PROGRAM
ICTP-ICTS WINTER SCHOOL ON QUANTITATIVE SYSTEMS BIOLOGY
ORGANIZERS: Vijaykumar Krishnamurthy (ICTS, India), Daniel Needleman (Harvard University, USA), Simone Pigolotti (OIST, Japan) and Shashi Thutupalli (ICTS/NCBS, India)
DATE & TIME: 04 December 2023 to 15 December 2023
VENUE: Ramanujan Lecture Hall, ICTS
Cells are the basic units of all living matter. They harness energy flows to drive biological functions. Most bio-chemical networks involved in energy transduction are nowadays well-characterized. However, the energetic costs and constraints for specific cellular processes remain largely unknown. In particular, what are the energy budgets of cells? What are the constraints and limits energy flows impose on cellular processes? Do cells operate near these limits, and, if so, how do energetic constraints impact cellular functions? Physics has provided poweerful tools to study nonequilibrium systems and to define these physical limits, but applying these tools to cell biology remains a challenge. Physical bioenergetics resides at the interface of nonequilibrium physics, energy metabolism, and cell biology. It seeks to understand how much energy cells use, how they partition this energy between different cellular processes, and the associated energetic constraints. In this School, we shall review the state of the art in physical bioenergetics with an aim to discuss and articulate open questions and future challenges.
This is the twelfth school in the series on Quantitative Systems Biology, held alternately at Trieste and Bangalore. The school responds to the strong need, especially at the Ph.D. and postdoc level, for providing scientists with a broad exposure to quantitative problems in the study of living systems. The audience will range from Ph.D. students to young faculty, who either work in this area or plan to do so.
The aim of QSB2023 will be to allow students from different backgrounds to become familiar with exciting developments at the interface of physics, bioenergetics, and cellular metabolism. Starting with an overview of cellular bioenergetics, biochemistry and metabolism, the students will be exposed to contemporary research areas covering a broad range of topics, including energetics of mechano-chemical processes, active matter and biological processes such as cellular growth, function and organismal development.
ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Daniel Needleman (Harvard University, USA)
Simone Pigolotti (OIST, Japan)
Shashi Thutupalli (ICTS/NCBS, India)
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Vijay Balasubramaniam (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
Antonio Celani (ICTP Trieste, Italy)
Sanjay Jain (University of Delhi, India)
Vijay Krishnamurthy (ICTS, India, Local organiser)
Matteo Marsili (ICTP Trieste, Italy)
Mukund Thattai (NCBS, India)