2023 Biophysics Summer School

Biological Physics: Soft Living Matter

5-11 August, 2023 - Xenia, Rethymno

--> Thank you for your interest. Registration is closed.

About The Summer School

The goal of this first 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

Saturday to Friday
5-11 August 2023

Topics

Proteins: order vs disorder
DNA damage and repair
Membrane biophysics
Cytoskeletal mechanics
Transport (flows) in living systems
Active matter out of equilibrium
Computational Workshop: Hands-on coarse grained molecular dynamics with LAMMPS.

Event Speakers

Invited Speakers and Organizers

Speaker 1

Aurelia Honerkamp-Smith

Dept. of Physics, Lehigh University

Speaker 2

Nikos Hatzakis

Dept. of Chemistry, Univ. of Copenhagen

Speaker 3

George Gouridis

IMBB-FORTH

Speaker 4

Wonpil Im

Dept. of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University

Speaker 4

Dimitris Vavylonis

Dept. of Physics, Lehigh University

Speaker 5

Eleni Katifori

Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, UPenn

Speaker 2

Arnold Mathijssen

Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, UPenn

Speaker 6

Emmanouela Filippidi

Dept. of Materials Science, Univ. of Crete

Speaker 2

Alexandros Georgakilas

National Technical Univ. of Athens

Guest Speaker

"Multi-level studies of Developmental Morphogenesis: from Biophysics to EvoDevo"

Speaker 1

Tassos Pavlopoulos

IMBB-FORTH

Event Schedule

Lectures, hand-on workshops, and mingling events.

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

The schedule in pdf format.

Day 1 - Sat., Aug 5th

Registration at Xenia

Registration, room setup, please have lunch before the sessions start.

Brenden Legros

Welcome and Useful info Organizers

Eleni Katifori

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

Arnold

Swimming at low Reynolds numbers Arnold Mathijssen

iceBreaker

Ice-breaker I: 2 min presentations of all participants

coffe break

Coffee break Courtesy of Sampson bakery

Alexandros Georgakilas

The main players: Introduction to DNA and RNA biophysics Alexandros Georgakilas

Day 2 - Sun., Aug 6th

Alexandros Georgakilas

DNA damage and repair: from detection to biological importance. Alexandros Georgakilas

Arnold

Non-equilibrium diffusion in biology Arnold Mathijssen

coffe break

Coffee break. Courtesy of Sampson bakery

iceBreaker

Ice-breaker II: 2 min presentations of all participants

Lunch

Lunch / Visit Fortezza (castle) break

Dimitris Vavylonis

The main players: Introduction to the cell and the cytoskeleton. Dimitris Vavylonis

Eleni Katifori

Workshop: Python tutorial on computational biophysics Arnold Mathijssen and Eleni Katifori

Lunch

Poster session

Day 3 - Mon., Aug 7th

Aurelia

Lipid membrane structure and function: two-dimensional flow and diffusion Aurelia Honerkamp-Smith

Dimitris Vavylonis

(continued) The main players: Introduction to the cell and the cytoskeleton. Dimitris Vavylonis

coffe break

Coffee break Courtesy of Sampson bakery

Nikos Hatzakis

Introduction to single particle tracking for protein design and deciphering cell entry pathways. Nikos Hatzakis

Lunch

Lunch / Archaelogical museum break

Arnold

Active matter and collective motion Arnold Mathijssen

Emmanouela Filippidi

The main players: Protein order and disorer Emmanouela Filippidi

Day 4 - Tue., Aug. 8th

Nikos Hatzakis

Protein structural dynamics: understanding and tuning metabolic controls. Nikos Hatzakis

George Gouridis

Biophysical tools to decode protein structural dynamics and comprehend protein function at the molecular level George Gouridis

coffe break

Coffee break. Courtesy of Sampson bakery

Emmanouela Filippidi

Liquid-liquid phase separation Emmanouela Filippidi

Lunch

Lunch break

Nikos Hatzakis

Single molecule and machine learning to understand and control biological responses. Nikos Hatzakis

Dimitris Vavylonis

Biophysics of the cytoskeleton Dimitris Vavylonis

Lunch

Book the speaker session

Day 5 - Wed., Aug 9th

Aurelia

Lateral transport of lipids and proteins in membranes Aurelia Honerkamp-Smith

George Gouridis

How do physical and evolutionary laws determine the biophysical properties of proteins? George Gouridis

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

Day 6 - Thurs., Aug 10th

Eleni Katifori

Biological flow networks - Part II Eleni Katifori

Dimitris Vavylonis

Modeling of cell division and motility Dimitris Vavylonis

coffe break

Coffee break Courtesy of Sampson bakery

Emmanouela Filippidi

Multi-level studies of Developmental Morphogenesis: from Biophysics to EvoDevo Tassos Pavlopoulos

Lunch

Lunch break

Wonpil Im

What can CHARMM-GUI do for you? Wonpil Im

Lunch

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

Day 7 - Fri., Aug 11th

Dimitris Vavylonis

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

Feedback

Feedback session

Event Venue - Xenia Hotel

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)

Sponsors

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

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

Under the Auspices of

Materials Science and Technology Dept., University of Crete, Greece
School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Physics Dept., Lehigh University, PA, USA
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA

How to Apply

Thank you for your interest. Currently applications are being reviewed. You may send us your application, but it may be wait listed until earlier applicants have been evaluated.

To apply please send (ideally as a single pdf) 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.

Registration fees are as follows.

Shared room
240€

  • Summer School Participation
  • Single bed in double, same-gender dorm room
  • Coffee Breaks
Entire Room
290€

  • Summer School Participation
  • Double dorm room by yourself
  • Coffee Breaks
No housing needed
200€

  • Summer School Participation
  • Coffee Breaks

Accompanying Non-Participant
150€

  • 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

Alexandros Georgakilas, Associate Professor, National Technical Univeristy of Athens, Greece

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