The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), which promotes excellence in the life sciences, helps young scientists advance their research, increase their international reputation and ensure their mobility.
Charlotte Kirchhelle is one of 27 young research group leaders from EMBO member countries who have been selected for the EMBO Young Investigator program. In January 2025, she will join the international network of around 800 current and former EMBO program beneficiaries, which will allow her and her team to create links and develop new collaborations. As an active member of EMBO for 4 years, she will receive a grant of 15,000 euros and will be able to train in team leadership, access the facilities of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany and be mentored by EMBO members. She may also request additional grants for her research (organization or travel to conferences for example).
An international research journey
During her international academic career, Charlotte Kirchhelle received several prizes and awards until obtaining an interdisciplinary doctorate in biosciences from the University of Oxford in 2017. She continued her research there at the Department of Plant Sciences and obtained in 2021 the prestigious European Research Council grant (ERC Starting grant), for the EDGE-CAM project which studies the mechanisms at play on the edges of cells during the development of plants [1].
The same year, she joined the Mechanotransduction and development team as an INRAE researcher led by Olivier Hamant, INRAE research director at the RDP laboratory. While developing her scientific activities with 4 young researchers dedicated to the ERC project, she took over the management of the MechanoDevo team in 2024.
“Since my arrival in France in 2021, I have greatly appreciated the openness and spirit of collaboration within the RDP unit and in the broader landscape of French research, which have enriched my scientific thinking and opened up opportunities for new avenues of research. » Charlotte Kirchhelle
His current and future research at the RDP
As leader of the RDP MechanoDevo team, Charlotte Kirchhelle has established close links with other RDP teams (MOSAIC, Signal, SiCe, SeedDev), demonstrating that her team is well integrated and that its program corresponds to the main mission of the unit.
Its multidisciplinary research program, funded by the ERC, aims to produce a multiscale mechanistic model of plant morphogenesis, focusing particularly on the role of cell edges. The team’s main research questions, at the cell edge level, concern the molecular basis of signaling, growth control mechanisms, cell edge polarity, and the contribution of growth control to cell development. organs.
Charlotte Kirchhelle’s involvement in the EMBO network will allow her to leverage her relationships as well as national and international collaborations to study the role of cell edges in different organisms (including mosses and brown algae) and in different contexts physiological.
[1] Bourse ERC-2020-STG: EDGE-CAM Edge-based mechanisms coordinating cell wall assembly during plant morphogenesis, 1,5 M€, 2021-2026
