Notre Dame hosts 5th annual ND-Purdue Symposium on Soft Matter and Polymers

Author: Brandi Klingerman

The symposium will be held at McCourtney Hall

All are invited to attend the annual ND-Purdue Symposium on Soft Matter and Polymers. Hosted by the University of Notre Dame and Purdue University, the event will take place at Notre Dame’s McCourtney Hall from 8:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Oct. 6 (Saturday).

“The idea behind this event is to not only showcase the strong soft materials research here at Notre Dame, but to also foster multi-institutional partnerships with Purdue as well as other neighboring institutions,” said Haifeng Gao, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry and co-coordinator of the symposium. “Last year, a team of researchers from both campuses came together to apply for a competitive funding opportunity and our goal is to continue encouraging these kinds of collaborations. I welcome all researchers interested in this possibility to attend this year’s symposium.”

At the one-day event researchers will hear from invited speaker Nathan Gianneschi, Jacob and Rosaline Cohn Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University, on his project titled, “Making peptides into medicines: From enzyme-responsive nanomaterials to protein-like polymers.” Additionally, faculty from Notre Dame, Purdue and the University of Illinois will present on varying topics. Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars are also invited to showcase their research during the afternoon poster session.

The event is open to the public including faculty, postdoctoral scholars and students interested in polymers and soft materials. All those who plan to attend, including potential poster presenters, should register by Wednesday (Sept. 26).

In addition to Gao, other co-coordinators of the event are Matthew Webber, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Notre Dame, and Jianguo Mei, assistant professor of chemistry at Purdue. To view the full symposium agenda or to register, visit https://nano.nd.edu/opportunities/annual-workshops-symposia/5th-annual-soft-matter-polymers-symposium-and-poster-session/

The Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano) at the University of Notre Dame promotes collaborative research in science and engineering to address unsolved scientific and technical questions with an aim to promote the greater good. NDnano is where Notre Dame faculty, researchers and students meet to broaden understanding, discuss multidisciplinary research opportunities and shape future research directions. To learn more about NDnano, visit nano.nd.edu.

Contact: Heidi Deethardt, center coordinator, NDnano, 574-631-0279, deethardt.1@nd.edu@NDnano

Originally published by Brandi Klingerman at research.nd.edu on Sept. 19.