From 12 to 16 July 2026, our lab was represented at the 10th EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC10) by PhD student Fidan Rahmatova and Dr. Fatma Zohra (Nina) Mihoubi, both of whom delivered oral presentations. Dr Mihoubi was also recognised as a finalist for the EuChemS Young Chemists’ Award (EYCA) in the PhD student category, in … Continued

We are delighted to celebrate Fatma Zohra (Nina) Mihoubi, the third member of our lab to successfully defend her PhD thesis, “Minimal Coacervates as Hosts of Early Life,” on 29th of May 2026. Beyond her scientific contributions, Nina will be remembered by all of us as someone always ready to help, no matter how busy … Continued

On 6th February 2026, Poster Session of Part III students of the Chemistry Department was held, showcasing the work of our students Amy, Tilly and Sam. They did a great job presenting their posters and sharing their ideas. A huge congratulations to Sam, who won the Poster Prize🏆    

On 15 January 2026, during the Biochemistry Away Days held at the Old Divinity School, St John’s College, our postdoctoral researcher Dr Muhammad Ghufran Rafique delivered a talk presenting his PhD research.

On 12 December 2025, Dr. Yuhan Li successfully defended her PhD, marking the second PhD defence of the Protocell Lab. Yuhan played a key role in building the biophysics side of our lab as the first PhD student in this area. From the very start, she helped set up methods and equipment, trained other lab … Continued

Protocell Lab had its traditional Secret Santa and Christmas dinner at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Wishing everyone happy holidays! 🎄✨  

Rob attended the Third Annual Meeting of the Origins Federation at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The Origins Federation Conference is an opportunity to bring together researchers in the areas of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, Planetary Sciences, and Astronomy – identifying new opportunities for inquiry, and foster collaborations across disciplines. The Origins … Continued

This September, Claudia Bonfio and Fidan Rahmatova, a 3rd year PhD student in the lab, took part in the Interdisciplinary CeNS/CRC392 Workshop at the Venice International University on San Servolo Island, Venice. This workshop brings together young researchers from the Center for NanoScience (CeNS) and CRC392 “Molecular Evolution”, alongside experienced scientists in physics and chemistry, … Continued

In July, Claudia and Fatma (Nina), a 3rd year PhD student in the lab, attended EBSA 2025 Congress in Rome. Claudia chaired the Synthetic Biology and Astrobiology session, during which Nina gave a short talk on her joint work with Karina, a postdoc in the lab, exploring the balance between stability and functionality in minimal … Continued

We’re happy to share that our 3rd year PhD student, Yuhan Li took part in the Physics of Life Summer School 2025 at Durham University, England! She presented her poster: “Beyond charge: hydrophobic features control selective DNA-membrane association.” Yuhan showed how changes in membrane components can alter membrane properties and influence how single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) … Continued

We are very proud to share that two of our postdocs have been recognised by the Cambridge Postdoc Academy during Postdoc Appreciation Week. David Russell is a winner of the Level-Up Legend Award. His citation reads: *“David received numerous nominations crediting his knowledge, patience and generosity in helping others. His deep understanding of and passion … Continued

Fidan and Kk were selected to present their work in Strasbourg at the Supramolecular Chemistry Days. Fidan discussed her work on prebiotic lipid acylation, and Kk presented our recent publication in Chemical Science on primitive selection pathways leading to natural phospholipids. Well done, you two!

On 10 January 2025, Dr. Maiia Aleksandrova successfully defended her PhD, marking the first PhD defence of the Protocell Lab. Maiia holds a special place in the lab’s history as the very first member to join the Protocell Lab, on 1 September 2021. Since then, her work has played a foundational role in shaping the … Continued

We am incredibly proud of this young researcher who is on her way to becoming an outstanding, well-rounded scientist! Best of luck, Maiia, and don’t forget us – we certainly won’t!

We had a fantastic day writing up our lab’s wellbeing and work ethic guidelines and discussing science communications with our friends, Fernando and Juan. As per tradition, we closed the day with our “Secret Santa” and had dinner at Corpus Christi!

First pictures of our new lab space… And David is very happy that all the glassware arrived in perfect condition!

Our lab equipment is moving to Cambridge – so far, so good; everything is intact!

We’re thrilled to share that our journey will continue in Cambridge. Stay tuned for scientific updates from our new location!

As we wrap up another year of accomplishments, Protocell Lab extends warm wishes for a joyful holiday season and a New Year filled with more inspiration and groundbreaking discoveries. We look forward to an exciting year ahead!  

We are thrilled to announce the publication of our first research paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society! Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to explore the frontiers of prebiotic chemistry and uncover the secrets of life’s origins. First research paper from the lab out in @J_A_C_S! Here we challenge the … Continued

We’re excited to mark the 2-year anniversary of our ProtocellLab at Unistra. These two years have been truly amazing, with groundbreaking research and great teamwork. We’re eager to see what the future holds as we continue to explore and discover. Thank you for being a part of our journey, and stay tuned for more exciting … Continued

Last month we hosted the first of our annual HFSP symposia with our collaborators Prof. Derek O’Flaherty and Prof. Evan Spruijt. We had great speakers joining us from all over Europe, and we had great scientific discussions! Looking forward to the next one in Canada!

In the last two months, we’ve had the Institute’s BBQ and the Junior PI’s BBQ… We made new friends, expanded our network and got some new group pictures!

We had a fantastic Christmas dinner with all the group and affiliated – for those of you who are interested, the dinner theme was “Zoom Call”! Looking forward to a new year full of fun and science! See you in 2023!

The ProtocellLab turns 1! Thank you to everyone who made it possible, in particular, my amazing partners in crime who bravely decided to join me on this fantastic trip!

Last week, Claudia attended the 8th European Chemistry Congress in Lisbon (PT) and received the European Young Chemists’ Award – Gold Medal for Early Career Researchers! The European Young Chemists’ Award is awarded every two years by EuChemS to showcase and recognize the excellent research being carried out by young scientists working in the chemical sciences. … Continued

Last week, Claudia attended ESOF2022 in Leiden (NL) and received the European Young Researchers’ Award (sponsored by Elsevier)! The European Young Researchers’ Award is awarded every two years by EuroScience to young researchers showing exceptional research achievement and leadership. Read more about the award and Claudia’s perspectives here.

We had our first official group lunch at Jabiru, an African restaurant in Strasbourg. Looking forward to the next one! (In the picture, from left to right, Claire (gestionnaire), Fidan (M1), myself, Jordan (Erasmus+), Maiia (PhD) and Sergiu (M2))

The 1.0 version of our lab website is now up. Have a look around and contact us if interested!