Winter School

within the DFG Priority Programme 1726 “Microswimmers – From Single Particle Motion to Collective Behavior”

Active matter is a novel class of nonequilibrium materials composed of a large number of agents, which consume energy and generate directed motion. The scale of agents ranges from nanomotors and microswimmers to cells and fish or birds. Unraveling, predicting, and controlling the behavior of active matter is a truly interdisciplinary endeavor, and involves scientists from biology, chemistry, ecology, engineering, mathematics, and physics. Recent progress in experimental and simulation methods, and theoretical advances, now allows for a detailed study of such systems, and to gain new insight into their behavior, which should ultimately lead to the design of novel synthetic active agents. This school will provide a broad overview of the field, covering state-of-the-art methodological aspects in experiment and simulation, and current research on natural and artificial active agents and their collective behavior.

The school is intended for students at the Master’s and PhD level, and postdocs, from all fields related to active matter, and reflects its wide spectrum and interdisciplinary character. Selected topics from various fields will be covered. Hence, participants will gain insight into a variety of complementary aspects relevant for a comprehensive understanding of active matter.

The school is supported by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) and is organized within the framework of the DFG Priority Programme “Microswimmers – from Single Particle Motion to Collective Behaviour”. It is open to everyone interested in state-of-the-art activities in this fascinating research area.