Mechanoresponsive materials are a topic of intense research across numerous disciplines. In biology, research on biogenic materials has revealed crucial links between specific protein building blocks and dynamic mechanical behaviors, while studies of biological tissues have identified sophisticated mechanotranduction mechanisms in cells for sensing their environment. Along similar lines, chemists and materials scientists are developing high-performance materials that exhibit specific programmed responses to mechanical stimuli (e.g. self-reporting and self-healing). Common to these diverse lines of research is a primary drive to understand dynamic responses of complex molecules to mechanical stimuli.

Motivated by this shared goal, this multidisciplinary conference will unite scientists from Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Materials Science, spanning multiple length scales and bridging gaps between experiment and simulation. The central topics of the meeting include, but are not limited to:

•    synthetic small molecule mechanophores
•    natural biological force sensors and sacrificial bonds
•    synthetic force sensors for cell biology applications
•    simulations and mechanisms of mechanophores and force sensors
•    techniques for measuring forces
•    physical models for understanding biomaterials
•    mechanosensitive synthetic materials
•    mechanosensitive biomaterials/biomimetic materials

The program will consist of invited and contributed talks and an extended poster session to provide opportunities for interacting with scientists from other disciplines. Young scientists are especially encouraged to attend. The organizers expect a lively meeting that will highlight the current state of research, as well as inspire further developments and collaborations.

Invited Speakers

Esther Amstad, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Switzerland
Marino Arroyo, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain
Yi Cao, Nanjing University, China
Charles Diesendruck, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
Emanuela Del Gado, Georgetown University, USA
Anja Geitmann, McGill University, Canada
Hermann Gaub, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany
Johanna Ivaska, University of Turku, Finland
Yan Jie, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Gijsje Koenderink, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Cynthia Reinhart-King, Vanderbilt University, USA
Andreas Walther, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany