Conference: 'Self-Assembly' - The Future

这次分子自组装领域专家的特别会议旨在促进对这些概念在新兴技术中的基础研究和实施的深入讨论，并确定未来的前景和需求。预计这些讨论将促进跨学科和国际合作，以提高这一重要领域的知识和应用水平。分子自组装是医学、信息技术、生物工程和绿色化学等领域先进应用的核心，并将在推动迅速崛起的纳米技术领域的发展方面发挥重要作用。为了实现这些技术提供的潜力，有必要从实验和理论两方面推进对自组装系统的理解，并对这些现象的应用和技术发展最有前途的领域进行展望。本次会议的目的是汇集一群杰出的科学家跨越一系列适当的学科（化学，物理，化学工程，材料科学和生物化学物理），以刺激识别的前景和需求，以提高我们对自组装现象的理解，在广泛的领域的先进应用背景下，促进跨学科和国际合作。组织者将为会议提供一个激动人心和鼓舞人心的氛围。除了描述最近的进展外，发言者还将被要求展望未来，并提出在短期和中期应解决的重大问题，以最有效地促进这一领域的发展。通过这种方式，我们打算促进新的合作，这将为该领域未来的研究项目提供基础。广泛的主题适用于自组装的总标题下，包括批量解决方案和接口，这些将在会议上讨论。一些具体的主题，将讨论的不仅是表面活性剂系统中自组装的机械方面，结合能概念的作用，弱和远程力的性质，而且还包括如何更深入地理解这些原理可以加速基于自组装原理的新功能材料的开发，以及这些材料的新应用。分子水平上相互作用的许多细节，如生物膜中的脂质-蛋白相互作用和磷脂/表面活性剂相互作用，仍然没有得到很好的理解。当前感兴趣的一个相关主题是液体和固体的界面和体积特性的空间和时间控制，这在微流体应用中至关重要，例如，这将需要更好地理解自组装的动态方面和实现这些目标的方法的发展。新的疑问技术是促进胶体和界面科学所有这些领域进步的关键，也是本次会议的另一个焦点。

This special meeting of experts in the field of molecular self-assembly is to promote intensive discussions on, and to identify future prospects and needs for, fundamental research on and implementation of these concepts in emerging technologies. It is anticipated that these discussions will catalyze cross-disciplinary and international collaborations to advance the state of knowledge and application of this important field. Molecular self-assembly lies at the heart of advanced applications in areas as diverse as medicine, information technology, bio-engineering and green chemistry, and is poised to play a significant role in fueling the growth of the rapidly-emerging field of nanotechnology. To realize the potential offered by these technologies, there is a need to advance the understanding of self-assembled systems, from both experimental and theoretical perspectives, and to develop a vision as to the most promising areas for applications and technology development of these phenomena. The purpose of this meeting is to bring together a group of eminent scientists spanning a range of appropriate disciplines (chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, materials science and biochemical physics) to stimulate identification of the prospects and needs for advancing our understanding of self-assembly phenomena in the context of advanced applications in a wide range of areas, and to promote inter-disciplinary and international collaborations. The organizers will provide an exciting and inspirational atmosphere for the conference. As well as describing recent advances, the speakers will be asked to look forward and raise significant issues that should be addressed in the short and intermediate term for the most effective way for furthering this area. In this way we intend to catalyze new collaborations, which will provide the foundation for future research programs in the area.A wide range of topics fit under the general heading of self-assembly, both in bulk solution and at interfaces, and these will be addressed at the meeting. Some specific topics, which will be discussed are not only the mechanistic aspects of self-assembly in surfactant systems, the role of binding energy concepts, and the nature of weak and long-range forces, but also how a deeper understanding of these principles can accelerate the development of new functional materials based on self-assembly principles, and of new applications of these materials. Many of the details of interactions at the molecular level such as lipid-protein interactions in biological membranes and phospholipid/surfactant interactions are still not well understood. A related topic of current interest is the spatial and temporal control of the interfacial and bulk properties of both liquids and solids, which is of crucial importance in microfluidic applications, for instance, and which will require a better understanding of the dynamic aspects of self-assembly and development of methods to accomplish these goals. New interrogative techniques are key to facilitating advances in all these areas of colloid and interfacial science, and will be another focal point of this conference.