From Molecules to Systems 2016 Winter School

5-8 January 2016
St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University

Programme

St Catherine’s College, Oxford University

Our Winter School, which follows from the Summer School held in 2014 in Lancaster, will be held at the University of Oxford. The School is aimed at UK-based early stage researchers – particularly PhD students and postdoctoral workers. It will run from the morning of January 5th to late afternoon on January 8th, and as well as an intensive scientific programme covering a broad spectrum of topics in biological physics (including five plenary lectures and a series of tutorial lectures from outstanding speakers), it will provide opportunities for all attendees to present their work through poster and flash presentations and a variety of activities focused on career development and broadening skills.


The Winter School will encompass experiment and theory, and address a broad spectrum of important topics including microscopy, organisation, ecology, spectroscopy, single molecules, cells, collective behaviour, forces and membranes. We hope it will provide an opportunity for UK researchers to immerse themselves in state-of-the-art expertise in an intensive environment, giving them a broad and deep cross-disciplinary framework from within which to approach the Physics of Life.

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Confirmed speakers and their talk titles

Prof Ard Louis, University of Oxford
‘The arrival of the fittest: how genotype-phenotype maps facilitate evolution’
Prof Berenike Maier, University of Cologne
‘Watching horizontal gene transfer’
Prof Cait MacPhee, University of Edinburgh
‘Biological strategies for hydrophobicity’
Prof Christoph Schmidt, University of Göttingen
‘Cells as active matter’
Prof Eugene Terentjev, University of Cambridge
‘How cells feel: sensing the stiffness of environment’
Prof George O’Toole, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
‘To Build a Biofilm’
Prof Gerard Wong, UCLA
‘From infectious diseases to autoimmune diseases: opportunities for biophysics’
Prof Gijsje Koenderink, FOM Institute AMOLF
‘Cytoskeletal self-organization: from molecules to function’
Prof Judy Armitage, University of Oxford
‘Integrating sensory signalling pathways to control the direction of bacterial swimming’
Dr Lorna Dougan, University of Leeds
‘Extreme biophysics: single molecule studies of proteins from extremophile organisms’
Prof Matthew Turner, Warwick University
‘Swarming’
Prof Pete Vukusic, University of Exeter
‘All things bright and beautiful: manipulating light and colour flow using biological photonic crystals’
Prof Sonia Antoranz Contera, University of Oxford
‘Mechanics, forces and fluctuations in living cells’
Dr Teuta Pilizota, University of Edinburgh
‘From sensing membrane tension to total cell volume and growth rate regulation’

Programme

Day 1: Tuesday 5th January 2016:

10.00	Arrival and Registration
11.00	Introduction: Graham Leggett
11.30	Lecture 1: Ard Louis ‘The arrival of the fittest: how genotype-phenotype maps facilitate evolution’
12.30	Short break
12.45	Lunch
13.45	Lecture 2: Matthew Turner ‘Swarming’
14.45	Lecture 3: Lorna Dougan ‘Extreme biophysics: single molecule studies of proteins from extremophile organisms’
15.45	Tea and Coffee
16.15	Small group structured discussions – interdisciplinary working
17.15	Free Time
18.30	Dinner
19.30	Flash presentations
20.00	Posters (I)

Day 2: Wednesday 6th January:

9.00	Lecture 4: Christoph Schmidt ‘Cells as active matter’
10.00	Lecture 5: Gerard Wong ‘From infectious diseases to autoimmune diseases: opportunities for biophysics’
11.00	Tea and Coffee
11.30	Flash presentations
12.00	Posters (II)
12.30	Short break
12.45	Lunch
13.45	Free time 14:00-15:30pm Christ Church Excursion
16.00	Lecture 6: Pete Vukusic ‘All things bright and beautiful: manipulating light and colour flow using biological photonic crystals’
17.15	Lecture 7: Sonia Antoranz Contera ‘Mechanics, forces and fluctuations in living cells’
18.00	Short break
18.30	Dinner
19.30	Flash presentations
20.00	Posters (III)

Day 3: Thursday 7th January:

9.00	Lecture 8: Teuta Pilizota ‘From sensing membrane tension to total cell volume and growth rate regulation’
10.00	Lecture 9: Cait MacPhee ‘Biological strategies for hydrophobicity’
11.00	Tea and Coffee
11.30	Careers with Andrew Humphris
12.30	Short break
12.45	Lunch
13.45	Free time
16.00	Lecture 10: George O’Toole ‘To Build a Biofilm’
17.00	Lecture 11: Gijsje Koenderink ‘Cytoskeletal self-organization: from molecules to function’
18.00	Short break
18.30	Winter School Dinner

Day 4: Friday 8th January:

9.00	Lecture 12: Berenike Maier ‘Watching horizontal gene transfer’
10.00	Lecture 13: Eugene Terentjev ‘How cells feel: sensing the stiffness of environment’
11.00	Tea and Coffee
11.30	Lecture 14: Judy Armitage ‘Integrating sensory signalling pathways to control the direction of bacterial swimming’
12.30	Short break
12.45	Lunch and close

Registration

The Winter School is heavily subsidised by the Network for young researchers in the UK, and the registration fee of £100 includes accommodation and all meals (5th-8th Jan).  For those who will be traveling long distances to the conference, an additional nights stay on Monday 4th Jan (before the conference starts on the Tuesday) is also available for a fee of £120 (4th-8th Jan).  Please let us know at the time of booking if you have any dietary or access requirements so that we can endeavour to meet them.

It thus represents exceptionally good value for money. Registration for the event is now closed.

If you have any questions about this event, or would like to go on the cancellation list, please contact Christina Metcalfe, Network Coordinator at: [email protected].

Images of St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University