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EMBO Workshop

Intracellular mechanics and organelle mechanobiology

16 – 20 February 2026 | Barcelona, Spain

  • Registration Deadline (in person)
  • 15 December 2025
  • Registration Deadline (virtual)
  • 1 February 2026
  • Abstract Submission Deadline
  • 14 November 2025
  • Chosen Participants Will Be Notified By
  • 1 December 2025
  • Payment Deadline (in person)
  • 31 December 2025
  • Payment Deadline (virtual)
  • 1 February 2026

Apply now!

Use #EMBOmechanobio

Download calendar invitation

About the Workshop

Mechanobiology is an interdisciplinary field that emerges at the cross-section of biology, physics and engineering. It aims to understand how living cells, tissues and animals sense and respond to mechanical force. In recent decades, we have gained significant insights into how the cytoskeleton and plasma membrane drive cellular functions, cell movements, and tissue shaping during development. Despite the recognized importance of mechanical forces on multiple scales, our understanding of cellular mechanics and force sensing has largely ignored the cell's interior and their organelles. However, evidence accumulates that the nucleus, mitochondria, and membraneless organelles are mechanosensitive, yet their force responses within intact cells, material properties, and physiological roles in mechanosensitive functions remain largely unexplored. With this Workshop, we aim to unite mechanobiologists and phase separation experts to exchange emerging ideas, share techniques, and foster collaborations, thereby advancing our understanding of intracellular mechanics and organelle mechanobiology in health and disease.


About EMBO Courses and Workshops

EMBO Courses and Workshops are selected for their excellent scientific quality and timelines, provision of good networking activities for all participants and speaker gender diversity (at least 40% of speakers must be from the underrepresented gender).

Organisers are encouraged to implement measures to make the meeting environmentally more sustainable.

 

Speakers

 

Programme

 

Registration

  • Registration Deadline (in person)
  • 15 December 2025
  • Registration Deadline (virtual)
  • 1 February 2026
  • Abstract Submission Deadline
  • 14 November 2025
  • Chosen Participants Will Be Notified By
  • 1 December 2025
  • Payment Deadline (in person)
  • 31 December 2025
  • Payment Deadline (virtual)
  • 1 February 2026

 

  • STUDENT/POSTDOCS EUR 300
  • ACADEMIC EUR 400
  • INDUSTRY EUR 1000

Registration includes:

On-site registration fees include admission, conference materials, lunches and coffee breaks, and the Welcome Reception and the Gala Dinner. Participants are expected to book and pay their own accommodation and travel expenses.

Virtual registration fees include access to all of the talks (livestreamed and on demand) and facility to submit questions.

Childcare service will be covered during the duration of the event.

Registration information:

Travel grants and registration fee waivers are available for participants.

Selection of awardees is handled directly by the organizers. EMBO travel grants and registration fee waivers are allocated on the basis of the quality of the submitted abstract.

Applicants do not need to apply separately for these but should indicate on the registration form if they wish to be considered.

Payment

Registration will be on a first come, first served basis. Your place can only be confirmed after payment of the registration fee. If you are added to our waiting list, please consider taking advantage of our offerings to participate virtually.

On-site participants: Types of payments accepted are international bank transfers and credit card payments.

Virtual participants: We are only able to accept card payments. In exceptional cases we can accept bank transfers.

Cancellation Policy

All requests for cancellation must be submitted in writing to merce.latorre@icfo.eu no later than 1. January 2026. The registration fee will be refunded in full, less an administrative fee of 20% of the registration amount.

Cancellations received after 1. January 2026 or no-show will not be refunded at all.

Selection criteria

We ask the interested applicants to submit an abstract as outlined below together with their CV and a motivational letter to be considered for the travel grant and registration fee waiver. The scientific organisers will select conference participants on the basis of the scientific content of the abstract. Outstanding abstracts will be selected for short oral presentations.

In addition, the selection process will prioritize international participation and broad representation across different countries, ensuring that no more than 25% of attendees come from the host country. Such a balance will ensure a global scope, and foster a diverse and inclusive environment, promoting knowledge exchange across scientific communities and cultural backgrounds.

