2025 Biophysics Summer School

Pattern formation and developmental processes

7-14 July, 2025 - Xenia, Rethymno

Save the date. Registration will open soon.

About The Summer School

The goal of this second Summer School on Biophysics in Greece is to introduce advanced undergraduates, Master's and PhD students with backgrounds in Physics, Biology, Materials Science, Mathematics, CS to the interdisciplinary field of Biophysics and expand the toolset and horizons of those already working on Biophysics. The school aims to show how Biophysics is using all the above sciences to advance, making it an exciting and scientifically inclusive field. Student-instrutor interaction will be maximized via lectures on theory and experiments, workshops on computational and experimental data analysis tools, and plenty of opportunities for discussions.

Where

Xenia, Rethymno

When

Monday to Sunday
7-13 July 2025

Topics

Transport (flows) in living systems
Neural and limb development and regeneration
Pattern formation
Cytoskeletal mechanics
Computational and Image Analysis Workshops

Event Speakers

Invited Speakers and Organizers

Speaker 1

Stanislav Shvartsman

Princeton University and the Flatiron Institute

Speaker 2

Meredith Betterton

Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Colorado Boulder

Speaker 3

Carl Modes

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

Speaker 5

Michael Layden

Dept. of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University

Speaker 5

Suryanarayana (Surya) Maddu

Center for Computational Biology, the Flatiron Institute

Speaker 5

Tassos Pavlopoulos

Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, FORTH

Speaker 5

Eleni Katifori

Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, UPenn

Speaker 4

Dimitris Vavylonis

Dept. of Physics, Lehigh University

Speaker 6

Emmanouela Filippidi

Dept. of Materials Science, Univ. of Crete

Event Schedule - Under development

Lectures, hand-on workshops, and mingling events.

You will need to bring your laptop for the computational workshops .

The 2023 schedule in pdf format.

Day 1 - Mon., July 7th

Registration at Xenia

Registration, room setup. Free time.

Brenden Legros

Welcome and Useful info Organizers

Welcome Dinner

Day 2 - Tue., July 8th

Eleni Katifori

Introduction to Biophysics. Historical note and Fundamentals. Role of theory and experiment Eleni Katifori

Arnold

title speaker

coffe break

Coffee break. Courtesy of Sampson bakery

Eleni Katifori

title speaker

Lunch

Lunch break / Visit Fortezza (castle)

iceBreaker

Ice-breaker I: 2 min presentations of all participants

iceBreaker

15-min break

iceBreaker

Ice-breaker II: 2 min presentations of all participants

Day 3 - Wed., July 9th

topic speaker

Dimitris Vavylonis

topic speaker

coffe break

Coffee break Courtesy of Sampson bakery

topic speaker

Lunch

Lunch break / Archaelogical museum visit

topic speaker

topic speaker

Eleni Katifori

Workshop: Python tutorial on computational biophysics Eleni Katifori

Lunch

Poster session I

Day 4 - Thu., July. 10th

topic speaker

topic speaker

coffe break

Coffee break. Courtesy of Sampson bakery

topic speaker

Lunch

Lunch break

workshop

topic speaker

Lunch

Poster session II

Day 5 - Fri., July 11th

topic / Workshop

topic / Workshop

coffe break

Coffee break Courtesy of Sampson bakery

Eleni Katifori

Biological flow networks - Part I Eleni Katifori

Lunch

Lunch break

Dimitris Vavylonis

Workshop: Modeling with LAMMPS - Part I (Theory/Background/Basic running) Dimitris Vavylonis

Lunch

Book the speaker session

Day 6 - Sat., July 12th

Eleni Katifori

Biological flow networks - Part II Eleni Katifori

Dimitris Vavylonis

topic speaker

coffe break

Coffee break Courtesy of Sampson bakery

topic speaker

Lunch

Lunch break

topic speaker

Lunch

Panel: Q&A, research opportunities in biophysics, resources, discussion

Day 7 - Sun., Aug 13th

Dimitris Vavylonis

Workshop: Molecular Dynamics - Modeling with LAMMPS - Part II Dimitris Vavylonis

topic speaker

Day 8 - Mon., July 14th

Dimitris Vavylonis

Feedback session

Dimitris Vavylonis

Checkout

Event Venue - Xenia Hotel

Video tour of Rethymno

Historic 'Xenia' hotel

The historic 'Xenia' hotel of Rethymno has recently been transformed into a small dorm for the students of the University of Crete. A short historical note (in greek). The conference room and the guest rooms have a view towards the sea, and are located on the beach/marina promenade, as short 5-min walk to the charming old town.

