ZooCELL Doctoral Network
ZooCELL is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Network that will train 12 doctoral candidates in a new field of comparative integrative cell biology in animals. The network brings together 8 beneficiaries and 7 associated partners, located in 6 different countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and UK) and one intergovernmental organisation (EMBL-ZooCELL coordinator).
12 Doctoral candidates will enjoy a multi-disciplinary and international environment with plenty of training opportunities and exchange with all labs involved in the Network.
ZooCELL scientific vision
All animals need to sense their environments. The ability to detect light, temperature, chemicals, sound, vibrations and other stimuli depends on an extraordinary range of sensory cell types.
The diversity and relationships between these receptor cells across the animal phyla, how they have been adapted, reused, tweaked and sometimes lost, is little known but is crucial for understanding how animals survive and thrive in diverse environments.
Most sensory cells are characterised by complex shapes and molecular machinery, first discovered by meticulous electron microscopy in the past decades. More recently, this has been complemented by genetic studies of their development and differentiation in various animal models. These two research programmes have, however, largely remained separate, and a unified morphological and molecular understanding of how the diversity of animal sensory cells has evolved is lacking.
Our aim in ZooCELL is to create a comprehensive view of sensory cell type evolution based on the discovery of recurrent patterns of genetic and subcellular structure across a wide range of new animal models. To this end, we will combine single-cell genomics, correlative light and electron microscopy, Artificial Intelligence, and reverse genetics approaches in these species.
ZooCELL will bring together Europe’s world-leading expertise in these disciplines, and thus contribute to building the field of comparative integrative cell biology in animals. While training the next generation of doctoral students in these novel interdisciplinary techniques, we will develop new tools for combined molecular and morphological comparative analyses of cell types. Our interdisciplinary, intersectoral and international training programme will also include dissemination and public outreach, and the comprehensive training provided will enable our graduate students to assume leadership roles in academia, industry and science outreach.
News
Practical course on Animal Diversity and EM sample preparation
By Asli Kilic, Doctoral candidate, Arendt lab-EMBL. The very first ZooCELL practical course took place at the Centre of Organismal Studies (COS) in Heidelberg, Germany, from February 3rd to 14th, 2025. This hands-on course on "Animal Diversity and EM Sample...
Events
Upcoming
You've got questions? Ask a Scientist!
More News:
ZooCELL Project Launches with Vibrant Kickoff Meeting
The inaugural ZooCELL kick-off meeting convened in the scenic setting of Ischia, Italy, from April 12th to 14th, 2024. This in-person gathering brought together ZooCELL's Principal Investigators for a series of engaging sessions and discussions. The meeting started...
DC12: “Evolution of sensory systems for polychaete larval behaviour and development”
Host and PhD Awarding institution: University of Exeter (UNIEXE) Primary Supervisor: Dr. Elizabeth Williams Project duration: 36 months. Project description: This project will compare the head sensory systems (antennae, cirri, nuchal organ) of closely related nereid...
DC 11: “Homology of diverse lophotrochozoan larval types and the characterisation of apical organs”
Host and PhD Awarding institution: University College London (UCL), UK Primary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Max Telford Project duration: 36 months. Project description: Many marine animal species have indirect development via a larval stage - this is particularly true of...
Practical course on Animal Diversity and EM sample preparation
By Asli Kilic, Doctoral candidate, Arendt lab-EMBL. The very first ZooCELL practical course took place at the Centre of Organismal Studies (COS) in Heidelberg, Germany, from February 3rd to 14th, 2025. This hands-on course on "Animal Diversity and EM Sample...
read more
ZooCELL Project Launches with Vibrant Kickoff Meeting
The inaugural ZooCELL kick-off meeting convened in the scenic setting of Ischia, Italy, from April 12th to 14th, 2024. This in-person gathering brought together ZooCELL's Principal Investigators for a series of engaging sessions and discussions. The meeting started...
read more
DC12: “Evolution of sensory systems for polychaete larval behaviour and development”
Host and PhD Awarding institution: University of Exeter (UNIEXE) Primary Supervisor: Dr. Elizabeth Williams Project duration: 36 months. Project description: This project will compare the head sensory systems (antennae, cirri, nuchal organ) of closely related nereid...
read more
DC 11: “Homology of diverse lophotrochozoan larval types and the characterisation of apical organs”
Host and PhD Awarding institution: University College London (UCL), UK Primary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Max Telford Project duration: 36 months. Project description: Many marine animal species have indirect development via a larval stage - this is particularly true of...
read more
DC10: “From transcriptome to morphome: development of a correlative toolbox to perform vEM on targeted cell types”
Host: European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), DE. PhD Awarding institution: Heidelberg University (UHEI), DE. Primary Supervisor: Dr.Yannick Schwab. Project duration: 36 months. Project description: The morphome quantitatively describes morphological diversity...
read more
DC9: “Orientation in lophophorates”
Host institution: Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MFN), DE PhD Awarding institution: Humboldt-University Berlin (HUBER), DE Primary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Carsten Lueter Project duration: 36 months Project description: The candidate will conduct an in-depth study of...
read more
DC8: “Comparative structure and evolution of the ecdysozoan head”
Host institution and PhD Awarding institution: Uppsala University (UU), SE Primary Supervisor: Dr. Graham Budd Co- Supervisor: Dr. Ralf Janssen Project duration: 36 months Project description: The priapulid worms are a particularly interesting group as they are...
read more
DC7: “Application of a high-throughput array tomography vEM pipeline to study the diversity of marine larvae and sensory cell types”
Host institution and PhD Awarding institution: Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) - Heidelberg University, DE. Primary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Gaspar Jekely. Project duration: 36 months. Project description: The project will offer in-depth training in the volume...
read more
DC6: “Identification of conserved cellular functional modules in sensory neuron evolution”
Host: European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), DE PhD Awarding institution: Heidelberg University (UHEI), DE. Primary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Detlev Arendt Project duration: 36 months Project description: Our aim to elucidate the evolution of the bilaterian brain...
read more
DC5: “Mapping cell type diversity in the arthropod leg”
Host institution: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon (IGFL)- CNRS, FR. PhD Awarding institution: École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENSL), FR. Supervisors: Dr. Michalis Averof and Dr. Mathilde Paris. Project duration: 36 months. Project description:...
read more