This special focus is jointly sponsored by the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS), the Biological, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences Interfaces Institute for Quantitative Biology (BioMaPS), and the Rutgers Center for Molecular Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry (MB Center).
Recent years have witnessed the development of fabrication and characterization technologies to manipulate and analyze matter at the nanoscale. These technologies have applications in myriad areas, including in biology, where nature has evolved its own nanotechnologies that inspire many contemporary engineered nanodevices. As first generation nanotechnologies have provided proofs of principle for many exciting applications, the need for better understanding of biology and physics at the nanoscale through modeling and computation has become apparent.
This workshop will explore the foundations of nanoscale assembly in natural and engineered systems. Natural systems may include viruses, organelles, or multi-molecular machines as they self-assemble and take shape in processes that might include, for example, development, adaptation, or cancer. Engineered systems under development include smart drug delivery systems, DNA-based fabrication, layer-by-layer assembly and electrospun nanofibers. The ability to model and understand the natural systems will accelerate the development of engineered nanosystems. While efforts to attain better understanding through modeling and computation are of primary interest, the integration of modeling and experiments is quite relevant and necessary to advance our understanding of self-assembly at the nanoscale.
Because this field is so interdisciplinary, we envision an audience that includes biologists, chemists, physicists, computer scientists and engineers.
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