Past events

The workshop will bring together scientists, engineers, architects and designers. The goal is to discuss the role of structure in (re-)defining active and adaptive material properties from the nanoscale to the dimensions of a building. The workshop will include renowned international speakers, as well as researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Potsdam, the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Actvity« as well as the weissensee school of art and design berlin. If you are interested in participating, please register under the registration link and indicate if you are applying with a poster or object. [more]
The workshop will bring together scientists, engineers, architects and designers. The goal is to discuss the role of structure in (re-)defining active and adaptive material properties from the nanoscale to the dimensions of a building. The workshop will include renowned international speakers, as well as researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Potsdam, the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Actvity« as well as the weissensee school of art and design berlin. If you are interested in participating, please register under the registration link and indicate if you are applying with a poster or object. [more]
On June 9, we will celebrate our 30th anniversary. To mark the occasion, we are organising a scientific symposium and would like to cordially invite our alumni to attend. In addition to the Institute's employees, guests from politics and academia will also be invited.In addition to greetings from politics and science, we will look back on 30 years of successful research work and have the opportunity for personal exchange.This will be followed by a scientific symposium for employees and alumni of the Institute, where current research projects will be presented and many opportunities for networking will be offered. In the evening, we invite you to join us for a get together in a relaxed atmosphere.Please note that the event is by invitation only. For specific queries, please contact the respective secretariats of your (former) departments, for example to arrange any settlement of your travel expenses.Photos and video recordings will be taken at the event. [more]

Workshop| Research Data Management

The increasing amount and complexity of scientific data pose challenges to keeping data organized, documented, and available for verification of research and new analyses leading to new findings. Especially with the new Max Planck “Rules of Conduct for Good Scientific Practice” and the regulations for data management, this becomes even more important. Thus, the systematic management of research data is becoming increasingly important. There are possible solutions for the various challenges in research data management: Collecting, documenting, storing, analysing, archiving, and publishing. At this workshop, a rough overview of the topic, diverse approaches and various data services will be presented by experts from the Max Planck Digital Library. [more]
Science2Go is an informal lecture series aiming to present research currently conducted at the Potsdam Science Park. The lecture addresses researchers, staff working at, and people living nearby the Science Park who can get insights about other research topics and neighbor institutions. [more]
This lecture will describe my lab’s inroads in non-equilibrium systems. Using large peptide rings, we have investigated the “butterfly effect” that occurs when a small change at a given position of a molecule results in disproportional consequences at distal positions. Building on these findings, we have developed the dominant rotor concept, which allows us to create systems with unusual 3D shapes. Our work underscores that operations away from equilibrium offer a possibility to control complex molecules. [more]

Biomembrane Days 2022

Membranes form the intricately shaped compartments of life. The Biomembrane Days are a triannual workshop that highlights recent advances in understanding the morphology and molecular organization of biomimetic and biological membranes. Central topics of the Biomembrane Days 2022 include the dynamics and interactions of cells and cellular organelles, giant vesicles as synthetic cell systems, active cellular processes, cell-surface glycans, and biomimetic materials and processes. [more]

Open House

Open House
Immerse yourself in the world of innovation! [more]

CurvoBio Conference - 24 to 26 August 2022

CurvoBio 2022
CurvoBio brings together biologists, physicists, mathematicians, designers and others to elucidate the role of curvature in biological systems. More information: https://www.curvobio.com/upcomming-events [more]

Materials Matter

  • Start: May 4, 2022 05:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • End: May 5, 2022 03:05 PM
Conversation and Workshop about Central Cluster Anthology »Active Materials« at Humboldt Labor [more]

MediaTech Talk | Green Film Production

  • Date: Dec 15, 2021
  • Time: 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
Prof. Markus Antonietti gemeinsam mit anderen Gästen in einer Gesprächsrunde zum Thema „Green Production". [more]
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. [more]

Virtual Seminar Series: Multiscale Mechanochemistry & Mechanobiology - From Molecular Mechanisms to Smart Materials

Virtual Seminar Series: Multiscale Mechanochemistry & Mechanobiology - From Molecular Mechanisms to Smart Materials
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. [more]

BM Monday Seminar

BM Monday Seminar
  • Date: Feb 15, 2021
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Designing Matter for Architecture

BM Monday Seminar: Designing Matter for Architecture
  • Date: Feb 15, 2021
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Karola Dierichs

BM Monday Seminar

BM Monday Seminar
  • Date: Feb 8, 2021
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

BM Monday Seminar

BM Monday Seminar
  • Date: Feb 1, 2021
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

BM Monday Seminar

BM Monday Seminar
  • Date: Jan 25, 2021
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Of networks and brittle bone

BM Monday Seminar
  • Date: Jan 25, 2021
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Maximilian Rummler

BM Monday Seminar

BM Monday Seminar
  • Date: Jan 18, 2021
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)

Watershed-based Image Segmentation of 3D Biological Tomography Data

BM Monday Seminar
  • Date: Dec 14, 2020
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Daniel Baum

Delignifying wood for new sustainable composites: background, initial steps and objectives

BM Monday Seminar
  • Date: Nov 30, 2020
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Zack Jeanrenaud

Living and working in Antarctica: how research is conducted at the edge of the world.