Abstract guidelines

Only participants registering to attend the on-site event are eligible to submit an abstract. Abstracts will not be accepted from virtual participants.

After registration you can submit your abstract via a separate link that will be provided in the email confirmation. Alternatively, you can access the link on the confirmation page directly after registering. The same login credentials are used for both processes.

Please note:

Abstract body: The limit of 2000 characters refers to manually typed text and excludes spaces. If an error occurs try using a different web browser (preferably Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox).

If you copy-paste the text into the form, hidden formatting might still be included which may cause the text to exceed the 2,000 character limit resulting in an error message. We recommend you clear all formatting before pasting in the text.

If you have special symbols in your text, make sure you are using Unicode characters, otherwise these will not be recognised.

Title: The title should not exceed 20 words. Only the first word of the title should start with a capital letter and the rest should be lowercase.

Authors and affiliations: Please fill in the author’s details as requested in the online form. The compulsory fields are: First Name, Last Name, Organisation Name (Affiliation or Company), Country and Email.

Kindly mark only one author in the role of First Author and please don’t forget to indicate who will be the Presenter.

Please enter your co-authors correctly via the system by adding accounts together with their organisation/institute. Do not copy-paste them into the body of the abstract text, as they will not be indexed in the abstract book.

Presentation types: When submitting your abstract, you can apply for an oral or poster presentation. A selection process will take place with the results announced 2 weeks after the abstract submission deadline.

Poster specifications

Poster boards allow for A0-sized posters (1189 mm x 841 mm), portrait format.

Travel grants and registration fee waivers

Travel grants and registration fee waivers are available for participants.

Selection of awardees is handled directly by the organizers. EMBO travel grants and registration fee waivers are allocated on the basis of the quality of the submitted abstract and their CV and a motivational letter.

Applicants do not need to apply separately for these but should indicate on the registration form if they wish to be considered.

Additional travel grants are available for EMBC Associate Member States Chile, India, Singapore and Taiwan.

Child care grants

EMBO Courses and Workshops offers grants to offset additional childcare costs incurred by participants or speakers when participating at any EMBO Courses and Workshop funded meeting. Eligible costs include fees for a caregiver or child-care facility, travel costs for a caregiver, or travel costs for taking the child to the meeting etc. Please indicate on the registration form whether you would like to be considered for the grant. Please also describe how you intend to use the childcare grant and specify the sum that you will need.

Accessibility grants

EMBO offers accessibility grants to support participants at EMBO Courses & Workshops with any access needs. These grants cover up to 500 euros for any additional costs e.g. to adapt the conference environment, or to be accompanied by someone to assist them where necessary.

Participants with access needs may apply for a grant via the registration system of the related EMBO event, or by emailing the organizers of the related EMBO event directly.


Code of conduct

Anti-harassment and non-discrimination policy

At EMBO, we believe that harassment and discriminatory behaviour are unacceptable in any setting.

Media and communications policy

Recording or communication of the presented data needs to be agreed upon by all concerned.

EMBO's code of conduct is applicable for all participants of this EMBO meeting and can be found here.

 

Contact

Michael Krieg

Email: michael.krieg@icfo.eu

 

 

Venue

ICFO
Av. Carl-Friedrich Gauss 3
08860 Castelldefels
Barcelona, Spain

Accommodation

HOTEL SB BCN EVENTS ****SUP

Address: Ronda de Can Rabadà, 22-24, 08860 Castelldefels
Phone: +34 936 64 62 30
Distance to ICFO (13 min walking): Check Google Maps

It is a large hotel with the capacity to accommodate the whole group.

  • Promotional code: “EMBO”
  • Double room for single use with breakfast: 117€/night (VAT included)
  • Double room with breakfast: 141€/night (VAT included)
  • Touristic tax not included: 1.32€/night/person
  • The promotional code is valid for reservations from February 15 to February 20. To book a different date, please contact directly to the hotel: reservations.bcnevents@sbhotels.es

There are other options for your accommodation within walking distance of ICFO.

