The course starts on April 18th, 9:00 a.m. and ends on April 23rd 2016, 7:00 p.m. but we recommend to reach Palermo or Trapani airports on April 17th no later than 5.00 p.m.

The Program - based on the topics reported on the Faculty members list - will have the following scheduling: 9,00-10,15; break; 10,45-11,30; 11,45-12,30; LUNCH; 14,45-15,15 Free time for discussions; 15,30-16,15; 16,30-17,15; break; 17,45-18,30; 18,45-19,30; 21-23 Free time in the Canteen. Lessons will have duration of 45 minutes plus 10 minutes of “urgent” questions. The final program  will be distributed via e-mail and at the Course.

Course motivation:
The objective of this Course is to advance the field of nanoscale biophysics operating at the scale of nanometers to tens of nanometers, through the exchange of information, ideas, and innovative techniques. Nanoscale biophysics focuses on the study of the physical principles governing biological processes occurring on a nanometre scale, typically on an atomic or molecular level. It also encompasses the development of nanotechnologies designed specifically for biophysical investigations. The success and relevance of optical nanoscopy reached a peak with the 2014 Nobel prize for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.
Correlation between methods is a crucial step for dealing with investigations, at the molecular scale, of possible applications not only in medicine and biology, but also in
material sciences, cultural heritage and environmental sciences. The understanding of methods and techniques has the great potential of allowing, in the near future, for the
design and perfomance of new exciting experiments in Biophysics. From these considerations we selected “Nanoscale Biophysics: Focus on methods and techniques.”
as the main theme of the XX Course of the International School of Biophysics “Antonio Borsellino”.

Directors of the Course: Alberto Diaspro and Paolo Bianchini, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Faculty Members and Topics

  • Sara Abrahmsson, The Rockefeller University NY, USA “Structure Illumination Microscopy”
  • Paolo Bianchini, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy “Non linear and multimodal optical microscopy”
  • Ranieri Bizzarri, NEST, Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR and Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy “Nanoscale fluorescent biosensors”
  • Gertrude Bunt, Georg- University Medicine Göttingen, Germany “FRET/FLIM for the nanoscale investigation of protein interactions and molecular environments.”
  • Carlos Bustamante, University of California Berkely, USA "Current Developments in Single Molecule Biophysics”.
  • Claudio Canale, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy “Protein-membrane interaction. From model membranes to living cells: new AFM approaches.”
  • Loredana Casalis, Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste, Italy “Nanobiosensors”
  • Francesca Cella Zanacchi, ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Spain “Quantitative approches in advanced single molecule localization techniques”
  • Dan Cojoc, Institute of Materials (IOM-CNR), Area Science Park, Trieste, Italy “Optical manipulation for single cell experiments”
  • Francesco DeAngelis, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy “3D nanostructured surfaces for neuronal network interfaces”
  • Alberto Diaspro, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Università di Genova, Italy “Nanoscale Biophysics”
  • Marti Duocastella, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy “Non-fluorescence based super-resolution microscopy: from liquid lenses to microspheres”.
  • Joerg Enderlein, Georg-August-Universität, Germany "Image Scanning microscopy, SOFI, cryo-STORM and Metal-Induce Energy Transfer Imaging."
  • Enrico Gratton, University of California Irvine, USA “Molecular flows in cells”
  • Stefan W. Hell,Max-Planck-Inst. for Biophys.Chem. - Goettingen, Germany “Optical Nanoscopy”
  • Sam Hess, University of Maine, USA "Principles and Biological Applications of Localization Microscopy.”
  • Fu-Jen Kao, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan “Stimulated Emission Based Fluorescence Detection”.
  • Melike Lakadamyali, ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Spain “Biological applications of super-resolution microscopy”
  • Luca Lanzano’, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy “Temporal and spatial spectroscopy for nanoscale investigation of subcellular structures”
  • Peter Saggau, Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, USA Fast Super-Resolution Microscopy
  • Giacinto Scoles, ERC@University of Udine, Italy “Genomic and proteomic characterization of single tumor cells isolated from the peripheral blood.”
  • Colin JR Sheppard, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy “Focusing of light.”
  • Hari Shroff, High Resolution Optical Imaging, NIBIB, NIH, USA “Pushing the envelope in biological imaging”
  • Mark Stockman, GSU Center for Nano-Optics (CeNO), Georgia State University (GSU), USA “Nanoplasmonics”
  • Jose Toca Herrera, University Natural Resources and Life Sci., Austria “AFM - Mechanical properties of biomaterials and molecular life time interactions”
  • Ilaria Testa, SciLifeLab, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden “RESOLFT Nanoscopy: applications for life science”
  • Giuseppe Vicidomini, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy “How to boost your microscope by exploring new dimensions (temporal, spatial, spectral)”
  • Fred Wouters, Georg- University Medicine Göttingen, Germany “Principles and basics of FRET/FLIM”


Info  (web page under update)


21.03.2016