Hosted by the Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics the workshop was jointly organised by researchers in the School of Physics and Astronomy (Davide Marenduzzo and Tyler Shendruk) and the School of Biological Sciences (Andrew Goryachev) at The University of Edinburgh.
Over three days it brought together a vibrant community of over 80 researchers from the UK, Europe and further afield working on current burgeoning topics of interest. These spanned experimental and theoretical biophysics, physics of life and biologically motivated soft matter physics.
Forging the path ahead
Recent collaborations between biologists and physicists have brought about astounding advances in many areas of biomedical research. This event aimed to showcase a range of research and forge new collaborative ties between physicists and biologists, both locally and internationally.
The event also provided career development opportunities to the next generation of researchers with opportunities for contributed talks and poster presentations. In total there were 15 contributed talks and over 30 posters presented.
Fostering Inclusion
The workshop aimed to foster the atmosphere of equality, diversity and inclusion with funds available to offset travel expenses for participants in need.
A successful seed funding award from the School of Biological Sciences enabled the presentation of three travel fellowships to under-represented participants who otherwise would have been unable to attend. The awards went to Margarida Hermida (KCL), Luke Davis (UCL) and Kuheli Biswas (Technion, Israel).
The fellowship awards were presented by Professor Steven Spoel, Director of Research in the School of Biological Sciences, recognising the importance of cross disciplinary collaboration and promoting engagement and inclusion.