Mateusz Majda (Group leader)
Mateusz received a Ph.D. in Biology from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in 2018. He then carried out postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany and at the John Innes Centre in the UK. In August 2022, he joined the Department of Plant Molecular Biology at the University of Lausanne as an Assistant Professor in plant biophysics, where he established The Mechanobiology Lab TML. In 2025, Mateusz was awarded an SNSF Starting Grant to study growth coordination in plants.
Mateusz.Majda[at]unil.ch
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Aurore Chetelat (Lab technician)
Aurore joined the Department of Plant Molecular Biology in 1997 to work with the group of Prof. Edward (Ted) Farmer. For more than twenty years she worked on plant defense and supported the team as a lab technician. During this time she collaborated with scientists from many countries and developed strong expertise in molecular biology. In August 2023 she joined The Mechanobiology Lab, where she manages the technical aspects of the laboratory and supports research projects that rely on precise molecular biology work.
Aurore.Chetelat[at]unil.ch
Lukas Hoermayer (Postdoc)
Lukas completed his graduate studies at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland and at the University of Vienna in Austria. In 2016 he joined the laboratory of Professor Jiří Friml at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, where he worked on wound healing mechanisms in plant roots and received his PhD in 2021. Lukas joined The Mechanobiology Lab as an EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow in September 2023, and he was awarded the Schrödinger Fellowship from the Austrian Science Fund in 2025. He investigates symmetry breaking during the transition from spherical to elongating plant cells.
Andrea Meraviglia (PhD student)
Andrea graduated with a degree in quantitative biology from the University of Milan. He completed his master’s thesis in the laboratory of Professor Alex Costa, where he focused on genetically encoded calcium biosensors. He then carried out an internship in the group of Dr Elke Barbez at the Chair of Molecular Plant Physiology at the University of Freiburg, where he learned advanced confocal microscopy. Andrea joined The Mechanobiology Lab in November 2023. He is investigating how mechanical forces influence cell cycle progression in plants.
Are you interested in working with us?
We welcome enthusiastic and curious people who enjoy asking questions and want to explore how mechanics shapes plant development. If you are looking for a master thesis, an internship, a PhD project, or a postdoctoral experience, we would be happy to hear from you. Our group offers opportunities to work with quantitative imaging, plant biophysics, molecular biology, and computational approaches. If you would like to learn more about possible projects or upcoming openings, you can contact Mateusz.Majda[at]unil.ch.
The Mechanobiology Lab 