into the cell types of the central nervous system, [2] they are an ideal target for brain repair after injury. [3] Post-injury, such as traumatic brain injury or stroke, NPCs travel toward the damaged site, however, they mainly remain in the surrounding region only. [4] We have previously shown that injecting MAP scaffolds in the stroke cavity increased the recruitment of NPCs toward the stroke site and resulted in NPC infiltration into the stroke core. [5,6] This provides an opportunity to modulate NPC fate and lead to improved endogenous regeneration by tailoring the microgels in our MAP scaffold.Hydrogels have historically been used to culture [7] and/or transplant [8] cells in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Their use as extracellular matrix mimics allows for studying various chemical and physical properties that are necessary to derive desired cellular interactions and phenotypes. [7] The most utilized hydrogel systems for NPC renewal or differentiation are nonporous hydrogels formed through crosslinking biocompatible polymers decorated with laminin-derived peptides. [9] These hydrogels can easily be produced with tailored properties, for example varying degrees of degradability and stiffnesses, and NPCs can be seeded inside or on top of the gels. However, conflicting results arise when investigating NPC seeding within or on top of hydrogel Microporous annealed particle (MAP) scaffolds are generated from assembled hydrogel microparticles (microgels). It has been previously demonstrated that MAP scaffold are porous, biocompatible, and recruit neural progenitor cells (NPCs) to the stroke cavity after injection into the stroke core. Here, the goal is to study NPC fate inside MAP scaffolds in vitro. To create plain microgels that can later be converted to contain different types of bioactivities, the inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction between tetrazine and norbornene is utilized, which allows the post-modification of plain microgels stoichiometrically. As a result of adhesive peptide attachment, NPC spreading leads to contractile force generation which can be recorded by tracking microgel displacement. Alternatively, non-adhesive peptide integration results in neurosphere formation that grows within the void space of MAP scaffolds. Although the formed neurospheres do not impose a contractile force on the scaffolds, they are seen to continuously transverse the scaffolds. It is concluded that MAP scaffolds can be engineered to either promote neurogenesis or enhance stemness depending on the chosen post-modifications of the microgels, which can be key in modulating their phenotypes in various applications in vivo.