Boulder School 2024: Self-Organizing Matter: From Inanimate to the Animate

July 1-26, 2024

Scientific Coordinators

Shiladitya Banerjee (Carnegie Mellon)
Andela Saric (IST Austria)
Eric R. Dufresne (Cornell)
Margaret L. Gardel (Chicago)

Director: Leo Radzihovsky (CU Boulder)

Living systems exhibit remarkable self-organization and dynamics at all length scales and requires matter that is both active and adaptable. Within a cell, biomolecules actively convert energy to collectively self-organize into dynamic assemblies that enable a cell to move, divide, organize into functional compartments, undergo shape changes, and adapt to changing environment. Understanding how to rationally design such active and adaptable matter will revolutionize materials science, enabling us to design materials capable of moving, processing information, sensing, and adapting its mechanical properties. This summer school will bring together physicists, biologists and material scientists to cover a wide range of topics in the physics of self-organized matter, from inanimate to the animate. The lectures will focus on understanding collective and programmable effects in nature and in engineered systems, such as smart metamaterials, synthetic active matter, cytoskeleton, cells, and tissues.

Group Photo

Public Lecture

Prof.  Manu  Prakash, Stanford  University, “Frugal  Science: A Physicist View  on Tackling Global Health, Climate Change and   Democratization of Science” in Duane Physics Building, rm. G1B20 on Monday, July 15, 2024 at 7:00 MST.

Lecturers and seminar speakers

P. Bassereau (Curie)
I. Cohen (Cornell)
M. Das (Rochester)
M. Deserno (Carnegie Mellon)
D. Durian (UPenn)
E. Hannezo (IST Austria)
W.  Jacobs (Princeton)
A. Liu (UPenn)
L. Manning (Syracuse)
Y. Mao (UCL)
C. Marchetti (UCSB)
E. Matsumoto (Georgia Tech)
N. Mitchell (Chicago)
M. Murrell (Yale)
M. Prakash (Stanford)
U. Schwarz (Heidelberg)
V. Vitelli (Chicago)
K. Wan (Exeter)
J. Yeomans (Oxford)
D. Zwicker (MPI-DS)
 

The Boulder Summer School in Condensed Matter and Materials Physics has been established to provide education for advanced graduate students and postdocs working in condensed matter physics, materials science and related fields. The goal is to enable students to work at the frontiers of science and technology by providing expert training not easily available within the traditional system of graduate education and postdoctoral apprenticeship. The School is supported by the National Science Foundation, with additional funding provided by the University of Colorado CLS and MRSEC from University of Chicago, and meets annually during July in Boulder, Colorado.