The Physics of Life at the Nanoscale Conference, 2027

January 3-8, 2027 • Aspen Center for Physics

The Physics of Life at the Nanoscale conference focuses on progress and breakthroughs in the field of single-molecule biophysics, both from its experimental and theoretical frontiers. The conference is an evolution of the popular Single Molecule Biophysics workshops held at the ACP since 2001. New for this conference are "winter school" sessions in systems/synthetic biology and microfluidics that will highlight intersections with the single-molecule community and opportunities for collaboration and new research directions. Additional topics vary from year to year but include biological systems ranging from nucleic acid-based enzymes (polymerases, topoisomerases, helicases etc.), nucleic acids (DNA , RNA), mechanoenzymes (myosin, kinesin, dynein, ATP synthase, flagellar motors), and aspects of molecule physiology (folding/unfolding, binding, signaling, and other biostructural changes. The meeting also highlights technical and theoretical advances in single molecule biophysics in vitro and in living organisms using a range of techniques that incorporate fluorescence, optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers, scanned-probed techniques, nanopores, electrophysiology, cryo-EM, and super-resolution techniques. 

Biologists and physicists with either a newfound or longstanding interest in biophysics are strongly encouraged to apply: all levels of accomplishment are welcome. This intellectual diversity of participants is complemented by diversity in gender, geography, and age. We hope to continue our tradition of raising substantial funds that can subsidize meeting costs, including payment of ACP registration for all scientific participants and subsidizing meeting costs, especially for junior scientists and those traveling overseas. Similar workshops have been oversubscribed in the past, so a higher priority will be assigned to those applicants who present significant new findings and commit to remaining the entire duration of the meeting.