https://www.vlaggraduateschool.nl/en/courses/course/ISP2018.htm

The meeting is the 12th in the ISP series of conferences started in 1995, on the physics and physical chemistry of polyelectrolytes, with a focus on understanding how electrostatic interactions determine and influence the behaviour of synthetic and biological charged macromolecules in solution, in complexes and at interfaces. We aim at continuing the success of the 11^th edition in Moscow (2016) by providing a stimulating forum with prominent keynote and plenary speakers, ample opportunities for submitted oral and poster presentations, and plenty of opportunities to discuss and interact with colleagues. The conference venue is the Wageningen International Congress Centre (www.wicc.nl), Wageningen, the Netherlands. Wageningen is conveniently located, just one hour by train from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Ahead of the conference, on August 26 and 27, a PhD course on polyelectrolytes will be organized that will be free of charge for PhD students attending the conference, featuring extended tutorial lectures by a selection of the organizers and plenary speakers of the conference.

Keynote speakers:
Michael Rubinstein (Duke University, USA)
Russell Stewart (University of Utah, USA)
Christine Keating (Penn State University, USA)

Plenary sessions

Polyelectrolytes theory and modeling
Katia Zhulina (Institute of Macromolecular Compounds,St Petersburg, Russia)
Charles Sing (University of Illinois, USA)
Fabien Léonforte (L’Oréal Research and Innovation, France)

Polyelectrolyte complexes at interfaces
Henrik Birkedal (Aarhus University, Denmark)
Philipp Erni (Firmenich, Switzerland)

Polyelectrolytes and coacervation in cell biology
Tim Nott (University of Oxford, UK)
Roy Beck (Tel Aviv University, Israel)

Biological and biohybrid polyelectrolytes
Tanja Weil (MPI for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany)
Mauri Konstiainen (Aalto University, Finland)

Polyelectrolyte complex coacervation
Sarah Perry (University of Massachusetts, USA)
Paul Dubin (University of Massachusetts, USA)

Conjugated polyelectrolytes & poly(ionic liquids)
Ulli Scherf ((Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany)
Christophe Detrembleur (University of Liège, Belgium)
Joris Sprakel (WUR, The Netherlands),

Polyelectrolyte membranes
Ivo Vankelecom (KU Leuven, Belgium)
Joris de Grooth (NX Filtration, Enschede, The Netherlands)

International organizing committee:
Paul Dubin, University of Massachusetts, USA; Ray Farinato, Solvay, USA; Alexei Khokhlov, Moscow State University, Russia; Serge Stoll, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Ulrich Scheler, Leibniz Institute Polymer Research, Dresden, Germany

Local organizing commitee:
Renko de Vries (chair), Frans Leermakers (co-chair), Wageningen University and Research; Eva Oudshoorn (secretariat), Wageningen University and Research, Graduate School VLAG; Evan Spruijt, Radboud University Nijmegen; Ilja Voets, Eindhoven University of Technology; Jasper van der Gucht, Marleen Kamperman, Louis de Smet, Wageningen University and Research; Andreas Herrmann, University of Groningen; Simeon Stoyanov, Unilever R&D, Vlaardingen; Wiebe de Vos, Saskia Lindhoud, University of Twente.

Abstracts for 20 min oral and posters presentations can be submitted for these topics, as well as on any topic that relates to the general focus of this conference series, which is on the influence of electrostatic interactions on the behaviour of synthetic and biological charged macromolecules in solution, in complexes and at interfaces. Deadline for submission is June 1^st, 2018. Conference contributions can be submitted for publication in a special issue “Polyelectrolytes and Polyelectrolyte Complexes” of the MPDI Journal “Polymers”, submission deadline December 1, 2018. To register please visit the conference website. Registration will be accepted in the order in which payment is received. Participation is restricted to 250 persons. Conference fee includes conference materials, admission to all conference sessions, welcome reception, coffee/tea during breaks, lunches, the social programme and the conference dinner:

Industry/For-Profit € 750
Non-profit organizations/University staff/Postdocs € 400
PhD students € 400
Accompanying persons € 200

For more information, see the conference website.