Biological Physics of Biomolecular Condensates: Bridging Theory and Experiment

Coordinators: Jerelle Joseph, Frank Jülicher, Stephanie Weber, and David Zwicker

Living cells have evolved robust mechanisms to coordinate the activity of many different molecules in space and time. For example, cells concentrate specific molecules into membrane-less compartments called biomolecular condensates. Experimentalists have generated an ever-growing list of condensates, which participate in diverse biological functions, such as gene expression, signal transduction, and neurotransmission. In addition, these condensates exhibit a wide range of lifetimes, sizes, mechanochemical properties, and architectures. Despite recent progress in characterizing molecular interactions leading to condensation, how the emergent physical properties of condensates mediate their biological functions is poorly understood. This conference will bring together a diverse group of theorists and experimentalists currently probing this structure-function problem of biomolecular condensates. The overarching goals of the conference are to:

  • Discuss developments in theoretical frameworks and simulation approaches for describing biomolecular condensates
  • Introduce new experimental methods for characterizing condensates and delineating their functions
  • Highlight new findings on physicochemical principles shaping condensates
  • Address challenges in mapping in silico and in vitro droplets to condensates inside cells

Ultimately, participants will build cross-disciplinary bridges to propel this exciting field forward.

2025

Monday, Jun 16, 2025

  • 08:50AM Session 1 Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 08:50AM Lars Bildsten (KITP) Welcome
    • 09:00AM D. Allan Drummond (U. Chicago) Biology and physics of stress-induced mRNP condensation
    • 09:45AM Stephan Grill (MPI-CBG) tbd
  • 10:30AM MORNING BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 11:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 11:00AM Sam Safran (Weizmann Inst.) Mesoscale properties of protein clusters determine the nature of liquid-liquid phase separation
    • 11:45AM Allie Obermeyer (Columbia) tbd
  • 12:30PM LUNCH BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 02:00PM Session 2 Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 02:00PM Alexandra Zidovska (NYU) tbd
    • 02:45PM Tanja Mittag (St. Jude) tbd
  • 03:30PM AFTERNOON BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 04:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 04:00PM Shura Grosberg (NYU) tbd
    • 04:30PM Jeremy Schmit (Kansas St.) Structure/function and emergent concepts at the condensate scale
    • 05:00PM Huaiying Zhang (CMU) Condensate growth in the human cell nucleus
  • 05:30PM SHUTTLE TO BWSCI Gurley Courtyard

     

2025

Monday, Jun 16, 2025

  • 08:50AM Session 1 Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 08:50AM Lars Bildsten (KITP) Welcome
    • 09:00AM D. Allan Drummond (U. Chicago) Biology and physics of stress-induced mRNP condensation
    • 09:45AM Stephan Grill (MPI-CBG) tbd
  • 10:30AM MORNING BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 11:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 11:00AM Sam Safran (Weizmann Inst.) Mesoscale properties of protein clusters determine the nature of liquid-liquid phase separation
    • 11:45AM Allie Obermeyer (Columbia) tbd
  • 12:30PM LUNCH BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 02:00PM Session 2 Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 02:00PM Alexandra Zidovska (NYU) tbd
    • 02:45PM Tanja Mittag (St. Jude) tbd
  • 03:30PM AFTERNOON BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 04:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 04:00PM Shura Grosberg (NYU) tbd
    • 04:30PM Jeremy Schmit (Kansas St.) Structure/function and emergent concepts at the condensate scale
    • 05:00PM Huaiying Zhang (CMU) Condensate growth in the human cell nucleus
  • 05:30PM SHUTTLE TO BWSCI Gurley Courtyard

     

2025

Tuesday, Jun 17, 2025

  • 09:00AM Session 3 Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 09:00AM Keren Lasker (Scripps Institute) Structure-function relationship within the PopZ condensate
    • 09:45AM Ben Schuler (Zurich) Probing the dynamics of biomolecular complex coacervates from molecular to mesoscopic scales
  • 10:30AM MORNING BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 11:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 11:00AM Frank Jülicher (MPI-PKS) tbd
    • 11:30AM William Jacobs (Princeton) tbd
    • 12:00PM Steph Weber (McGill Univ.) tbd
  • 12:30PM LUNCH BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 02:00PM Session 4 Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 02:00PM Simon Alberti Alberti (TU Dresden) Biomolecular condensates in stress responses and disease
    • 02:45PM Mikko Haataja (Princeton) tbd
  • 03:30PM AFTERNOON BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 04:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 04:00PM Dani Cai (Johns Hopkins) Multi-scale Imaging of Biomolecular Condensates in Physiology and Diseases
    • 04:30PM Kurt Kremer (MPI-P) Intrinsic stiffness and Theta solvent regime of model amino acid chains: Implications for liquid liquid phase separation
    • 05:00PM Chris Weber (Univ. of Augsburg) Theory of surface phase separation of membrane-binding proteins
  • 05:30PM RECEPTION Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 06:00PM SPECIAL EVENTS DINNER Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 07:30PM SHUTTLE TO BWSCI Gurley Courtyard

     

2025

Wednesday, Jun 18, 2025

  • 09:00AM Session 5 Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 09:00AM Tuomas Knowles (Cambridge) tbd
    • 09:45AM Agnes Toth Petroczy (MPI-CBG) tbd
  • 10:30AM MORNING BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 11:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 11:00AM Lindsay Case (MIT) tbd
    • 11:30AM Jerelle Joseph (Princeton) tbd
    • 12:00PM tbd
  • 12:30PM LUNCH BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 02:00PM Session 6 Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 02:00PM Ned Wingreen (Princeton) “If you’re not in, you’re out”: conformational entropy of intrinsically disordered proteins bars intruders from biomolecular condensates
    • 02:30PM Hue Sun Chan (Univ. of Toronto) Field-theoretic approaches to physical principles in sequence-dependent phase separation of disordered heteropolymers
    • 02:45PM Ramin Golestanian (MPI-DS) tbd
  • 03:30PM AFTERNOON BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 04:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 04:00PM David Zwicker (MPI-DS) Continuum models for elastic phenomena inside and outside condensates
    • 04:30PM Organizers-Closing remarks
  • 05:30PM CONFERENCE END SHUTTLE TO BWSCI *Also available to SB Airport and SB Airbus, Goleta location. (See Registration Desk BEFORE WEDNESDAY to sign up.) Gurley Courtyard

     

2025

Thursday, Jun 19, 2025

No talks scheduled.

2025

Friday, Jun 20, 2025

No talks scheduled.

2025

Saturday, Jun 21, 2025

No talks scheduled.

2025

Sunday, Jun 22, 2025

No talks scheduled.