BM Monday Seminar
  • Date: Nov 23, 2020
  • Time: 01:00 PM c.t. - 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Guillaume Herment

Cell-Size Robots for Minimally Invasive Targeted Therapies

BM Monday Seminar
Untethered mobile robots the size of a single human cell can make a disruptive impact in medicine. Their small size and wireless mobility can enable access and navigation in small, confined, hard-to-reach, and sensitive inner body sites, such as the central nervous system, the circulatory system, and the fetus. [more]

Biomolecular Systems Day 2019

Biomolecular Systems Day 2019
We would like to invite you to participate in the 7th Annual Biomolecular Systems Day on December 12th 2019 in the lecture hall of the central building (Max-Planck-Campus). Please register free of charge by sending an email to: bmsday@mpikg.mpg.de Registration deadline: 10th of December, 2019 We are looking forward to an interesting meeting [more]
Membranes form the intricately shaped compartments of life. The Biomembrane Days are a biannual workshop that highlights recent advances in understanding the morphology and molecular organization of biomimetic and biological membranes. Central topics of the Biomembrane Days 2019 are the shaping and scaffolding of membranes by proteins, synthetic cells, giant vesicles, membrane-carbohydrate interactions, and nanoparticles. [more]
This conference will take a uniquely broad approach to cartilage biology, combining researchers with expertise in developmental genetics, biomaterials & biomedicine, and evolution of cartilage. To build wider concepts in cartilage biology, we will pay particular attention to work on less studied cartilage types, on evolutionary perspectives of skeletal diversity and on less traditional models for skeletal biology (e.g. sharks and rays), and how these can enhance modern medical understandings of cartilage. In bringing together diverse cartilage research, the meeting will integrate the full community of cartilage biologists, accelerating research innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration and community-building.We look forward to seeing you in Banyuls! [more]
The institute organizes together with the “Freunde der Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung e.V.” an annual meeting, which informs about the "Trends in Colloids and Interface Science". [more]
The 4th workshop on NanoBio Surfaces and Interfaces in Healthcare and Science will bring together international scientists from universities, research institutions and companies, as well as scientific entrepreneurs, to discuss achievements, challenges and opportunities for the scientific- and entrepreneurial community working in the NanoBio Surfaces and Interfaces field. The workshop is the fourth in a series of workshops that have been held at various European locations in recent years, organized by Vision Dynamics together with local host institutions. In 2019 the Biomaterials Department of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces is hosting the workshop at the Research Campus Potsdam-Golm. [more]

Microscopy Characterization of Organic-Inorganic Interfaces

Microscopy Characterization of Organic-Inorganic Interfaces
The meeting is dedicated to microscopy of materials comprised of both organic and inorganic constituents in close proximity and is aimed at bringing together experts from both the life science and materials science communities to address this challenging and increasingly important topic. Different approaches such as the application of correlative microscopy solutions, low-voltage and cryogenic electron microscopy techniques, in-situ electron microscopy, methods for fast acquisition and many more are discussed during the meeting in the context of studying hybrid materials. This year’s Focus Lecture Series is dedicated to "Advances in imaging beam sensitive materials in the transmission electron microscope” and co-organized by Prof. Dr. Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski, Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. The Focus lectures will cover topics that include the use of novel imaging modes in both TEM and scanning TEM to image electron beam sensitive materials, as well as computational approaches for extracting quantitative information from both images and diffraction patterns. We hope that you will be pleased with our exciting programme and that it will stimulate creative thinking, resulting in new ideas and collaborations. [more]

