International Symposium on Clusters and Nano-Assemblies: Physical and Biological Systems; Richmond, VA; November 10-13, 2003

维吉尼亚联邦大学（VCU）于2003年11月10日至13日在弗吉尼亚州里士满举办了一场关于“簇和纳米组件：物理和生物系统”的国际研讨会。研讨会的重点是纳米级生物系统的独特性质，如蛋白质、酶反应、RNA和DNA，以及它们的理解如何有助于基于无机纳米级系统的材料设计。研讨会还讨论了利用物理科学中发展的技术来发展对生物系统的基本理解。这是由VCU组织的围绕簇和原子设计材料的总体主题的系列国际研讨会的第五次。专题讨论会已经演变为每次讨论当前的主题。本次研讨会的主题是在纳米尺度上探索物理和生物世界之间的界面，这是非常及时的，预计将引起广泛的物理科学研究人员的兴趣。

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) holds an international symposium on "Clusters and Nanoassemblies: Physical and Biological Systems" in Richmond, VA, on November 10-13, 2003. The symposium focuses on the unique properties of nano-scale biological systems such as proteins, enzyme reactions, RNA, and DNA and how their understanding can assist on the design of materials based on inorganic nanoscale systems. The symposium also addresses the utilization of techniques developed in the physical sciences to develop a fundamental understanding of biological systems.This is the fifth of a series of international symposia around the general theme of clusters and atomically-designed materials organized by VCU. The symposia have evolved to address current topics each time. The general topic of this symposium, the exploration of the interface between the physical and biological world at the nanoscale, is very timely and it is anticipated to generate interest from a wide spectrum of researchers in the physical sciences.