Accommodation

Our goal is to encourage interactions among students and we invite everyone to stay at the Xenia dormitories, located upstairs from the venue. We provide housing for all participants, included in the registration fee. August is high season in Rethymno, so if you decide to stay elsewhere, please consider booking early. All Xenia rooms have a view to the sea, a fridge, and access to a floor kitchenette.
Xenia is conveniently located on the Rethymno promenade, next to restaurants, cafes, bars, bakeries, and the historic harbor. Rooms can be booked for single or double occupancy. Upon availability, you can choose between rooms with a shower or a bathtub. Please indicate at application whether you are willing to share or not, and if you already know with whom.

Alternatively, here are some recommended hotels

InkHotel

Ink Hotel - House of Europe

5 min walk from Xenia

AstaliHotel

Astali Hotel

2 min walk from Xenia

OlympicPalladium

Olympic Palladium

6 min walk from Xenia

Directions to Rethymno and Xenia

The closest airports are located at Chania (CHQ) and Heraklio (HER). In August there are lots of directs flights to both.

Rethymno is located exactly 1 hr drive from either airport. For a group of 3 or 4, it is worth asking how much a taxi would charge for directly taking you to Xenia hotel at Rethymno. Typical cost is 90-100 euros.

Using public transport, from CHQ a direct bus to Rethymo normally operates during the summer and costs 7 euros. Bus routes

From HER there is no direct bus. One must take a bus (6,8 or 19, pay cash on bus) or taxi to the Heraklio main bus terminal (KTEL). From there take a long-distance bus which takes 1.5-2hr to get to Rethymno and costs 7.60 euros. Tickets can be bought inside the KTEL terminal, where credit cards are accepted. You can also buy them on the bus, by paying cash.

The entrance to Xenia hotel is located on Psarrou Str. 46 (see map above)

Previous events

The 1st Biophysics Summer School: Biological Physics: Soft Living Matter took place 5 - 11th August, 2023


The 2023 schedule in pdf format.


Sponsors

We are kindly accepting sponsorships. Please contact us at biophysics@materials.uoc.gr .

Coffee breaks kindly provided by Sampson Bakery, Dimakopoulou 3, Rethymno.

With the Support of

The Flatiron Institute, New York, NY, USA
Physics Dept., Lehigh University, PA, USA
Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Crete, Greece

How to Apply

To apply please send ONE, COMBINED pdf file with Part I Part I, your CV/resume and a short statement of interest to biophysics@materials.uoc.gr
Accepted applicants will be individually contacted and requested to pay the participation fees.
Limited financial aid may be available.
You will be given a participation certificate at the end of the course from the Univ. of Crete.
It will greatly assist us if you collate application, CV and statement of interest in ONE pdf file.

Registration fees are as follows.

Shared room
approx 320€ (TBD)

  • Summer School Participation
  • Single bed in double, same-gender dorm room
  • Welcome Dinner
Entire Room
TBD

  • Summer School Participation
  • Double dorm room by yourself
  • Welcome Dinner
No housing needed
TBD

  • Summer School Participation
  • Welcome Dinner

Accompanying Non-Participant
TBD

  • Sharing double room with participant
  • The fee for the participant will be the "shared room" fee

Contact Us

Please email us at biophysics@materials.uoc.gr

Organizing Committee

Dimitris Vavylonis, Professor, Lehigh University, PA, USA

Eleni Katifori, Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA

Emmanouela Filippidi, Assistant Professor, University of Crete, Greece