Active, Adaptive and Autonomous Matter (WE-Heraeus Summer School)

Conference / Scientific culture

From July 6, 2026 to July 18, 2026

The school explores how living and synthetic active matter communicate, coordinate, and make decisions through physical, chemical and informational cues. Moving beyond contact and hydrodynamic interactions, the school focuses on chemical communication, quorum sensing, and informed active matter—three paradigms linking physics, chemistry, and biology. Emphasis is directed on how chemical signaling shapes collective motion, how cell populations self-organize through density-dependent feedback, and how agents can harness environmental information to optimize their behavior. By bridging active matter physics with biological regulation, the school aims to reveal new principles of organization in complex, living-like systems.

Current list of Speakers

Aranson Igor (USA), Bäumchen Oliver (Germany), Bartolo Denis (France), Chichos Frank (Germany), Datta Sujit (USA), Farutin Alexander (France), Frey Erwin (Germany), Kanso Eva (USA), Lindner Anke (France), Palacci Jérémy (Austria), Seminara Agnese (Italy), Stark Holger (Germany), Taute Katja (Germany), Timonen Jaakko (Finland), Vincent Démery (France), Vlahovska Petia (USA), Zhu Lailai (Singapore), Zöttl Andreas (Austria)

Our financial support

Application

https://iesc-inscriptions.fr

Deadline for Applications : End of February 2026
Application Selection Notification : March 2026

Registration Rates

Early bird registration (Valid until April 2026)

PhD students €1100
Others (Post-Docs, Seniors, Assist. Professor) €1350

Late registration

PhD students €1250
Others (Post-Docs, Seniors, Assist. Professor) €1500

For PhD students, a letter of recommendation is required, to be sent by the supervisor to cargese2026univ-grenoble-alpes.fr (cargese2026[at]univ-grenoble-alpes[dot]fr)

A limited number of financial grants are available for PhD students upon request to cargese2026univ-grenoble-alpes.fr (cargese2026[at]univ-grenoble-alpes[dot]fr)

NB : The above rate includes:

Accommodation (11 nights from July 6th to July 18th) : Shared rooms for PhD students; single rooms or shared apartments for other participants.
Meals & Events : Daily breakfast (for those staying at the institute residence or in hotels), lunch, and coffee breaks, as well as a welcome and a farewell party.
Transportation : Round-trip bus transfers between Ajaccio Airport and Cargèse on the scheduled arrival (July 6) and departure (July 18) dates.

Date

From July 6, 2026 to July 18, 2026

Institute of Scientific Studies of Cargèse
Cargèse Corsica, France
https://iesc.universita.corsica/

Contact

cargese2026 [at] univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

Scientific and Organization Commitee

Oliver Bäumchen

Alexander Farutin

Chaouqi Misbah

Philippe Peyla

Salima Rafaï

Petia Vlahovska

Walter Zimmermann