Dr. Markéta Kaucká
Max Planck Research Group Evolutionary Developmental Dynamics
Main Focus
I aim to uncover the principles that govern the development and evolution of complex traits. My research explores how biological information flows across scales, from genomes and gene regulatory landscapes, the specification and behaviour of individual cell types, to the coordinated interactions that shape tissues, organs and ultimately organismal form. Rather than studying these levels in isolation, I aim to understand how they integrate into coherent developmental programs that reliably generate complex form and function, and how evolution calibrates them to generate diversity.
Curriculum Vitae
I am a developmental and evolutionary biologist and currently lead a research group at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany. I studied molecular biology and genetics at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, where I also completed my PhD in animal physiology. My early research focused on molecular and cellular mechanisms in disease, and during my postdoctoral work at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Medical University of Vienna, I gradually moved towards questions in developmental biology, cell and molecular biology, and evolution.
Since 2019, I have been an independent group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology. My research brings together interdisciplinary approaches to understand how organisms develop, how developmental processes vary across species, and how these processes have evolved. I am particularly interested in connecting processes at the genomic, molecular and cellular level with larger questions about organismal development and evolution.
Alongside my research, I am involved in mentoring and training students and early-career researchers, and in contributing to the broader scientific community through collaborations, science communication, scientific committees, peer review, and the organisation of meetings and workshops. Having worked in research environments in the Czech Republic, Sweden, Austria, and Germany, I have developed an international and interdisciplinary approach to both research and academic life.
For the full publication list, see: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=kaucka+m