Archives: Events

Organisation: Carsten Baldauf (Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin) and Hans-Günther Döbereiner (Institute of Biophysics, University Bremen)

Scope of the meeting

The aim is to engage part of the audience of the European Biophysics Conference in a discussion about research-data handling in general and about the peculiarities of biophysics data. Experimental data are only meaningful when methods, machinery, sample, measurement conditions, and measured quantities are known. Likewise, computational data is only worth keeping if all aspects of the underlying simulation are recorded in detail as well. To create and provide data according to the FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable), we need extensive annotation, i.e., a systematic metadata catalogue. Such data structures can only be developed in a community effort. Specific topics of this workshop are:

• Background on research data
• Identifying needs and strategies specific to biophysics regarding:
• User and software interfaces of data handling platforms
• Strategies for developing (meta)data standards

Austria has a long-standing tradition in biophysics: in 2021, the Austrian Biophysical Society will celebrate its 60^th birthday. Founded in 1961, Biophysics Austria is among the oldest biophysical societies in Europe and hosted the first European meeting in Biophysics in Baden by Vienna in 1971. The 2021 congress will be held under the umbrella and with the support of the European Biophysical Societies Association (EBSA).  Many well-known companies will support this meeting.

An outstanding scientific programme will cover most biophysical research directions, including single-molecule biophysics, high resolution optical and force microscopy, ion channels and transporters, lipids and membranes, structural biology, theoretical biophysics, cell mechanics, and many other subjects.

The event features cross-disciplinary plenary lectures that foster discussions at or beyond the frontiers of current biophysical research. For the first time, a public lecture will start the congress. Nobel laureate Ada Yonath is honoring the contribution of Erwin Schrödinger to life sciences by outlining her view on the old question “What is life?”. The lecture will be open to any person interested in science.

Conference website:

https://www.ebsa2021.org/

Organisation: Peter Pohl, JKU University, Linz, Austria

Scope of the meeting

The meeting brings together European Scientists interested in interfacial protons and related transport phenomena. Proton transfer is crucial in numerous biological and chemical processes, e.g., in cellular proton pumps or hydrogen fuel cells. Proton transfers are among the most common biochemical reactions, being involved both in the use of chemical energy in mitochondrial respiration and in light initiated oxygen fixing photosynthetic reactions. The dysfunction of proton transporters was reported to have implications for cancer, obesity, or gastritis – to name a few examples. Many details of the underlying proton transfer mechanisms are still unresolved, and understanding how confined water mediates proton dynamics remains a fundamental challenge in biophysics. Furthermore, in the biotechnical field, the deep understanding of proton transfer will enable biomimetic applications, such as recreation of ATP biosynthesis.

Conference website:

https://www.jku.at/index.php?id=20988

The 45th FEBS Congress, entitled “Molecules of Life: Towards New Horizons“, will be held as a virtual event from July 3th to July 8th, 2021, hosted by the Slovenian Biochemical Society together with the Croatian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Congress Website:

https://2021.febscongress.org/