Engage with QCB in the USA

MACSYS is not alone in its mission to push the boundaries of predictive biology and build whole cell models. Introducing the NSF Science and Technology Center for Quantitative Cell Biology (QCB), an initiative dedicated to developing 4D computer models and experiments of whole cells.

Headquartered at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, QCB is dedicated to transforming how to understand and predict life processes. Its aim is to make quantitative cell biology widely accessible to meet the needs of society. 

QCB researchers are working to quantitatively describe the physical and chemical processes that define the functional state of a cell.  To make 4D (space plus time) computer models of whole cells functioning, researchers are examining cells under normal and stressed conditions. Their modelling will be guided by developing cutting-edge experimental tools that generate datasets with unprecedented resolution.

By enabling new scientific training methods and democratising cell biology for researchers, students, and society, QCB is looking to progress a new research discipline, quantitative cell biology. 

Participating in programs, seminars, conferences and training broadens your network and exposes you to new collaborators. MACSYS and QCB leadership want to help bridge the gap between the centres and enable researchers to build new connections and generate new research collaborations. 

Here are some opportunities that MACSYS encourages members to consider:

The Summer School in Quantitative Cell Biology is designed for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and researchers in physics, biophysics, chemical and life sciences, and engineering who seek to expand their research skills in quantitative methods for studying and modelling cells. The workshop will include lectures, mini-courses, and hands-on training in experimental and computational techniques. 

If you apply for the Summer School, email Beth Wilson (Stakeholder Engagement Officer) [email protected] and she will direct you to MACSYS funding options to support travel costs. 

Aysha Laila Sezmis, Research Fellow at Monash University, attended the Summer School in 2025. Here is her insight into the experience:

QCB offers several two-year postdoctoral fellowship opportunities to support outstanding scientists. These fellowships provide a unique opportunity for selected scholars to engage in interdisciplinary research while advancing the research of QCB. 

QCB Fellows receive a starting salary of $US63,000 and a benefit package including healthcare, paid vacation and sick leave and relocation expenses. 

Open to: anyone with a PhD earned in the past 10 yrs or plans to complete their PhD within 6 months of application who meets the eligibility criteria.  

Find out more and review eligibility criteria here: https://qcb.illinois.edu/postdoctoral-fellowship-program/ 

QCB is utilising Minecraft to visualise cell structures as part of its outreach activities and supporting the democratising of cell biology. This has made it possible for people lacking computational skills to visualise and interact with different cell structures including: a human breast cell, a human breast cancer cell, neutrophils and a yeast cell. Minecraft has offered a unique solution, allowing the direct insertion of voxel-based (voxels are essentially 3D pixels) cellular structures from light microscopy and simulations into its worlds without modification. 

If you’re interested in finding out anything more about QCB and how, as a MACSYS member you can engage the Center, please contact Beth Wilson (Stakeholder Engagement Officer) [email protected].