The first International Symposium on Biological Phase Separation and Phase Change was held in Hefei, Anhui province on Nov 14-17. 

The event, sponsored by the Biophysical Society of China, the School of Life Sciences of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, gathered more than 350 experts and scholars in the fields of biology, physics, chemistry and materials from home and abroad. 

Distinguished guests including Du Jiangfeng, academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and vice-president of the USTC, Shi Yunyu, academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhou Congzhao, assistant president of the USTC, attended the opening ceremony. 

The opening ceremony was chaired by Ruan Ke from the School of Life Sciences of USTC. 

Du Jiangfeng delivered a speech on behalf of the organizing committee. He pointed out that phase transitions and phase separations in biological systems are the frontier research topics in global academic community.  

He hoped that this conference could build an ideal platform for participants to exchange ideas and learn from each other. 

He also briefly introduced USTC to the guests. The university has been closely focused on interdisciplinary cutting-edge technologies, and developed a series of world-leading technological achievements in the fields of quantum information, nanotechnology, high-temperature superconductivity, speech processing, fire science, and life science in recent years. 

In his speech, Zhang Hong, secretary general of BSC, introduced the purpose and significance of the seminar, and briefly explained the process and method of selecting candidates for the first session of the council. 

Technical workshops on biological phase transition and phase separation were also held before the conference. Experts and scholars from the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, and Tsinghua University gave lectures to more than 300 participants.   

Members of the first council of the Biophase Separation and Phase Change Branch of BSC were also elected. 

Zhang Hong was elected as the chairman, while Zhang Mingjie was elected as the honorary chairman.

The council put forward initiatives such as standardizing biological phase change and phase separation experimental operations and database management, and forming a membraneless organelle research system and theoretical paradigm with Chinese characteristics.

The first International Symposium on Biological Phase Separation and Phase Change is held in Hefei, Anhui province on Nov 14-17. [Photo/BSC]

More than 350 experts and scholars in the fields of biology, physics, chemistry and materials from home and abroad give reports at the symposium. [Photo/BSC]