Soft Matter Science has emerged in recent years as an independent and interdisciplinary research field, bringing together scientists from macromolecular physics and chemistry, statistical physics, biophysics, and molecular and cell biology. The systems investigated in this field include synthetic and biological macromolecules, colloids, membranes, vesicles, and active systems such as synthetic and biological microswimmers. The phenomena investigated include the phase behaviour and non-equilibrium dynamics in colloidal dispersions and polymeric systems. Soft Matter Science thus aims at the understanding of complex macromolecular systems, the design and use of synthetic and biomimetic materials, their application as functional materials, and the understanding of biological systems and processes. While many of these systems have already been investigated separately for a long period of time, their common features and interactions have recently come into focus.
These highly complex materials consist of structural units with typical length scales ranging from nanometers to micrometers. The experimental and theoretical investigations involved, as well as the understanding of the properties of these materials, pose enormous challenges due to their high complexity, the large number of cooperative degrees of freedom, and the large range of relevant length, time and energy scales.
To bring together scientists from these various research fields and to foster the exchange of ideas and collaborations, we are organizing the workshop
Jülich Soft Matter Days 2018
on the physics and chemistry of mesoscopically structured biological and synthetic macromolecular systems. We hope that this workshop will provide a forum to share and discuss the latest advances for all active researchers in this field.
The topics planned for this year’s workshop are:
- Cell Mechanics and Migration
- Active Systems
- DNA-based Macromolecules
- Colloids and Proteins
- Biopolymers
- Flow and Microfluidics
- Interfaces
For a list of invited speakers and further information, please download the conference poster and flyer.
