View the DCP Focus Symposia at 2014 March Meeting

Program chair: Jim Skinner (University of Wisconsin)

I. Physics of glasses and viscous liquids
Organizers: Patrick Charbonneau (Duke University) and Mark Ediger (University of Wisconsin)

The last decade of efforts in supercooled liquid and glass research is paying off handsomely. Rapid improvements in numerical and experimental methods have notably led to novel microscopic insights into the dynamics and structure of glass formers. A parallel burst of theoretical activity further suggests that certain controversies about the glass transition could soon be resolved. For this focus session, we bring together some of the key scientists involved in these advances to explore together the path ahead.

Invited speakers:

Ludovic Berthier (Université de Montpellier II)
Elisabeth Bouchaud (CEA)
Patrick Charbonneau (Duke University)
Jeppe Dyre (Roskilde Universitet)
Takeshi Egami (Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Zahra Fakhraai (University of Pennsylvania)
Aaron Keys (University of California, Berkeley)
David Reichman (Columbia University)
Gilles Tarjus (Université de Paris VI)
Francesco Zamponi (École Normale Supérieure, Paris)

II. Supercooled and nanoconfined water
Organizers: Valeria Molinero (University of Utah) and Anders Nilsson (SLAC)

Supercooled water shows a number of thermodynamic, structural and dynamical anomalies, and to explain them several hypotheses have been put forward. This focus session will present the most recent experimental, computational and theoretical developments on understanding cold and supercooled liquid water, the interplay between anomalies in the liquid state and crystallization of ice, the nature of the glass phases of water and their glass transition signatures, and the effect of nanoconfinement and solutes on the stable and metastable phase diagram of water.

Invited speakers:

Pablo Debenedetti (Princeton University)
Mikhail Anisimov (University of Maryland)
Nicolas Giovambattista (Brooklyn CUNY)
Francesco Mallamace (Messina)
Paola Gallo (Roma Tre)
Giulia Galli (UC Davis)
Christiane Alba-Simionesco (Leon Brillouin Lab)
Barbara Wyslouzil (Ohio State University)
Ben Murray (University of Leeds)
Tianshu Li (George Washington University)
Hajime Tanaka (Univeristy of Tokyo)

III. Motor dynamics: From single molecules to cells
Organizers: Sean Sun (Johns Hopkins University) and Zev Bryant (Stanford University)

Molecular motors are integral components of the living cell, powering important processes ranging from DNA replication to cell division. This focus session brings together interdisciplinary scientists interested in the physical mechanisms of individual motors as well as ensembles of motors working together. Active exchanges of the latest experimental data with theoretical/computational perspectives are encouraged.

Invited speakers:

Tolya Kolomeisky (Rice University)
Aaron Dinner (University of Chicago)
Sam Walcott (UC Davis)
Alex Mogilner (UC Davis)
Yann Chemla (University of Illinois)
Ryota Iino (Tokyo University)
Stephan Grill (MPI-MCBG)
Andrew Turberfield (Oxford University)
Arne Gennerich (Einstein University)
Richard Berry (Oxford University)

IV. Protein misfolding and aggregation
Organizers: Elsa Yan (Yale University) and Joan-Emma Shea (UCSB)

The cell relies on the presence of correctly folded, functional proteins in order to operate. Protein misfolding and ensuing self-assembly into toxic aggregates can have deleterious effects on the cell. This focus session will present experimental and theoretical developments on understanding the kinetics and dynamics of the misfolding and aggregation processes in solution and on membrane surfaces, and structural determination of the self-assembling species ranging from small soluble oligomers to large fibrils.

Invited speakers:

David Eliezer (Weill Cornell Medical College)
Andrew Miranker (Yale University)
Steve Meredith (University of Chicago)
Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy (University of Michigan)
Rob Tycko (NIH)
Martin Zanni (University of Wisconsin)
Reed Wicker (NIH)
Roland Winter (Technical University Dortmund, Germany)
John Straub (Boston University)
Carol Hall (North Carolina State University)
Normand Mousseau (Université de Montréal)

V. Multiscale modeling: Coarse-graining in space and time
Organizers: William Noid (Pennsylvania State University) and Garyk Papoian (University of Maryland)

Nature abounds in multiscale phenomena in which complex emergent dynamics on the mesoscale demonstrate exquisite sensitivity to subtle atomic interactions. Multiscale models provide a powerful computational framework for addressing this coupling between disparate length and time scales. This focus session surveys recent advances and outstanding challenges in the development of multiscale methods, and leading applications that highlight the power and promise of such models.

Invited speakers:

Cecilia Clementi (Rice University)
Qiang Cui (University of Wisconsin)
Juan de Pablo (University of Wisconsin, University of Chicago)
Raymond Kapral (University of Toronto)
Kurt Kremer (Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research)
Siewert-Jan Marrink (University of Groningen)
Valeria Molinero (University of Utah)
Christine Peter (Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research)
M. Scott Shell (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Wataru Shinoda (National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Tech., Japan)
Greg Voth (University of Chicago)

VI. Awards Symposium: Presenting new APS Fellows in the Division of Chemical Physics and Symposium in honor of the winners of the Herbert P. Broida Prize, the Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics, and the Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy & Dynamics.

Contributed papers may be submitted to the Focus Symposia and all areas of Chemical Physics! Abstracts due November 9, 2012.

APS Division of Chemical Physics New Investigator Travel Awards available!.

DCP Focus Symposia Flyer

Please check back, as more information will appear over the course of the summer!