EUTOPIA-1: First meeting of the European Topology interdisciplinary Initiative

5 Feb 2019, 08:30 → 8 Feb 2019, 14:00 Europe/Rome

Meeting room (ECT* - Villa Tambosi)

Raffaello Potestio - ( University of Trento ) (UniTn - Physics Dept.), Franco Ferrari (University of Szczecin), Luca Tubiana (University of Vienna)

EUTOPIA-1: First meeting of the European Topology interdisciplinary Initiative

The physical properties of many systems often crucially depend on those global features that cannot be ascribed to a particular geometry or arrangement, rather to a more abstract notion: topology. The latter manifests itself in the knotted state of proteins and artificial polymers, the intertwining among DNA rings, or the topologically distinct classes of defect lines that can be found in liquid crystals. A better understanding of the interplay between a system’s topological state, its three-dimensional structure, and its overall characteristics paves the way to an improved control of relevant natural molecules or human-made materials, with remarkable impact on fundamental science as well as high-tech applications. The aim of this meeting is to kick-off the scientific activity of the recently established European Topology Interdisciplinary Action (EUTOPIA COST Action) which gathers scientists from 22 different European countries and from fields ranging from mathematics to biology, physics and chemistry.

Main Topics (working groups):

• WG1: Theory of topological entanglement in polymers and fibres.
• WG2: Polymeric and fibrous topological materials
• WG3: Entangled and self-entangled proteins
• WG4: DNA, chromosomes, and other entangled genetic material
• WG5: Topologically complex fluids

 

                                                                     

 

EUTOPIAprogram.pdf

Poster EUTOPIA-1.pdf

Tuesday 5 February

08:30 → 09:00 Registration

09:00 → 10:30 MC meeting: Part I.

Management committee meeting. First part.

10:30 → 11:00 coffee break

11:00 → 12:30 MC meeting: Part II.

Management committee meeting, part II

12:00 → 12:30 Registration non-MC member

12:30 → 14:00 Lunch

14:00 → 14:30 Opening ceremony: presentation and description of the event

14:30 → 15:00 WG 1 introduction

15:00 → 15:30 WG 2 introduction

15:30 → 16:00 coffee break

16:00 → 16:30 WG 3 introduction

16:30 → 17:00 WG 4 introduction

17:00 → 17:30 WG 5 introduction

17:30 → 19:30 poster session

19:30 → 21:30 Social dinner

Wednesday 6 February

09:00 → 10:30 WG 1 mini-workshop.: Part I.

09:00 General introduction to topology, strings, knots

Speaker: Alexei Morozov

09:40 Hopfions in superconductors

Speaker: Egor Babaev ­

10:00 Topological aspects of protein folding

Speaker: Nevena Ilieva ­

10:30 → 11:00 coffee break

11:00 → 12:30 WG 1 mini-workshop.: Part II.

11:00 Knots, knot invariants and knots in proteins

Speaker: Piotr Sulkowski ­

11:30 The analytical approach to topological structures in nature: challenges and new perspectives

Speaker: Franco Ferrari

12:00 Round table - forward look for WG 1

12:30 → 14:30 lunch

14:30 → 16:00 WG 2 mini-workshop: Part I. Topological effects in generic polymer systems, CG polymer models, Active polymers.

14:30 Polymer systems under topological constraints

Speaker: Andrey Milchev ­

14:45 Random knotting and linking

Speaker: Enzo Orlandini

15:00 5x5 minutes talks

• Jan Smrek, Non-equilibrium Thermally-Induced Phase Separation in Polymers

• Emanuele Locatelli, Overview on Structural and Dynamical Properties of Active Polymers

• Luca Tubiana, Polycatenanes and the Kinetoplast DNA

• Davide Michieletto, Threadings in Systems of Ring and
  Tadpole Shaped Polymers

• Mark Miller, Coarse-Graining Methods for Molecular and Colloidal Systems

15:30 Round table - forward look for WG 2

16:00 → 16:30 coffee break

16:30 → 18:15 WG 2 mini-workshop: Part II. Polymeric gels, Characterization of biopolymer topological properties (linking number, torsion, writhe, etc...)

16:30 Patchy polymers: A bridge between synthetic polymers and biopolymers

Speaker: Ivan Coluzza

16:45 ­Experimental polymer design for drug delivery

Speaker: Kalina Peneva

17:05 4x5 minutes talks

• Felix Schacher, Modern Polymer Chemistry: From Tailor-made Materials to Lego(c) for Grown-Ups
• Marina Scarpa, Cellulose Nanocrystals as Building Blocks of Entangled Materials
• Pavlos Stefanou, Entanglement Effects in Polymer Melts and Solutions: Where We Stand and What Can Be Done
• Angel Moreno, Simulations of Reversible and Irreversible Complex Polymer Networks: From Gels to Microgels

17:30 Round table - forward look for WG 2

Thursday 7 February

09:00 → 10:30 WG 3 mini-workshop: Part I.

09:00 WG 3 overview

State­ of­ the­ art, open problems according to the MoU, Possible cross­collaboration with the other WGs. Discussion

Speaker: Joanna Sulkowska

09:30 Knotoids and Protein Structure: A primer on the mathematical theory and the available computational tools.

Speaker: Dimos Goundaroulis

09:50 Knots in intrinsically disordered proteins Discussion

Speaker: Marek Cieplak

10:10 Transferable coarse­grained potential for de novo protein folding and design

Speaker: Ivan Coluzza

10:30 → 11:00 coffee break

11:00 → 12:30 WG 3 mini-workshop: Part II.

11:00 Deterministic Knots in proteins

Speaker: Pawel­ Dabrowski­-Tumanski

11:20 Non­trivial lasso in proteins and polymers Discussion

Speaker: Bartosz Greń

11:40 Round table - forward look for WG 3

12:30 → 14:30 Lunch

14:30 → 16:00 WG 4 mini-workshop: Part I.

14:30 TBA

Speaker: Eoin Hurley

14:40 DNA braids

Speaker: Giada Forte

14:50 DNA Unknotting via Topoisomerase

Speaker: Agnese Barbensi ­

15:00 Chromatin unknotting

Speaker: Andrzej Stasiak ­

15:10 Chromatin & TADs

Speaker: Dusan Racko

15:20 TBA

Speaker: Cristian Micheletti

15:30 Nonlinear dynamics of DNA and microtubules

Speaker: Slobodan Zdravkovic ­

15:40 TBA

Speaker: Bojana Lucic

15:50 TBA

Speaker: Noan Kaplan

16:00 → 16:30 coffee break

16:30 → 18:00 WG 4 mini-workshop: Part II. Round table: forward look for WG 4

Friday 8 February

09:00 → 10:30 WG 5 mini-workshop: Part I.

10:30 → 11:00 coffee break

11:00 → 12:30 WG 5 mini-workshop: Part II.

12:30 → 13:00 Closing remarks

13:00 → 14:00 Lunch