Winter Conference
Physics of Life at the Nanoscale
January 3–8, 2027
Organizers:
Aaron Hoskins, University of Wisconsin Madison
Thomas Perkins, JILA, University of Colorado & NIST
Allison Squires, University of Chicago
The Physics of Life at the Nanoscale conference focuses on progress and breakthroughs in the field of single-molecule biophysics, both from its experimental and theoretical frontiers. The conference is an evolution of the popular Single Molecule Biophysics workshops held at the ACP since 2001. New for this conference are “winter school” sessions in systems/synthetic biology and microfluidics that will highlight intersections with the single-molecule community and opportunities for collaboration and new research directions. Additional topics vary from year to year but include biological systems ranging from nucleic acid-based enzymes (polymerases, topoisomerases, helicases etc.), nucleic acids (DNA , RNA), mechanoenzymes (myosin, kinesin, dynein, ATP synthase, flagellar motors), and aspects of molecule physiology (folding/unfolding, binding, signaling, and other biostructural changes. The meeting also highlights technical and theoretical advances in single molecule biophysics in vitro and in living organisms using a range of techniques that incorporate fluorescence, optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers, scanned-probed techniques, nanopores, electrophysiology, cryo-EM, and super-resolution techniques.
Biologists and physicists with either a newfound or longstanding interest in biophysics are strongly encouraged to apply: all levels of accomplishment are welcome. We hope to continue our tradition of raising substantial funds that can subsidize meeting costs, including payment of ACP registration for all scientific participants and subsidizing meeting costs, especially for junior scientists and those traveling overseas. Similar workshops have been oversubscribed in the past, so a higher priority will be assigned to those applicants who present significant new findings and commit to remaining the entire duration of the meeting.
The conference website will be announced in coming weeks. Please email Aaron Hoskins if you have any questions at: ahoskins@wisc.edu
Winter Conferences
From December through April each year, the Aspen Center for Physics hosts between six and eight one-week winter conferences. These single-session meetings, with typical attendance of about 80, are focused on the latest developments in the core physics areas of the Center. The details of the format vary, but most have a set of invited speakers, additional speakers drawn from the conference participants, and poster sessions that give an opportunity for all participants to present and discuss their work.