BMB Weekly #11: March 13, 2026

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Robben from University of Illinois will be presenting the lecture titled "Leveraging AlphaFold to predict TCR-pMHC specificity in autoimmune disease".

To join us on Zoom, click this link. Password: bmbseminar

The Spring BMB Seminar Series will run through April 23, 2026. The complete schedule is available on the BMB Spring Seminar Series website. If you are interested in meeting with any of these speakers please email Leslie Williams, glady@msu.edu. Many speakers are planning to visit in-person. A Zoom option will continue to be offered for all seminars.

 

 

Please join us on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 for Transnational Voices, a monthly interactive experience-sharing session led by Leadership Fellow Kunti Adhikari. The project aims to connect international graduate students with transnational scholars to learn from their lived experiences across national, linguistic, cultural, and academic contexts. Learn more and register here

This webinar is designed for Plan A Master’s students and all Doctoral students who intend to graduate this semester. During this workshop students will receive information regarding the following:

• How to format their thesis or dissertation correctly
• How to successfully submit their thesis or dissertation via ProQuest
• How to successfully submit required paperwork, complete their Graduate School degree requirements, and receive their diploma

Learn more and register here.

In this collaborative session between GREAT and Grad Career Services, you have the opportunity to learn tips and tricks from deciphering the job ad to working on your materials (CV, Teaching and Research Statement, Cover Letter). Come prepared with any questions you may have. Bring any materials for which you want feedback, and you will leave with ways to successfully land your GREAT future position. Learn more and register here.

Coworking means we each work quietly on our own work while getting the benefit and accountability of working alongside others. We will start at 2 p.m. with a brief time of sharing goals. We will then have two sessions of about 50 minutes where everyone will work on their individual goals with a 10-minute break in between. Learn more here.

Founded in 2020, the GradFUTURES Forum is a week-long professional development conference that is FREE and open to graduate students from other institutions across the country and around the world. Featuring dozens of keynote speakers, skill-building workshops, career panels, the conference offers dozens of online programs that support graduate students' and postdocs’ success and prepare them for diverse career pathways. Learn more and register here.

Join the Wisconsin Energy Institute for the second annual March Madness Forward in Energy Forum featuring the “Battle of the Biofuel Crops." Four scientists from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center will passionately pitch why their chosen plant is the most fascinating and useful feedstock for producing biofuels and bioproducts. The plants will compete in a friendly bracket-style competition, with two rounds of head-to-head battles and real-time audience voting to determine the ultimate champion. This event promises to be an entertaining and educational showcase of cutting-edge sustainability research, highlighting the characteristics and technologies that bioenergy scientists consider when working with plant feedstocks. Early registration is required. Learn more here

 

The Colleges Online Learning Academy (COLA) program is now accepting applications for 2026. COLA is a summer fellowship that provides a stipend for engaging in professional development around teaching and learning, developing your scholarly teaching identity, and inclusion & accessibility. Fellows develop deliverables and reflections on their teaching practice with mentored peer groups. Learn more and apply here.

The College of Natural Science is pleased to announce the Students Mastering AI Responsibly and Thoughtfully (SMART) Fellowship for Summer 2026. The SMART Fellowships will be awarded by competitive process to graduate student-mentor pairs who commit to dedicating a portion of their efforts to AI-driven study during summer semester, 2026 (US26). The fellowship will cover student stipend for US26 (equivalent to 1/2-time assistantship). Project mentors can be the primary research advisor/guidance committee chair or another appropriately qualified faculty/staff person at MSU. Learn more and apply here.

The Graduate Employees Union and Michigan State University agreed to add 500 additional tuition credits to the tuition waiver benefit for teaching assistants. For questions contact the GEU at tuition@geuatmsu.org. Learn more and apply here.

The Aitch Foundation and Michigan State University’s Office of Research and Innovation invite applications for graduate assistantships in cancer research. Eligible applicants must be current graduate students at Michigan State University who are conducting research in one of the following programmatic areas:

• Early cancer detection and diagnostics
• Genetic and cellular changes contributing to tumor development
• The identification of new cancer targets or therapeutic agents

Learn more and apply here.

 

If you joined University Health & Wellbeing (UHW) at the 2026 Spartan Wellbeing Summit, you know how energizing and inspiring the conversation with keynote speaker Kiyaana Cox Jones was. If you were unable to attend, we don’t want you to miss out on the insights that shaped the day! Whether you’re revisiting the ideas from the summit or exploring them for the first time, this episode offers practical inspiration and thoughtful reflections on the work being done to create a culture of care at MSU. Watch or listen to the video on Spotify. Read the transcript here.

Feeling overwhelmed as an international student? You're not alone. With growing uncertainty around visa status, SEVIS regulations, and shifting immigration policies—alongside academic, financial, healthcare, and cultural challenges—it's natural to feel stressed or isolated. In this international student support group, we hope to provide a safe, confidential space to connect with others, share experiences, explore resources, and support one another. All MSU students are welcome to participate based on the clinical recommendations of CAPS staff.

A pre-group meeting is required to join. Please schedule a phone consultation at caps.msu.edu/schedule and state your interest in this group during the appointment. You are welcome to join after the group has started.  If you have questions about the group, email Dr. Zari at carpe449@msu.edu

You can find the latest department news over on LinkedIn and BlueSky. Give us a follow and be sure to tag us with research updates, publications, and lab updates to help spread the word!

The MSU Student Food Bank is a resource available to students and scholars who may be experiencing food insecurity. The Food Bank provides free food and other essential items to those in need within our MSU community. Learn more here.