MaxSynBio Symposium Magdeburg 2018

MaxSynBio Symposium Magdeburg 2018
2-4 July 2018, Magdeburg. An international symposium on bottom-up synthetic biology with presentations from scientists of MaxSynBio, international guest speakers and soccer! [more]
The institute organizes together with the “Freunde der Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung e.V.” an annual meeting, which informs about the "Trends in Colloids and Interface Science". [more]
The focus of this 4th biennial conference is on the design of functional materials and systems inspired by principles found in living nature. The main aim is to establish an international and interdisciplinary forum for scientists from a variety of fields including biology, chemistry, materials science and engineering, physics and medicine to discuss current research and to identify future research directions in the field of bioinspired materials. Main topics include the formation, hierarchical structure and the properties of complex-shaped biological materials. Furthermore, contributions are invited dealing with propulsion and movement of biological objects. The transfer of biological principles onto functional materials and systems made of organic and/or inorganic components represents a further main area, which is covered by this conference. Beside materials synthesis and formation, the conference topics also include research on the functional and mechanical properties thereof. Both experimental studies and theoretical modelling shall be considered. Furthermore, the interaction of bioinspired materials with living environments, e. g. tissues and organs, related to medical aspects and applications fit within the scope of this conference.In addition to invited plenary lectures, the conference encompasses oral and poster presentations. Moreover, contributions related to the Priority Program 1569 (Generation of Multifunctional Inorganic Materials by Molecular Bionics) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft will be included. [more]
We are proud to announce the “AESTHETICS get SYNTHETIC” workshop that will take place in the Main hall of the Max Planck Campus in Potsdam-Golm the afternoon of Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th of November 2017.This workshop is an opportunity to bring together scholars and practitioners to jointly discuss and reflect on contents, approaches and methodologies that draw the link between synthetic biology and artistic research and how those can synergically interact by mutually interrogating and reconsidering their methodologies and modes of operation in an Artist in Residence program like KLAS. In this workshop we are particularly interested in discussions and perspectives that explore how different institutions, organizations and interest groups with relevant expertise and knowledge of research, innovation and education address contemporary challenges of future developments in and beyond their respective knowledge silos. [more]
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. [more]
The institute organizes together with the “Freunde der Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung e.V.” an annual meeting, which informs about the "Trends in Colloids and Interface Science". [more]
This Conference, which has been held every three years since 1980, is one of the most important scientific gatherings in the mineralization field. The meeting emphasizes a wealth of physicochemical, biological and clinical topics concerning mineralization processes in vertebrate and invertebrate species. These include, but are not limited to: cell and molecular biology of mineralized tissue formation, hormone and cytokine regulation of mineralized tissues, signaling pathways, structure and function of extracellular components of mineralized tissues, model systems of biomineralization, disorders and pathology of mineralized tissues and development of therapeutic approaches, and, new technologies for studying crystal structure and formation. [more]
Membranes form the intricately shaped compartments of life. The Biomembrane Days are a biannual workshop that highlights recent advances in understanding the morphology and molecular organization of biomimetic and biological membranes. Central topics of the Biomembrane Days 2016 will be the shaping and scaffolding of membranes by proteins, synthetic cells, giant vesicles, membrane-carbohydrate interactions, and nanoparticles. [more]
Based on with the successful events held in 2012 and 2014 in Potsdam the scope of this conference is to provide an interdisciplinary platform for the discussion of novel developments and trends in the field of bio-inspired materials research. Accordingly, the whole spectrum of biological materials will be covered. Topics will encompass the formation mechanisms as well as the characterization of complex-shaped and hierarchically structured multifunctional materials present in living nature. Based on this, a further key topic will be the consideration of these architectures as archetypes for the generation of novel functional materials with an expanded property spectrum. We invite you to submit your contributions with regard to materials synthesis and design inspired by biological principles and structures. The conference will address Bio-inspired materials based on organic and/or inorganic phases including their mechanical, optical, electronic and magnetic properties as well as actuated systems. Further discussions will be dedicated to materials, which display their function in contact with biological systems, e.g. tissues. Moreover, theoretical modelling of the formation, structure and properties of biological and bio-inspired materials will play a main role. The program will comprise several invited plenary lectures as well as oral and poster presentations. Furthermore, a session related to the priority program 1420 (Biomimetic Materials Research: Functionality by Hierarchical Structuring of Materials) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft will be included. Moreover, the conference will accommodate a Winter School of the Priority Program 1569 (Generation of Multifunctional Inorganic Materials by Molecular Bionics). [more]
Biomolecular motors are the driving force behind many essential processes of life, they transport cargoes in cells, process the genetic information and power cell motility as well as developmental processes. Their functions are based on movements on many time and length scales, ranging from the sub-molecular to the cellular scale. This three-day symposium will highlight recent advances in the study of their function and their dynamics. The central topics of the meeting are Transport by cytoskeletal motors Information-processing by polymerases and ribosomes Molecular machines in cell movements and other processes [more]
The Biomolecular Systems Department is the youngest program within the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces. The Department has grown into a dynamic and exciting environment over the last five years. We feel that it is time to have a day to celebrate and share our accomplishments and vision for the future. The Biomolecular Systems Day will feature scholarly presentations from all group leaders within the department, a keynote address from Prof. Dr. Peter H. Seeberger, a plenary lecture by one of our alumnis as well as selected sponsors and a vendor fair. [more]
This colloquium aims to bring together scientists working with different materials at fluid interfaces, to exchange ideas and to create new concepts, which are of increasing importance and relevance in the field of modern colloid, material and life sciences. In the last years, Langmuir monolayers have encountered a drastic increase in activity mainly due to the applicability of highly interface sensitive techniques. However, they are not directly relevant for applications. Yet, due to their high definition they are excellent models for many areas with application potential. They are the precursors for Langmuir-Blodgett films, organized monolayers possessing potential for coatings and organic electronics. They present the interfaces in emulsions, a basic structure in colloid science. They have a high value as 2D models of biological membranes (phospholipid monolayers at the air/water interface) to study structures and bimolecular interactions. Langmuir monolayers became more and more used as model template systems to better understand the elementary steps of biomineralization processes. The ability of biological samples to self-assemble at the air/water interface makes them valuable templates for functional nano-materials. The design and synthesis of new NPs for future biomedical applications has received increased scientific attention during the last years. The self-assembly of novel amphiphiles at the air-water interface has been even used to produce mechanically robust, macroscopically extended carbon nanosheets at room temperature. Ostwald4 The program will consist of invited and contributed talks as well as of a poster session. Young scientists are especially encouraged to attend the Ostwald Kolloquium and to present a poster or a short talk. Accordingly this should become a very lively meeting that will show the current state of research as well as the way to promising activities and developments in the future. [more]

