In late summer 2026, 31 August - 4 September 2026, we are hosting a conference here in Potsdam. We are bringing together researchers working at the interface of geometry and materials science, spanning themes such as structure and biology, and form and function across physics, chemistry, art, and design. Our aim is to create an inspiring and informal environment for discussion, exchange, and new ideas.
The conference will take place at the Neues Palais campus of the University of Potsdam, within the grounds of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Sanssouci palaces.
Organisers: Myf Evans (Potsdam), Jacob Kirkensgaard (Copenhagen), Gerd Schröder-Turk (Perth)
Please feel free to get in contact about attending: evans (at) uni-potsdam.de
A special issue of Interface Focus has just been published, celebrating the scientific contributions of Stephen Hyde, titled Geometry, Materials and the Imagination.
To submit an abstract, please fill out the following form: Abstract Submission !
The deadline for abstract submission will be 30 June 2026.
The conference registration fee is €300 as a standard participant, with a reduced fee of €150 for PhD and Masters Students.
To register for the event, please fill out the following form: Registration !
The deadline for registration is 31 July 2026.
Please find the conference schedule below. Abstracts for the talks and posters are available by clicking on the session name and then on the presentation title.
You can also get a PDF booklet of the schedule and abstracts by clicking the button below.
K: Keynote, 40 min
I: Invited, 30 min
C: Contributed, 20 min
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:30 |
Session 3 Giulio Facchini (chair) Greg Grason (K) Lu Han (I) Annie Jessop (C) |
Session 6 Martin Pedersen (chair) Davide Michieletto (K) John Dunlop (I) Robert Magerle (C) |
Session 9 John Dunlop (chair) Arielle Blonder (K) Giulio Facchini (I) Martin Thuo (C) |
Session 11 Philipp Schönhöfer (chair) Randy Kamien (I) Reinhard Lipowsky (C) Adil Mughal (C) Lauren Niu (C) |
|
| 10:00 | |||||
| 10:30 | |||||
| 11:00 | Coffee Break | Coffee Break | Coffee Break | Coffee Break | |
| 11:30 |
Session 4 Annie Jessop (chair) Hao Chen (I) Kanata Warisaya (I) Tolga Talha Yıldız (C) |
Session 7 Lauren Niu (chair) Andrew Goodwin (I) Bodo Wilts (I) Joe Pollard (C) |
Session 10 Kanata Warisaya (chair) Sabetta Matsumoto (K) Viola Bauernfeind (I) Daniel Ryuichiro King (C) |
Session 12 Myfanwy Evans (chair) Hannah Santa Cruz Baur (I) Tomaso Aste (I) Natalija Miodragovic (C) |
|
| 12:00 | |||||
| 12:30 | Registration | ||||
| 13:00 | Lunch break | Lunch break | Lunch break | Goodbye | |
| 13:30 |
Session 1 Myfanwy Evans (chair) Łucja Kowalewska (K) Livia Salvati Manni (I) Domagoj Fijan (C) |
||||
| 14:00 | |||||
| 14:30 |
Session 5 Rhoslyn Coles (chair) Richard Morris (I) Eugene Starostin (C) Ana-Sunčana Smith (C) |
Session 8 Bodo Wilts (chair) Rob Corkery (I) Rob Kusner (C) Xiangbing Zeng (C) |
Stephen Hyde Honorary Session Gerd Schröder-Turk (chair) Martin Pedersen (I) Philipp Schönhöfer (I) Rhoslyn Coles (C) Vanessa Robins (I) Christophe Oguey (I) |
||
| 15:00 | Coffee break | ||||
| 15:30 |
Session 2 Jacob Kirkensgaard (chair) Stephen Hyde (K) José Bonilla (I) Matteo Tollemeto (C) |
||||
| 16:00 | Poster Session | ||||
| 16:30 | |||||
| 17:00 | |||||
| 17:30 | Conference dinner | ||||
| 18:00 | Drinks & Welcome reception | ||||
| 18:30 | |||||
| 19:00 | |||||
| 19:30 | |||||
| 20:00 | |||||
| 20:30 | |||||
| 21:00 |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Łucja Kowalewska (K) | From diamond to gyroid: non-lamellar bodies of plant plastids |
| Livia Salvati Manni (I) | Shape Shifters: The Magic of Lipid Polymorphism |
| Domagoj Fijan (C) | Tracking the Emergence of Local Symmetry Order in Self-Assembly and Crystal Nucleation |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Stephen Hyde (K) | Art vs. Science |
| José Bonilla (I) | Understanding the textural perception of foods through quantification of their microstructural elements |
| Matteo Tollemeto (C) | Challenging the PEG Paradigm in Mucosal Drug Delivery: Geometry, Flexibility, and Motion |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Greg Grason (K) | Geometric routes to programming size in self-assembly |
| Lu Han (I) | From Design to Functionality: Mesostructural Features Elucidated by Electron Microscopy |
| Annie Jessop (C) | Woven Gyroids in Butterfly Wing Scales |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Hao Chen (I) | Variance of Gaussian Curvature for TPMS and Configurations of Eight Points on the Sphere |
| Kanata Warisaya (I) | Generalized Crystallographic Origami Cellular Structures |
| Tolga Talha Yıldız (C) | From Cube Faces to Chainmail: Valence-Controlled Entanglement in Periodic Linked-Knot Structures |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Richard Morris (I) | Capillary Physics Links HIV Capsid Geometry to Nuclear Pore Translocation |
