ICMR Summer School on Polymeric and Self Assembled Gels

DATES: August 5 to 17, 2007
LOCATION: University of California, Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA

The International Center for Materials Research (ICMR) is pleased to announce a residential, two-week summer school on Polymeric and Self-Assembled Gels from August 5 to August 17, 2007. The school will take place on the UCSB campus. The emphasis of the school will be to present a comprehensive picture of the state of the art field of physical gels with an emphasis on the theory of gelation and on practical aspects of experimentation and interpretation of structural and rheological data.

Confirmed speakers and areas covered in the school include:

Partho Dastidar, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), India
X-ray diffraction techniques with gels; salts as molecular gelators

Timothy Deming, UCLA
Engineering peptide self-assembly for hydrogels

Jean-Pierre Desvergne, Universite de Bordeaux I
Luminescence properties of gels

Patrick Gunning, Institute of Food Research, UK
AFM and STM methods for revealing gel networks

Vijay T. John, Tulane University
Structure and dynamics of gelswith 2-component gelators

Xiang Yang Liu, National University of Singapore
How molecular gels grow

Reiko Oda, University of Bordeaux, France
Dichroism and related methods

Srinivasa Raghavan, University of Maryland
Rheology of surfactant-based hydrogelators

John Selinger, Kent State University
Theories of chiral molecular aggregation into rods, fibers, and tubules

Richard Spontak, North Carolina State University
Molecular gels of block polymers

Fumihiko Tanaka, Kyoto University, Japan
How gels form

Pierre Terech, Cea Grenoble, France
Application of SANS and SAXS techniques to elucidation of gel structures

Jan van Esch, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Computer aided design of molecular gelators

Bing Xu, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Gels of biological materials

Richard Weiss, Georgetown University
Design and kinetics of assembly of molecular gels

The goal of the school will be to present a comprehensive picture of the state of the art in the field of physical gels with an emphasis on the theory of gelation and on practical aspects of experimentation and interpretation of structural and rheological data. Aspects of how gels form from sols and properties of gels, as well as applications of polymeric gels and molecular hydro- and organo-gels, will be covered. The summer school will be designed to encourage cross-fertilization of ideas among the participants. Tutorials and research seminars will be presented by lecturers from chemistry, physics, spectroscopy, biology, and engineering disciplines. Attendees are expected to participate actively during the tutorials and to present posters describing their own research.

Click here for a printable version of the schedule.

Organizers:

Important information regarding the school:

Accepted participants can find detailed arrival and lodging information in the following pdf document: Gels Information Packet

There is no registration fee for this ICMR Summer School.

Accommodations:

Shared housing will be provided in the UCSB Manzanita Village Residence Hall which is located on campus. Meals will be provided for the duration of the activity.

How to apply:

We welcome applications for the Summer School from graduate (PhD) students, post doctoral fellows and early career faculty. Participants are expected to be actively researching polymeric and self-assembled gels. Local hospitality, meals, and housing will be provided. Travel support is available.

1. All applicants must complete the following application form for the summer school.
2. As a separate document, please submit one page addressing your research interests, previous research experience, reason for wishing to participate in the activity and listing relevant publications.
3. Graduate students and post doctoral fellows should, in addition to the application and statement, have their research supervisor email a statement of how the Summer School might benefit the participant.

Please include your last name in each document's file name (e.g. smithstatement.doc). All materials can be sent as email attachments (word, RTF or PDF) to the ICMR Program Coordinator, Jennifer Ybarra, at ybarra@icmr.ucsb.edu. Please include the name of the summer school (e.g."Gels Summer School") in the subject line of your email.

Financial support for travel:

Participants may request travel support. Travel expenses may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $1000 for overseas participants and up to a maximum of $500 for US participants. Please indicate request in "financial assistance" section of application.

Application Deadline:

ICMR is no longer accepting applications for this event

For further details, please contact the ICMR Program Coordinator, Jennifer Ybarra, at ybarra@icmr.ucsb.edu