 

A postdoctoral researcher position is available in the laboratory of Dr. Rhee to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying seed dormancy in Arabidopsis thaliana. The successful candidate will combine seed physiology, genetics, and transgenic approaches to dissect gene function and regulatory interactions controlling germination decisions. This project provides an opportunity to uncover fundamental principles governing how metabolic and nutrient-related signals modulate developmental transitions in plants. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting here.

The Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS) in Germany has open research positions for both PhD students and postdoctoral scholars. In CEPLAS, interdisciplinary researchers investigate the characteristics and mechanisms of complex plant traits and their impact on plant performance and adaptation. This knowledge builds a foundation for sustainable cultivation of food, feed and energy crops. CEPLAS is a joint venture of the Universities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, the Leibniz Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research Gatersleben, and the Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Open appointments include:

• 7 Doctoral Researchers – candidates must hold a M.S. Degree and will enter the PhD phase of the CEPLAS Graduate School directly
• 12 Postdoctoral Research Associates – preferably candidates who have received their PhD within the last 2-3 years

Learn more and apply here.

Looking for Your Next Step? Check Out the Postdoc Opportunities Board

This free online resource connects you with postdoc positions at 18 world-leading institutions across 11 states. Explore openings and access advice to help you find the right postdoc position to thrive and succeed. Start your search today and take the next step in your career! Learn more here.

Michigan State University's Plant Resilience Institute (PRI) is seeking a highly motivated and skilled postdoctoral researcher to lead a project focused on discovering a new class of regulatory metabolites and their nuclear signaling mechanisms that govern plant resilience. The project integrates bioinformatics, molecular genetics, protein structural prediction, and experimental validation to investigate their roles in gene regulation and stress response. The postdoctoral researcher will lean efforts in gene characterization, reverse genetics and ligand screening using phenotyping and molecular genetic approaches. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to conceptual advances in plant stress hormone biology, while building tools and resources of broad utility to the plant science community. The successful candidate will join a highly interdisciplinary team led by Dr. Gregg Howe, with collaborators across PRI. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting here.

Arriaza, R. H., Khatri, K., Abiskaroon, B., O'Malley, A., Chouhan, V., Godziashvili, D., Camini, A. M., Walshe-Roussel, B., Zhurov, V., Rebroš, M., Grbic, M., Grbic, V., Saraiva Macedo Timmers, L. F., & Chruszcz, M. (2026). Investigation of molecular and structural properties of two Mu-class GSTs from Tetranychus urticae. Journal of molecular biology, 169742. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2026.169742

Blanco-Gonzalez, A., Betancourt, W., Snyder, R. M., Zhang, S., Giese, T. J., Piskulich, Z. A., Götz, A. W., Merz, K. M., Jr, York, D. M., Aktulga, H. M., & Manathunga, M. (2026). Automated Force Field Developer and Optimizer Platform: Torsion Reparameterization. Journal of chemical information and modeling, 10.1021/acs.jcim.6c00528. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.6c00528

Ghafouri, H., Kadeřávek, P., Melo, A. M., Aspromonte, M. C., Bernadó, P., Cortés, J., Dosztányi, Z., Erdős, G., Feig, M., Janson, G., Lindorff-Larsen, K., Mulder, F. A. A., Nagy, P., Pestell, R., Piovesan, D., Schiavina, M., Schuler, B., Sibille, N., Tesei, G., Tompa, P., … Monzon, A. M. (2026). Toward a unified framework for determining conformational ensembles of disordered proteins. Nature methods, 10.1038/s41592-026-03003-2. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-026-03003-2

Haque, A. M., Takahashi, H., & Rouached, H. (2026). Sulfur in Dialogue with Phosphorus, Nitrogen, and Iron: Regulatory Networks in Plant Nutrient Homeostasis. Journal of experimental botany, erag119. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erag119

He, Y., Iha, S., Grotewold, E., & Jiang, N. (2026). Simple Induction and Detection of Anthocyanins in Arabidopsis thaliana: A Tool for Mutant Screening and Metabolic Analysis. Bio-protocol, 16(5), e5628. https://doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.5628

Khaemba, C. S., Feng, H., Chen, D., Chen, C. L., & Wei, G. W. (2026). Commutative Algebra Modeling in Materials Science - A Case Study on Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs). Journal of chemical information and modeling, 66(5), 2584–2596. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.5c02817

Kilinc, C., Babin, K. M., Pioszak, A. A., & Dickson, A. (2026). Determinants of Improved CGRP Peptide Binding Kinetics Revealed by Enhanced Molecular Simulations. Biophysical journal, S0006-3495(26)00180-3. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2026.03.008

Roter, B., Crawford, A. M., Jin, Q., Glowacki, A. T., Lai, B., Marin, F. S., Maxey, E., Shi, X., Culotta, V. C., Wildeman, A. S., Patel, N. K., O'Halloran, T. V., & Jacobsen, C. (2026). Multifunctional bending magnet beamline with a capillary optic for X-ray fluorescence studies of metals in tissue sections. Journal of synchrotron radiation, 33(Pt 2), 319–330. https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600577526000925

Sharkey, T. D., Bellucci, M., Loreto, F., Mostofa, M. G., Sahu, A., Serda, B. M. L., Weraduwage, S. M., & Xu, Y. (2026). Revisiting plant isoprene emission: From atmospheric chemistry to plant stress resilience. Journal of plant physiology, 318, 154712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2026.154712

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