ESF Research Conferences

Registration at ESF-COST Desk

Dinner

Welcome Drinks

Registration at ESF-COST desk in front of lecture hall

Conference Opening
Introduction by ESF/ COST

Session 1: Dynamic Self Assembly
Chaired by: Gonen Ashkenasy, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, IL

Sijbren Otto - University of Groningen, NL
Mechanically activated self-replication

Nicolas Giuseppone - University of Strasbourg, FR
Towards Self-fabricating Functional Materials

Coffee break

Meital Reches - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IL
New strategies for peptides self-assembly

Jan W. Sadownik - University of Strathclyde, UK
Enzymatically driven dynamic systems for peptide self-assembly

Lunch

Session 2: Molecular Networks, Computation and Machine
Chaired by: Goran Goranovic - NTU Nanyang Technological University, SG

Stuart Kauffman - Tampere University of Technology, FI; University of Vermont, US
History and Current Status of Work on the Origin of Life

Yaakov (Kobi) Benenson - ETH Zurich, CH
Biological computers identify specific cancer cells

Nathaniel Wagner - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, IL
Modeling and Simulation in Systems Chemistry

Coffee break

Raphaël Plasson - Keio University, JP
A DNA toolbox for the design of in vitro complex reaction networks

16:50-17:10

Graham de Ruiter - Weizmann Institute of Science, IL
Redox-Active Mono- and Multi-Layers with Sense and Memory: A Matter of Logic

17:10-17:30

Christoph Flamm - University of Vienna, AT
Detecting chemical transformation motifs

Evening Lecture
Chaired by: Peter Strazewski - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, FR

Günter von Kiedrowski - Ruhr University Bochum, DE
25 years of chemical self-replication – fun(damentals), facts, and fiction

Dinner

Session 3: Towards Artificial Cells
Chaired by: Meital Reches - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IL

Pierre-Alain Monnard - University of Southern Denmark, DK
Heterogeneous self-assembled media for biopolymerization

Beatriu Escuder - Universitat Jaume I, ES
Functional Fibrillar Networks: Emergence of New Properties Driven by Self-Assembly

Zbigniew Pianowski - ETH Zurich
A Protein Container Evolved for Encapsulation of Charged Molecules 

Coffee break

Doron Lancet - Weizmann Institute of Science, IL
“...and yet it metabolized first”

Eors Szathmary - Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, HU
M,R systems, chemotons and reflexively autocatalytic networks: a critical assessment

Sarah Maurer - University of Southern Denmark, DK
Protocell Morphology During Growth and Division

Lunch

Session 3 (Cont.): Towards Artificial Cells

Addy Pross - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, IL
Toward a general theory of evolution 

John S. McCaskill - Ruhr-Universität Bochum, DE
Electronic Systems Chemistry

Short oral presentations of posters
Chaired by: Gonen Ashkenasy, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, IL

Celia Blanco - Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), ES
Mirror Symmetry Breaking at Interfaces: Glycine and alpha-amino acids

Anna Fedor - Eötvös Lorand University of Sciences, HU
Two different template replicators coexisting in the same protocell: Stochastic simulation of an extended chemoton model

Clare Mahon - Newcastle University, UK
Templating a Polymer-Scaffolded Dynamic Combinatorial Library

Leila Motiei - Weizmann Institute of Science, IL
Self-Propagating Molecular-based Assemblies

Francesca Caprioli - University of Groningen, NL
Self-propagating amino acids: further steps towards the origin of life

Daniel Weingand - Karlsruhe Institut of Technology, DE
The Soai Reaction as a tool for determination of small ee values

Hong-Yu Zhang - Huazhong Agricultural University, CN
Origin and evolution of proteins: a small molecule-based investigation

Poster session
sponsored by Journal of Systems Chemistry

For accepted posters, please refer to the List of Posters

Dinner

Evening Lecture
Chaired by: Pierre-Alain Monnard - University of Southern Denmark, DK

John Sutherland - MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, UK
Prebiotic chemistry: a new modus operandi

Session 4: Origin of Homochirality
Chaired by: Meir Lahav, Weizmann Institute of Science, IL

Kenso Soai - Tokyo University of Science, JP
Recent Study on the Origins of Chirality Using Asymmetric Autocatalysis

Michael McBride - Yale University, US
Non-Linearity in Crystal Growth Schemes

Josep Ribo - University of Barcelona, ES
Effects of Flows in Auto-Organization, Self-Assembly and Emergence of Chirality

Coffee break

Svetlana B. Tsogoeva - University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, DE
Organocatalytic and Spontaneous Asymmetric Synthesis

Roberto Purrello - University of Catania, IT
Induction and memory of chirality

Brigitte Bibal - University of Bordeaux, FR
Supramolecular Receptors for Organocatalysis & Recognition of Biological Species

Lunch

Half-day excursion: Guide tour at the Palace of Knossos and walk in the old town of Heraklion

Dinner

Session 5: Peptides, Proteins and Nucleic Acids in Systems Chemistry
Chaired by: Beatriu Escuder Gil - Universitat Jaume I, ES

Rein Ulijn - The University of Strathclyde, UK
Exploiting equilibrium and non-equilibrium self-assembly of peptide nanostructures

Peter Strazewski - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, FR
Amphiphilic peptidyl-RNA spontaneously anchors to phospho- and glycolipidic giant vesicles

Syuzanna Harutyunyan - University of Groningen, NL
Stereochemical features are in control of directional movement on a single molecular level

Coffee break

Alexander Kros - University of Leiden, NL
Let’s get together: Efficient membrane fusion using lipidated peptides

Shai Rahimipour - Bar-Ilan University, IL
Self-assembled Cyclic D,L-alpha-Peptides as Novel Anti-amyloidogenic Scaffolds

Henderson James Cleaves - Georgia Institute of Technology, US
Nucleoside Analogues Capable of Undergoing Reversible Ring-Opening Polymerization

Group picture

Lunch & Beach volleyball

Session 6: Minimal Living Systems
Chaired by: Christoph Flamm - University of Vienna, AT

Leroy (Lee) Cronin - University of Glasgow, UK
Inorganic Biology

Steen Rasmussen - University of Southern Denmark, DK
Challenges for assembling minimal living physicochemical systems

Katie Marriott - University of Leeds, UK
From Simplicity to Complexity: Reduced Oxidation State Phosphorus in Prebiotic Chemistry

Forward Look Plenary Discussion
Chair: Gonen Ashkenasy, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, IL

Discussion about future developments in the field

Evening Lecture
Chair: Meir Lahav, Weizmann Institute of Science, IL

Ada Yonath - Weizmann Institute of Science, IL
An amazing natural bonding machine: the ribosome

Get-together and Conference Dinner

Breakfast and Departure