** These hotels are the closest to the Institute:

HOTEL 170**

Address: Passeig del Pitort, 170, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona
Phone: +34 936 64 55 09
Distance to ICFO (9 min walking): Check Google Maps

HOTEL CANAL OLÍMPIC***

Address: Carrer de la Ginesta, 13, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona
Phone: +34 936 36 06 08
Distance to ICFO (10 min walking): Check Google Maps

HOTEL IBIS CASTELLDEFELS**

Address: Passeo Del Ferrocarril, 342, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona
Phone: +34 936 34 21 75
Distance to ICFO (13 min walking): Check Google Maps

** This hotel options are located on the sea front or close to the beach:

MASD MEDITERRANEO HOTEL & APARTMENTS ***

Address: Passeig Marítim, 50, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona
Phone: +34 936 64 72 00
Distance to ICFO (17 min walking): Check Google Maps

HOTEL BEL AIR ****

Address: Passeig Marítim, 169, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona
Phone: +34 936 65 16 00
Distance to ICFO (28 min walking): Check Google Maps

HOTEL CIUDAD DE CASTELLDEFELS ***

Address: Passeig de la Marina, 212, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona
Phone: +34 936 65 19 00
Distance to ICFO (33 min walking): Check Google Maps

HOTEL PLAYAFELS****

Address: Playa Ribera de San Pedro, 1-9, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona
Phone: +34 936 65 12 50
Distance to ICFO (34 min walking): Check Google Maps

Transport

Train (RENFE):

The Castelldefels train station is just 300 metres from the PMT and connects it to Barcelona by the RENFE Rodalies (local trains) line R2.

Four to six trains run every hour from Barcelona-Passeig de Gracia and Barcelona-Sants stations. Travel time is 20-30 minutes.

Plane:

From “Barcelona-El Prat” Josep Tarradellas Airport:

Taking a taxi from the airport would be the easiest option. ICFO is 15 minutes from the airport:

  • C-32 motorway: exit 46
  • C-31 motorway: exit Canal Olimpic

From Girona Airport (RyanAir)

Take A-7 motorway to Barcelona. When approaching Barcelona, follow “Ronda de Dalt – Llobregat” signs. This road links with the C-32 motorway. Exit at 46 – Castelldefels. Then follow the signs to either Canal Olímpic or UPC Campus.

Bus:

Travel time 1h 10min. Bus stops at the Estació del Nord Bus Station. Take the metro from there to Passeig de Gracia or Sants Estació and the RENFE local train to Castelldefels (see above).

About the Area

The offices and laboratories of ICFO are located in a dedicated building situated in the Parc Mediterrani de la Tecnologia (PMT, Mediterranean Technology Park), in the seaside town of Castelldefels, in the metropolitan Barcelona area.

The GPS coordinates: Lat=41°16'32.51'', Lon=1°59'20.57‘’

Consult Google Maps.

There is a free available parking area in front of the PMT.

Sustainability at the meeting

The EMBO Courses & Workshops Programme assesses meetings based on the proposal and implementation of sustainability measures. Meetings can earn points across a range of measures, with each measure assigned a point value from one to five. These points classify the meeting into one of three sustainability levels, reflecting the organizers' commitment to enhancing the sustainability of their event. More information on the EMBO Courses & Workshops Sustainability Badge can be found here.

  • Some invited speakers from other continents are asked to give their talks remotely to save on travel.
  • Require at least 4 speakers/organizers travelling within Europe to travel by train
  • The venue takes some energy efficiency measures.
  • Centrally located venue with good public transport connections and close to major transport hubs.
  • Accommodation within walking distance of ICFO.
  • Opportunity to attend the meeting virtually, thus increasing participation at an overall lower environmental impact
  • Catering will include vegetarian days, locally sourced ingredients, and bottled water or single-use wares will be avoided if possible.
  • Abstract books and programs will be shared in electronic form only.
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