Year:    2006

CAM-Net Digest, Vol. 3 (2006), Iss. 23 : p. 5

Abstract

Croucher Advanced Study Institute
Opportunities and Challenges for Physicists in Quantitative and Systemic Biology
December 4-9, 2006
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
http://www.phy.cuhk.edu.hk/itp/v2/1024/asi06/

This Croucher ASI is organized by the Department of Physics and Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and sponsored by The Croucher Foundation.

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 BACKGROUND
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There have been rapid developments in biology in the last 10 years or so.  The genomes of complex organisms, including the human genome, have been sequenced.  This explosion of genetic information renders quantitative methods of investigation. Moreover, it is becoming clear that the understanding of a biological organism lies not only in its parts, like the genes and their resulting proteins, but more importantly in the understanding of the interaction of the parts, and how the functional properties of the whole organism emerge from the collective behavior of the parts that resulted from their interaction. These new developments and emphasis are making biology a quantitative and conceptually profound discipline and also bringing biology and physics close together.

This Croucher Advanced Study Institute (ASI) aims to expose the local physicists in Hong Kong and in the region to these recent exciting developments and thus allow them to seize the golden opportunities available in this new era of biology. Six  leading experts in the field are invited to present lectures on topics that offer opportunities for the techniques and problem solving skills of physicists. Furthermore, this Croucher ASI hopes to promote collaborative efforts among the physicists and  the biologists as such interdisciplinary efforts are highly beneficial to the progress of this new emerging field of quantitative and systemic biology.

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 ASI LECTURERS
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Robert Austin (Princeton University, USA)

Vincent Croquette (Encole Normale Superieure, France)
Terrence Hwa (University of California, San Diego, USA)
Albert Libchaber (Rockefeller University, USA)
Boris Shraiman (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)
Eric Siggia (Rockefeller University, USA)
Chao Tang (University of California, San Francisco, USA)

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 INVITED SPEAKERS
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C.K. Chan (Institute of Physics, Academic Sinica, Taiwan)

Hao Li (University of California, San Francisco, USA)
Marcelo Magnasco (Rockefeller University, USA)
Qi Ouyang (Peking University, China)
Yuhai Tu (IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, USA)

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 TOPICS COVERED INCLUDE
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* Physics aspects of the origin of life
* Quantitative approaches to gene regulation
* Modeling of signaling pathways
* Specific examples of yeast cell cycle and fly embryo development
* Technologies in biological investigation

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 SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
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Please go to http://www.phy.cuhk.edu.hk/itp/v2/1024/asi06/asi_program.html  for the program. All lectures will be held at the Science Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The working language is English.

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 HOTELS
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Hotels for this ASI are Royal Park Hotel and Regal Riverside Hotel in Shatin. Transportation between the hotels and the Science Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong will be arranged during the ASI. Please follow the  link in

http://www.phy.cuhk.edu.hk/itp/v2/1024/asi06/asi_info.html for direction to  the hotels.

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 FURTHER ENQUIRIES
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Please send your enquiries to Miss Ho at pyho@phy.cuhk.edu.hk