Physics of Life Summer School 2022:
Interdisciplinary Challenges: from Non-equilibrium Physics to Life Sciences

End of April - early May 2022​
University of Edinburgh, The Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics, School of Physics and Astronomy

Organised by: Davide Michieletto, Elisabeth Agoritsas, Gianmaria Falasco, Helena Massana-Cid, Antonio Ortiz-Ambriz, Valentina Ros, Mattia Marenda
​

​Purpose

Non-equilibrium processes are ubiquitous and play a crucial role over a wide range of length-scales, from those relevant in the cell nucleus to those relevant for ecological communities. Understanding them requires a combination of conceptual tools and techniques arising in different fields, ranging from biology to statistical physics to computer science. The school will focus on finding a common denominator for theoretical, computational and experimental approaches to non-equilibrium physics, so as to maximize collaborations and knowledge exchange among the participants. 

Sessions and Format

This school will include sessions given by ECR speakers, as well as Q&A sessions and plenty of time for open discussions, aimed at creating a sense of community and allowing interaction with the speakers. In addition, small groups will work together to address assigned specific scientific.  The goal of these discussions is to promote participation of all.

​The chosen topics cover a broad spectrum of different research areas at the boundary between biology and physics, in which non-equilibrium physics plays a major role: while diverse, they are all interconnected with each other. The topics enveloped by the school include 5 academic sessions centred on the following scientific topics: Biophysics, Cell Motion and Active Matter, Bioenergetics and Non Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics, Machine Learning in Physics and Biology and Disordered Systems. Additionally, a 6th session will involve cutting-edge research outside academia, i.e. in companies such as Google and IBM, relevant to the scientific topics mentioned above. Speakers will be asked to make their presentations well accessible outside of their specific field, providing a broad overview of the different topics well-suited for a school audience.

This school offers a unique opportunity for participants to discuss ideas and create new collaborations (independent of their respective PIs), and potential joint applications for research grants. We have invited speakers who are enthusiastic, motivated and on the the verge of, or have just made, the transition to independence which lays the foundation to foster new ideas between the next generation of group leaders. ​

Who should attend?

This school is specifically tailored to bring together early career researchers (postgrad students, post-docs and junior group leaders) working on a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary topics under the overarching theme of non-equilibrium physics while fostering the strengthening of a friendly and supportive community of ECRs.

Programme

Sessions, Speakers and Talk Titles: 

Day 1	Wednesday 10 April
13.00	​Registration
Session 1	Noise Driven Systems
14.00	Stefano Bo, Can microscopic system exploit noise? The case of driven anisotropic diffusion at boundaries
14.30	Grant Rotskoff, Nonequilibrium importance sampling with a driven dynamics
15.00	Alexandre Lazarescu, Large deviations and dynamical phase transitions in stochastic chemical networks
15.30	​​Break
Session 2	Active Polymers
16.00	Tom Ouldridge, Biological copying of polymers: a necessarily non-equilibrium process​
16.30	Aleksandre Japaridze, The role of spatial confinement in DNA organization: From single molecules to bacterial chromosomes
17.00	Luca Tubiana, Title TBC
17.30	Jan Smrek, Active-passive polymer mixtures in relation to chromatin conformation and dynamics​
Day Two	Thursday ​11 April
Session 3	Topology
9.30	Lucia Coronel, Dynamics of supercoiled knotted DNA: large-scale rearrangements and persistent multi-strand interlocking
10.00	​Amin Doostmohammadi, Active Thin Structures
10.30	Dan Pearce, Controlling active matter with curvature and topology ​
11.00	Break
Session 4	​​Rheology
11.30	​​Nicoletta  Gnan,The microscopic role of deformation in the dynamics of soft colloids
12.00	​Jan Meibohm, Catastrophes and Large deviations in turbulent aerosols
12.30	Romain Mari, Dynamic vorticity banding in discontinuously shear thickening suspensions ​
13.00	​Lunch
​Session 5	​​Slow Relaxation
14.00	Beatriz Seoane, Spin-glass-like dynamics in highly compressed colloidal and granular glasses
14.30	​​Misaki  Ozawa, Numerical Investigation of Ideal Glass Transition in Glass-Forming Liquids
15.00	Elisabeth Agoritsas, Out-of-equilibrium dynamics of particle systems in infinite dimension
15.30	​​Francesco Turci, Structural-dynamical correlations and rigid response
16.00-17.30	Poster Session/Social Event​
Day Three	Friday 12 April
​Session 6 ​	​Swimmers​
9.30	​Raphael Jeanneret, Pairing in planktonic elongated diatoms, or how synchronized-sinking favors cell encounter for sexual reproduction​
10.00	​Fanlong Meng, Magnetic swimmers in a microfluidic channel​
10.30	​​​Joakim Stenhammar, Correlations and collective behaviours in suspensions of swimming microorganisms
11.00	​​Break ​
Session 7	​Physics of Motion​
​11.30	Kirsty Wan, Non-equilibrium and critical behaviour in biological microswimmers​
12.00	Demian Levis, Activity induced synchronization in chiral active matter
12.30	Ariana Bottinelli, Predicting collective motion in high-density crowds ​
13.00	​Lunch
Session 8	​Tissues and Biofilms​
14.00	​Diana  Khoromskaia, Active surface models for cell and tissue morphogenesis
14.30	​Ananyo Maitra, Unusual stability of oriented active suspensions on substrates
​15.00	Silke Henkes, Universal motion patterns in confluent cell monolayers​
15.30-17.30	​​Poster Session/Social Event
Day Four	​Saturday 13 April
Session 9	Ecology and Evolution​
9.30	Andrea Giometto, Mechanical interactions reduce the power of natural selection in growing yeast colonies
10.00	​Hye Jin Park, Population size and interaction structure driven by mutant interactors​
​10.30	​Matthieu Barbier, Are complex ecosystems ever simple? Disorder in competition experiments
11.00	​Break ​
Session 10	​Inference and Optimisation
11.30	​​Barbara Bravi, Characterizing and inferring epistasis via direct evolutionary couplings in models of allostery
12.00	​Caterina De Bacco, A physical model for efficient ranking in networks
	​​Silvia Zaoli, Trip Centrality: walking on a temporal multiplex with non-instantaneous link travel time
13.00	​Workshop Close

​Registration and Abstract Submission

Please complete the registration in order to insure your place for the Workshop. Please note that there is a registration fee of £10, contributing to the cost of lunch and refreshments during the breaks. Accommodation for this event should be arranged separately. Please note, there are limited spaces available for this event. Registration will close as soon as capacity has been reached. For any enquiries relating to this event, please email: k.h.baker@dur.ac.uk. 

Register here

Directions

The meeting will take place at the University of Edinburgh in the James Clerk Maxwell Building, Kings Buildings. 15 minutes by bus from Edinburgh city centre. Details on getting from the City Centre to JCMB here. A map of the Kings Buildings campus here. Edinburgh is well served by trains and planes.