pinned
Virtual Cell Challenge 2026
Student research group building models for the Virtual Cell Challenge — designing virtual cells, backed by a Studentische Forschungsgruppen Grant from Exzellenzuniversität Hamburg.
UKE UHH HCTI ZBH AdlungLab MLBI — Machine Learning in Bioinformatics
virtual cell modelling student research Hamburg
A collaborative student research group competing in the Virtual Cell Challenge 2026: developing computational models aimed at designing virtual cells. Team with Mikko Kormann (Computing in Science), Berenike Rutz (Bioinformatics & Computing in Science), and Danisch Khurshid (medical student, UKE), under scientific supervision from Fabian Kern (MLBI / ZBH, University of Hamburg), with links to AdlungLab at UKE. Supported by a €10,000 Studentische Forschungsgruppen Grant (Exzellenzuniversität Hamburg).
// people
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Fabian Kern
Professor of Machine Learning in Bioinformatics
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Lorenz Adlung
former supervisor · Independent Junior Group Leader
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Christoph Kilian
Clinician scientist
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Mikko Kormann
Computing in Science BSc student
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Berenike Rutz
Bioinformatics & Computing in Science student
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Danisch Khurshid
Medical student
// prizes & funding
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Studentische Forschungsgruppen Grant
award
Exzellenzuniversität Hamburg
Co-recipient, €10,000 for a collaborative student research group aimed at the Virtual Cell Challenge 2026.
2025
// relevant papers
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interesting
Virtual Cell Challenge: Toward a Turing test for the virtual cell
Roohani Y., Hua T.J., Tung P., Bounds L.R., Yu F.B., Dobin A., Teyssier N., Adduri A., Woodrow A., Plosky B.S., Mehta R., Hsu B., Sullivan J.A., Ricci-Tam C., Li N., Kazaks J., Gilbert L.A., Konermann S., Hsu P.D., Goodarzi H., Burke D.P.
Cell
Perspective framing the Virtual Cell Challenge as a community Turing-test for models that predict cellular responses — the competition brief this student research group is building toward.
2025 cited 59 -
interesting · preprint
Virtual Cells: Predict, Explain, Discover
Noutahi E., Hartford J., Tossou P., Whitfield S., Denton A.K., Wognum C., Ulicna K., Craig M., Hsu J., Cuccarese M.F., Bengio E., Beaini D., Gibson C.C., Cohen D.C., Earnshaw B.
arXiv
Preprint framing virtual cells as models that predict, explain, and discover — a complementary lens on what a useful virtual cell should do beyond challenge leaderboards.
2025 cited 4 -
interesting
Towards multimodal foundation models in molecular cell biology
Cui H., Tejada-Lapuerta A., Brbić M., Sáez-Rodríguez J., Cristea S., Goodarzi H., Lotfollahi M., Theis F.J., Wang B.
Nature
Perspective on multimodal foundation models for molecular cell biology — the modelling stack virtual-cell efforts sit inside.
2025 cited 90