Dedication Extension Building

6th Bubble and Drop Interfaces (B&D2015)

After B&D workshops in Empoli (1995), Genoa/Italy (2004), Granada/Spain (2007), Thessaloniki/Greece (2009) and Krakow/Poland (2012) we have the 6th B&D workshop now in 2015 in Potsdam/Golm, Germany. Although the first meeting in Empoli was a great scientific success it took 9 years to realize that such a topic is attractive to quite a large community and provides a lot of things to be discussed on a regular basis. Since then, the first workshop became the starting point for a series of workshops with increasing interest. Still, we can call these meetings workshops although we have two parallel sessions with the two COST actions CM1101 and MP1106. Anyway, we hope to enjoy hot discussions of open questions and non-ready work. The B&D 2015 workshop will hopefully continue the successful tradition of the former meeting and provide the platform for fruitful discussions of experts from academia and industry. [more]

Alumni-Meeting

Nanobrücken 2015

11. Treffpunkt Bioinformatik: Bioinformatik und Glykobiotechnologie

Zucker, oder wissenschaftlicher gesagt, Kohlenhydrate, sind in aller Munde. Der Fokus der Glykobiotechnologie ist auf die biologische Rolle einer der größten und vielfältigsten Substanzklassen der organischen Moleküle gerichtet. Als Energiespeicher, Stützsubstanz, Andockstelle oder Antenne für Proteine - Zuckermoleküle übernehmen viele zentrale Aufgaben. Auch bei der Entwick­lung neuer Diagnostika und Therapeutika spielen sie eine immer wichtigere Rolle, etwa zur Erhöhung der Wirksamkeit, Verminderung von Nebenwirkungen oder als Biomarker zur genaueren Feststellung des Entwicklungsstadiums einer Krankheit. Die Entschlüsselung der strukturellen und funktionellen Eigenschaften der Zuckermoleküle verlangt aufwändige analytische Methoden, sorgfältiges Computer-Modelling und komplexe bioinformatorische Lösungen, beispiels­weise zur Analyse von Daten aus High-Throughput Screenings. Zusammen mit dem Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Genetik und dem Netzwerk „glyconet Berlin Brandenburg“ lädt BioTOP zum 11. Treffpunkt Bioinformatik am 7. November ein. Seien Sie dabei und entdecken Sie, welche Rolle die Bioinformatik für die Entwicklung von Glykodiagnostika und ‑therapeutika spielt! [more]
The Biomolecular Systems Day will feature scholarly presentations from all group leaders within the department, a keynote address from Prof. Dr. Peter H. Seeberger, a plenary lecture by one of our alumni as well as selected sponsors and a vendor fair. [more]

Open Day

Biomembrane Days 2014

Membranes form the intricately shaped compartments of life. The Biomembrane Days highlight recent advances in understanding the morphology and molecular organization of biomimetic and biological membranes. In 2014, the focus of the Biomembrane Days is on the four topical areas "Membranes and vesicles", "Adhesion", "Particles at membranes", and "Theory and simulations", which are strongly interrelated. [more]

Alumni-Meeting

Food Colloids

Indo-German Workshop on “Chemical Biology of Infectious Diseases"

14th European Student Colloid Conference

This series of conferences represents a platform for young scientists working in the field of Colloid and Interface Science. This time the meeting will be held in Germany, at the Max Planck Campus of Potsdam/Golm. This venue will provide a lot of opportunities, in particular an excellent scientific environment and the MPI of Colloids and Interfaces is the official host. [more]

Alumni-Meeting

Alumni-Meeting

Alumni-Meeting

Alumni-Meeting

Alumni-Meeting

Alumni-Meeting

Alumni-Meeting

Alumni-Meeting

Alumni-Meeting

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