We work to understand how embryos change shape during development, and in particular, we are interested in the biological processes that control the mechanical properties of cells, focusing on the actomyosin cortex. Specifically, we want to understand how actomyosin biochemistry drives the assembly of specific structures that control cell mechanics and eventually morphogenesis. To address this question, we combine a variety of approaches from different fields, and in particular quantitative live cell imaging, genetics, optogenetics, biophysics and biochemistry