Coordination Funds

微生物在流体中的运动和运输是生命的一个重要方面。寻找食物、对光的定向、后代的传播以及群体的形成都需要运动。微生物，如细菌、藻类和精子，利用鞭毛推进。在微尺度下的游动发生在低雷诺数下，其中流体摩擦和粘性主导惯性。这就需要不同于宏观世界的游泳策略。在进化过程中，发展了克服甚至利用阻力的推进机制。了解这些推进机制为控制生物系统和设计人工纳米机器开辟了一条道路，对从生命科学和材料科学到环境科学的各个研究领域产生了重大影响。对于人工微泳者，可以采用将化学能或热转换为定向运动的替代概念，这可能更有效。微泳者的动力学表现出许多方面，这些方面都是实现运动所必需的。在个人游泳者的水平上，推进机制需要解开。因此，必须解决为持续运动提供能量的问题。通过化学信号、光、重力场和流场对外部刺激的响应代表了另一个重要领域。一个主要的挑战是理解和控制微型游泳者的紧急集体行为。在这方面，需要研究形成大规模模式的机制，如微型游泳者网络和群体，优先方案的目的是将生物学、生物物理学、理论和实验软物质物理学以及模拟科学中关于微型游泳者的研究活动连贯地联合收割机结合起来。先进的实验技术，新的纳米技术工具，软物质化学和物理学，以及新的模拟方法，承诺更深入地了解潜在的物理和生化过程，并提供工具来设计和构建新的人工微泳者。因此，优先方案的主要重点是：-了解生物微型游泳者，-设计和了解人工微型游泳者，-微型游泳者群体的合作行为和群集，存在几个相关系统，其中类似的机制是必不可少的，涉及类似类型的结构。在中尺度上，这些是生物细丝和运动蛋白的混合物，以及振动的颗粒系统;在宏观尺度上，成群的鸟和鱼群出现。由于优先方案的重点是活性粒子之间的物理相互作用，如排除体积和流体动力学相互作用，我们设想相关中尺度系统之间的有益协同作用。然而，大规模的生物群受其他机制的支配，因此不在本优先方案的重点之列。

Locomotion and transport of microorganisms in fluids is an essential aspect of life. Search for food, orientation toward light, spreading of progeny, and the formation of colonies require locomotion. Microorganisms, such as bacteria, algae and sperm, exploit flagella for propulsion. Swimming at the microscale occurs at low Reynolds numbers, where fluid friction and viscosity dominates inertia. This requires swimming strategies different from those of the macroscopic world. During evolution propulsion mechanisms developed that overcome or even exploit drag. Understanding these propulsion mechanisms opens an avenue for the control of biological systems and the design of artificial nanomachines, with a major impact on various research areas ranging from life science and material science to environmental science. For artificial microswimmers, alternative concepts to convert chemical energy or heat into directed motion can be employed, which are potentially more efficient.The dynamics of microswimmers shows many facets, which are all required to achieve locomotion. At the level of an individual swimmer, the propulsion mechanism needs to be unraveled. Thereby, the question on the energy supplied for persistent motion has to be addressed. The response to external stimuli by chemical signals, light, gravitational fields, and flow fields, represents another important area. A major challenge is the understanding and control of emergent collective behaviour of microswimmers. Here, the mechanisms underlying the formation of large-scale patterns, such as networks and swarms of microswimmer, needs to be addressed.The aim of the Priority Programme is to coherently combine the research activities on microswimmers in biology, biophysics, theoretical and experimental soft matter physics, and simulation sciences. Advanced experimental techniques, new nanotechnological tools, soft-matter chemistry and physics, and novel simulation approaches, promise deeper insights into the underlying physical and biochemical processes, and provide the tools to design and construct new artificial microswimmers. Accordingly, the major focus of the Priority Programme is:- understanding of biological microswimmers,- design and understanding of artificial microswimmers,- cooperative behaviour and swarming of ensembles of microswimmers.Several related systems exist, in which similar mechanisms are essential and similar types of structures are involved. On the mesoscale, these are mixtures of biological filaments and motor proteins, and vibrated granular systems; on the macroscale, swarms of birds and schools of fish emerge. Because the focus of the Priority Programme is on physical interactions between active particles, like excluded-volume and hydrodynamic interactions, we envisage beneficial synergies between related mesoscale systems. However, macroscale biological swarms are governed by other mechanisms, and are therefore outside of the focus of this Priority Programme.