeling will help us understand how modulation of neural activity allows jellyfish to jet and pirouette through fluids www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Figure 1. The fluid dynamics of jellyfish swimming. a) Minimum intensity projection of a video clip of swimming Clytia hemisphaerica recorded at 30 fps; dark spots capture trajectories of tentacle bulbs, mouth, and gonads over time. Blue outlines approximate the margin of jellyfish on the frame of maximum extent on two successive swim pulses; green arrow shows direction of swimming. b) Minimum intensity projection of the same animal during a period of turning, showing asymmetry in the movement of bulbs on the inside vs outside of the turn. c) 3D diagram of the bell of a swimming jellyfish, showing starting and stopping vortex rings and fluid flow into (blue) vs away from (purple) the bell during the passive energy recapture phase of swimming. d) Cross section of a swimming jellyfish showing fluid vorticity toward the end of a swim pulse relaxation phase, showing locations of the starting and stopping vortex rings and the boundary layer. e) Swim pulse dynamics of an oblate jellyfish under symmetric bell contraction, producing straight swimming. The starting vortex ring is generated by active muscle contraction of the bell (ii, purple arrows), while the stopping vortex ring is generated by passive elastic relaxation (iii-iv, green arrows) from the mesoglea. Forward motion during the relaxation phase arises from the interaction of the starting and stopping vortex rings, with the starting vortex ring pulling fluid away from the bell and the stopping vortex ring directing fluid into the subumbrellar cavity. f) Swim pulse dynamics under asymmetric bell contraction, producing turning. Initially at rest (i), the neuronal signal initiates a muscular contraction in the bell margin on the inside of the turn before a stronger contraction of the bell margin is observed on the outside of the turn (ii-iii, purple arrows). The corresponding passive restoration yields a stronger expansion of the bell margin on the outside of the turn (iv, green arrows).
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I used to donate blood and plasma regularly. Now, I'm no longer allowed to due to medical reasons but if you can, this is such an easy thing you can do and it LITERALLY is life-saving. Please consider it and take a couple friends with you to make it a group activity.
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Unfortunately, not surprising. When I first heard about this, part of me immediately was worried that this was done by a non-cishet white christian person meaning that the german far-right would immediately jump onto this. Of course, ignoring that most anti-queer violence comes from their own rows.
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
If you work in academia and are chronically ill/disabled: I am working on a little something as I am hoping to contribute to a more accessible space for us. If you have any particular questions/concerns that you think need highlighting, let me know here or in a dm (as you feel comfortable). 🧪🧬👩‍🔬
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Congratulations, Yehu!
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Leah Rosin @scienceleah.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
New paper from the Rosin lab in collaboration with the Hawley lab 🎉 Spearheaded by postdoc Leif Benner. We use imaging and RNA-seq to better understand apyrene meiosis. Programmed meiotic errors facilitate dichotomous sperm production in the silkworm, Bombyx mori. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Awesome work and so glad to see it out! Congrats to everyone 👏🏻
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Thank you, Leo 😊
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
What a day it was! There are many past versions of me who did not believe that I could make it this far. Proud of myself for overcoming hurdle after hurdle after hurdle. Thank you to everyone who supported me on my way!
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
This #MicroscopyMonday shows the synaptonemal complex, which is a multi-protein structure that forms in early #meiosis between the maternal and paternal copy of each #chromosome. Here, we see two such structures in the fruit fly. @sillysciencelady.bsky.social (Hawley Lab & Gibson Lab)
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
My second PhD project is now out as a preprint! Our observations of the synaptonemal complex in wild-type Nematostella suggested an incredible degree of conservation. Then, our mutants told a story of dramatic functional divergence. We were bamboozled on a regular basis with this one! 🧪 #meiosis4eva
biorxiv.org
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
I’m so excited (and nervous!!) to be defending my PhD thesis on February 5th! If anyone is interested in virtually attending my thesis seminar, let me know and I’ll send you the zoom link. My seminar will focus on the Nematostella part of my thesis research. #meiosis4eva
A flyer from the Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research advertising the upcoming thesis defense seminar of Stefanie Williams. The title provided is: “A complex story: Probing the evolution of chromosome synapsis proteins in Nematostella vectensis and Drosophila melanogaster. It will take place on Thursday, February 5th of 2026 at 11:00 AM Kansas City local time. The thesis advisors listed are Matt Gibson and Scott Hawley
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Having been a PhD student of Scott’s is one of my greatest honors. I consider myself very lucky to have learned from him and that I found a research topic that I absolutely love, even on the most miserable days. 🧬
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the Node @the-node.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
A bittersweet acceptance: Between a manuscript and grief Stefanie Williams @sillysciencelady.bsky.social shares the story behind her paper on the synaptonemal complex, including a tribute to her supervisor Scott Hawley, who passed away while Stefanie was completing the research.
thenode.biologists.com
A bittersweet acceptance: Between a manuscript and grief - the Node
I was so excited when I received notification that my first first-author research paper was accepted. My excitement quickly turned into sadness with the realization that my co-PI was not seeing our vi...
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on. (Please repost to reach a broad audience.)
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Just realized my comment didn’t really make sense because Scott also loved diet Coke, I guess my brain hadn’t started up yet when I initially replied 😂😂😂
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Thank you!
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Thank you! Oh, he absolutely would have! I would say I had one yesterday but I do prefer diet Coke to Coke anyways, so that’s nothing out of the ordinary for me either 😂
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
#meiosis4eva #meiosis
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
My Behind the paper story on @the-node.bsky.social gives a digestible overview of our key findings but it is also my personal story of working on this paper and seeing it get accepted after Scott passed away thenode.biologists.com/a-bitterswee...
thenode.biologists.com
A bittersweet acceptance: Between a manuscript and grief - the Node
I was so excited when I received notification that my first first-author research paper was accepted. My excitement quickly turned into sadness with the realization that my co-PI was not seeing our vi...
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Very exciting news: My first first-author paper is now out (open access!) in Chromosoma! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
The synaptonemal complex component corolla regulates meiotic crossover formation in Drosophila melanogaster - Chromosoma
In Drosophila melanogaster females, as in most organisms, the segregation of homologous chromosomes in meiosis depends on the formation of crossovers between them. In most cases, crossovers require th...
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Steffi (she/her) @sillysciencelady.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
Damn now I want goth plates
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Valérie Borde @lab-borde.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
We are hiring! We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic postdoc to study mammalian DSB repair using innovative genomic approaches. Our lab is at the Curie Institute in Paris and offers vibrant scientific environnement and cutting edge platforms. Please repost or apply here: lnkd.in/eJ9q3QrR
lnkd.in
Institut Curie hiring Postdoctoral Position in Mammalian DSB Repair (F/M) in Paris, Île-de-France, France | LinkedIn
Posted 8:04:09 PM. About UsInstitut Curie Research CenterInstitut Curie is a major player in the research and fight…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
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Brooke Fitzwater, PhD (she/her) 🐟🪱🏳️‍🌈♾️ @oceanfilly.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
With many postdoc grants like the NSF PRFB, Ford Fellowship, and Hanna H. Gray fellowships disappearing, I am currently looking for grants that could fund incoming postdoctoral scholars. Here is a thread of some of them 🧵
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