ILL Soft Matter Summer School

4 Jul 2023, 08:00 → 6 Jul 2023, 17:55 Europe/Paris

ILL4/rdc-1 - Amphi Chadwick (ILL4)

Soft matter pervades into daily life under several forms: biological matter, foams, food products, ink, tires, and many others. In contrast to their very different appearance, all these systems are governed by the same, fundamental physical laws. Aim of the school is providing an overview of the forces governing the behavior of soft matter systems and introducing the most relevant techniques to probe such interactions.
The school proposes frontal lectures for doctoral students working in the field of soft matter given by recognized experts from all over Europe. Poster sessions will be opened for discussion on research topic and experimental results between students and invited lecturers.

 

Pre-registration is necessary because of the limited number of places in the school.
A short description of research activity and a CV should be sent to softmatter2023@ill.fr
The organising committee will examine your application and inform you in April 2023.

 

We would like to thank Anton Paar for supporting this event.

Flyer-soft-matter-school.pdf

Soft Matter 2023 Poster.pdf

Tuesday, 4 July

Welcome and Registration

12:00 Lunch

School Opening

1 Lecture 1: Introduction to colloid and interface Science

Introduction to colloid and interface science & its applications. Basic concepts. Van der Waals interactions, the electric double layer, and DLVO theory. Further interaction mechanisms (steric, depletion).

Speaker: Dr Emanuel Schneck

15:30 Coffee Break

2 Lecture 2: Physics of macromolecular systems

Basic physics of polymers. Statistical properties of linear polymer chains, their conformation in space and its dependence on solvent properties and concentration. Each time, we will try to connect the relevant information to the one obtained by small-angle scattering experiments, like the radius of gyration, chain statistics, etc. Polymer solutions are not the only way to suspend chains, they can also be embedded in other matrices, forming polymer blends, the basic thermodynam ics of wh ich will be reviewed. When going i nto polymer materials, crosslinking is the fundamental chemical reaction, while physical bonds may also contribute, and the formation of gels and networks, as well as their thermal and mechanical properties, shall be discussed. If time is available, a short outlook on copolymers will be proposed.

Speaker: Dr Julien Oberdisse

Poster Session & Discussion with Wine and Cheese

Wednesday, 5 July

3 Lecture 3: Computer simulation of molecular systems - Principles and example applications

Computer simulations are widely used in the natural sciences to get insight into the behaviour of molecular systems at a microscopie level. ln this lecture, we will introduce the basic principles of Monte Carlo (MC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations based on a classical description of the energy of the system. We will get to know the basics of a molecu lar mechan ics force field, have a look at how molecular configurations are generated in MC sampling and MD simulation and learn about how to analyse the simulations to extract, for example, structural and thermodynamic properties of interest. For instance, how can we characterize the structure of a salt solution or how can we calculate the free energy of binding of a drug molecule to a receptor protein?

Speaker: Dr Maria Reif

10:30 Coffee Break

4 Lecture 4: Hierarchical structures in food. Soft matter structure at various length scalese

Food is characterized by corn plex h ierarch ical structures, i ntercon nected over multiple length scales. A mechanistic understanding requires soft matter studies using molecular as well as colloïdal soft matter tools. This lecture will bring some examples of how advanced physical techniques can help tackle important research questions, often using complementary methodologies.

Speaker: Prof. Milena Corredig

12:15 Lunch

5 Lecture 5: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance applied to Soft Matter systems

In this lecture, we will present the basics of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Usable on solid as well as liquid samples, this polyvalent technique allows determining sample purity, structure of compounds, dynamics and molecular interaction at the atomic level. Used in many fields from biology to materials, as well as environment and food industries, NMR has the advantage of being quantitative and non destructive under certain conditions.

Speaker: Alicia Vallet

Free afternoon

Guided City Tour

Social dinner

Thursday, 6 July

6 Lecture 6: Liquid foams: from the formulation to the characterization techniques

ln this lecture, we will introduce the basics of liquid foams: from the formulation, the generation and the characterization methods. At the end, we will illustrate how liquid foams can be used for a wide range of applications, not only as food or cosmetic products, but also for surface decontamination and in medicine due to their unique properties (rheological properties and imbibition).

Speaker: Prof. Anne-Laure Fameau

10:30 Coffee break

7 Lecture 7: Electron Microscopy in Biology

ln this lecture, we will present the basics of electron microscopy and its application to biology. The latest instrumental and software developments that have led to the resolution revolution will be discussed. This revolution will be illustrated with concrete examples from research carried out on the EPN campus. Cellular electron microscopy and the current developments (tomography and FIB/SEM for example)

Speaker: Dr Guy Schoehn

12:15 Lunch

8 Lecture 8: Introduction to neutron scattering applied to soft matter

An introduction to scattering techniques focused on small angle scattering and reflectometry will be given. The students will learn what information can be obtained for soft matter, food science and biology systems.

Speakers: Nicolo Paracini, Dr Sylvain Prévost

School closing

ILL/PSCM Guided Tour