| Eugene Starostin (C) | The Normal Axis Transform |
| Ana-Sunčana Smith (C) | TBD |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Davide Michieletto (K) | Topological Elasticity in DNA materials |
| John Dunlop (I) | The paths of bone cells on curved surfaces |
| Robert Magerle (C) | Emergence of directional motion in polymer blends |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Andrew Goodwin (I) | Truchet-tile architectures in materials chemistry |
| Bodo Wilts (I) | Weaving Light: How Butterfly Cells Build Complex Photonic Nanostructures |
| Joe Pollard (C) | Codifying the Interplay Between Chirality and Activity in Cholesterics |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Rob Corkery (I) | Circular polarization from natural three-dimensional gyroid photonic crystals |
| Rob Kusner (C) | Willmore stability of minimal surfaces in \(S^n\) |
| Xiangbing Zeng (C) | Self-assembled bicontinuous phases in thermotropic liquid crystals |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Arielle Blonder (K) | Curvature and Architecture: Rethinking the Relationship |
| Giulio Facchini (I) | Deciphering the origin of saddle-shape geometry in the microstructure of the echinoderm skeleton |
| Martin Thuo (C) | Understanding Phase transitions through Graph theory and higher dimensions |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Sabetta Matsumoto (K) | Smocked seams, magic braids and the hidden mathematics of crafts |
| Viola Bauernfeind (I) | Exploring the Role of Disorder in Biological Photonic Networks in Longhorn Beetles |
| Daniel Ryuichiro King (C) | Finite Mechanisms by Wyckoff-Splitting Analysis of Periodic Frameworks and Their Application to Triply Periodic Origami Metamaterials |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Martin Cramer Pedersen (I) | Patterns and pattern formation on triply-periodic minimal surfaces |
| Philipp Schönhöfer (I) | Microrobotic Behaviors of Flexicles: Combining Activity and Geometry |
| Rhoslyn Coles (C) | Packing, Exclusion and Form: What a fluid can do with a short string |
| Vanessa Robins (I) | Topology, Geometry, Materials and (my lack of) Imagination |
| Christophe Oguey (I) | Modelling foam dynamics, in particular T1 transformations, incorporating surfactant mass transfer and the Marangoni effect |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Randall Kamien (I) | Disclinations and Dislocations |
| Reinhard Lipowsky (C) | Morphological complexity of biomembranes |
| Adil Mughal (C) | Dense Packing of Tetrahedra in Cylinders |
| Lauren Niu (C) | Laves' Labyrinth Lopped: Variations on a 3‑Sphere |
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| Hannah Santa Cruz Baur (I) | Beyond Hasse diagrams for 3D Tiling Classification |
| Tomaso Aste (I) | Geometry, Machine Cognition and Imagination |
| Natalija Miodragovic (C) | Imagine Building with Loops instead of Blocks |
Potsdam is a green and idyllic small city on the outskirts of Berlin, connected within Berlin's public transport system. The conference will take place at the Neues Palais campus of the University of Potsdam. There are numerous hotels available in the town centre of Potsdam, which should be walking distance from the conference (with a beautiful walk through the palace gardens in summer). Arrival by flight is easiest at the Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, which is connected to Potsdam central station by train. For travel by train, Potsdam central station is easily reachable, mostly via Berlin central station.
The conference room is located at Am Neuen Palais 10, 14469 Potsdam, Building 11, Room 0.09. The closest train station is the Park Sanssouci station, which is within walking distance. From Potsdam city centre, you can either walk through the park or take a bus. The closest bus stop is Potsdam, Campus Universität/A.-Geiger-Kolleg.
The maps are based on data from © OpenStreetMap contributors. Data available under the Open Database License (ODbL). https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
As already mentioned in a previous email, lunch will not be provided. However, we have listed some local options below.
The maps are based on data from © OpenStreetMap contributors. Data available under the Open Database License (ODbL). https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
On Thursday evening, we will have our conference dinner aboard a boat. The tour will take us along the River Havel and the adjacent lakes surrounding Potsdam. The meeting point is at the Lange Brücke pier at 6:45 pm.
The map is based on data from © OpenStreetMap contributors. Data available under the Open Database License (ODbL). https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
Here is the conference poster. You are very welcome to download and display around your institute!
Download PDF