Study visit to Princeton University

The purpose of the travel was to assess the perspectives for future collaboration with the Soft Living Matter Group run by prof. Clifford Brangwynne at the Princeton University. The group conducts cutting-edge research in the field of physicochemistry of soft matter in living systems. The group possesses a wide background and know-how concerning biophysical studies on model biological systems at all complexity levels (single cells, tissues and organisms). It is applied there, i.e., to studies of phase transitions in living systems and intrinsically disordered proteins, which play a key role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases.

These topics are directly related to the research conducted currently at the Department of Physical Chemistry of Biological Systems and Department of Soft Condensed Matter at IPC as well as planned future projects of these departments. During his stay, Krzysztof Sozański gave a talk entitled: “How to break a molecular motor: A study of kinesin motion in crowded environment”, which was met by a lively reception and sparked a compelling discussion. Krzysztof Sozański held meetings with the PI (prof. Brangwynne) and majority of the group members, talking about their current projects, experimental capabilities of the labs and areas where our scientific interests overlap, as well as the possibilities of the future collaboration with the group.

Visitor

Krzysztof Sozański

Dates

April 10-13, 2017

Location

Princeton University, USA