Archive by category: Upcoming Events

The Fenna-Matthews-Olson Trimer

This “hands on” workshop on computational physics, which has Consortium Members Klaus Schulten and Emad Tajkhorshid as co-hosts, will explore physical models and computational approaches used for the simulation of biological systems and the investigation of their function at an atomic level. The course will be based on case studies including the properties of membranes and membrane proteins, mechanisms of molecular motors, trafficking in the living cell through water and ion channels, and signaling pathways. Relevant physical concepts, mathematical techniques, and computational methods will be introduced, including force fields and algorithms used in molecular modeling, molecular dynamics simulations on parallel computers and steered molecular dynamics simulations.

The workshop forms part of the NIH-sponsored Workshops on Theoretical and Computational Biophysics and will take place on February 11 – 15, 2012. It is designed for students and researchers in computational and/or biophysical fields who seek to extend their research skills to include computational and theoretical expertise, as well as other researchers interested in theoretical and computational biophysics. Theory sessions in the morning will be followed by hands-on computer labs in the afternoon in which students will be able to set up and run simulations. Enrollment limited to 20 participants.

Klaus Schulten and Emad Tajkhorshid are members of the Computational Modeling core. Tajkhorshid also collaborates in the Structural Dynamics of ABC Transporter and Conformational Dynamics in the CLC Channel/Transporter Family projects.

Find out more information and apply »

Dr. Shohei Koide

As part of the University of Chicago Institute for Biophysical Dynamics‘ Biophysical Discussions series, MPSDC Member Shohei Koide will give a talk with Alex Ruthenburg titled:

Epigenetics: new information carriers and new technologies

The discussion will take place on Tuesday, January 10 at 12pm in Room W301 at the Gordon Center for Integrative Science, 929 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL.

Shohei Koide is the PI for the Synthetic Antigen Binder (SAB) Generation and Crystallography core and co-PI for the Phage Display Synthetic Toxin Pipeline core.

Computer Simulation of Biological and Artificial Membrane Channels

Modeling and simulation of molecular systems have become inseparable components of modern research in molecular biology. In particular, molecular dynamics simulation is increasingly used to investigate the mechanism and structure-function relationship of a wide range of biological macromolecules. The course will present a brief introduction to such methodologies, and uses membrane proteins as an example of how computational biophysical methods and simulation technologies can be applied to biological problems. The molecular systems used as examples will include biological water channels, as well as carbon nanotubes as artificial materials used in nanotechnology. The goal of the course is to walk the participants through various steps involved in modeling, simulation setup, and analysis of the results of molecular dynamics simulations and discuss what can be learnt from simulation studies of these systems. The lectures are accompanied by hands-on tutorials in which the students can set up and run simulations on their own.

This workshop, hosted by Emad Tajkhorshid, will take place on November 28 – December 1, 2011. It is designed for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in computational and biophysical areas. Working familiarity with the VMD and NAMD software used in the workshop is assumed. Streaming video of a recorded lecture, tutorial self-study, and Skype/phone contact with the instructor are used to deliver course content. Enrollment is limited to ten participants. There is no fee for the workshop.

Find out more information and apply »

The MPSDC Advisory Committee Meeting is due to meet on Saturday, October 29th at the University of Chicago. Please save the date!