Call for Papers

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

This symposium will be focused on a grand challenge in biomaterials science, which is the design of bioinspired materials to support active processes in nature by materials, which can interact with biological systems at different scales. In vivo materials often contain pores, are soft and react in an autonomous way, e.g., in healing. A particular focus will be on the molecular understanding and manufacturing of porous, conductive and responsive materials, to mimic the responsiveness, activity and self-healing ability of living systems. This is an emerging topic in materials research with the potential for large-scale impact, ranging from optimizing implants for living systems to organoid and disease models. The first part of the symposium will focus on the molecular mechanisms leading to soft, porous and responsive materials. The second part will cover larger scale systems, with a particular focus on porous and biohybrid systems that can host living cells and can be controlled by external stimuli. The meeting will bring together researchers with different interdisciplinary materials science background in order to generate novel ideas and applications in the field.

Contributions can address topics including 3D biomaterials that mimic biology from a structural perspective (e.g., porous materials, 3D printed materials) or mechanical properties (e.g., viscoelastic properties). In addition, responsive materials, particularly in conjunction with biological systems (e.g., synthesis of responsive molecules, responsive materials, mechanical control of materials), and methods to generate biohybrid systems based on such materials are welcomed.

Topics will include:

• Methods to generate and analyse 3D biomaterials
• 3D (bio)printing methods and advanced manufacturing for biomaterials
• Viscoelastic properties of biomaterials and biological systems
• Characterization of biological systems in the context of 3D materials
• Responsive molecules and materials
• Self-healing biomaterials
• Applications of 3D materials in tissue engineering
• Controlling multicellular systems in 3D materials
• Biohybrid 3D systems engineering

Invited Speakers:

• Nasim Annabi (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
• Aysu Arslan (BionInx Inc., Belgium)
• Cecile Bidan (Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, Germany)
• Eva Blasco (Heidelberg University, Germany)
• Aránzazu del Campo (INM–Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Germany)
• Zvonomir Dogic (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)
• John Dunlop (Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg, Austria)
• Akhilesh Gaharwar (Texas A&M University, USA)
• John Hardy (Lancaster University, United Kingdom)
• Julianne Holloway (Arizona State University, USA)
• Don Ingber (Harvard University, USA)
• Roger Kamm (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
• Kristopher Kilian (University of New South Wales, Australia)
• John Klier (The University of Oklahoma, USA)
• Aldo Leal-Egana (Heidelberg University, Germany)
• Cornelia Lee-Thedieck (Hannover University, Germany)
• Berit Lokensgaard Strand (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)
• Mary Beth Monroe (Syracuse University, USA)
• Humberto Palza (Universidad de Chile, Chile)
• Benjamin Richter (Nanoscribe Inc., Germany)
• Adrianne Rosales (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)
• Shane Scott (McMaster University, Canada)
• Motomu Tanaka (Kyoto University, Japan)
• Andreas Walther (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany)

Symposium Organizers