Molecules to Machines: Emergent Behavior of Active Filaments

Self-driven or active polymers and filaments are ubiquitous in biology across length scales, from chromatin in the nucleus to cytoskeletal filaments such as actin and microtubules, and from motile filamentous cyanobacteria to macroscopic worms. Inspired by these systems, synthetic analogs such as biomimetic robotic worms and robotic grippers or active materials based on cytoskeletal filaments have been developed. These systems display diverse structural and dynamic behaviors, both individually and collectively: examples include spiral and helical conformations, vortex formation in motor-driven microtubules, coexisting ordered states in actin-myosin networks, morphogenesis of cyanobacterial colonies during blooms, dynamical neural-motor loops in C. elegans, and emergent collective locomotion in worm blobs.

Recently, there has been an increase of interest across disciplines, including soft and active matter physics, biophysics, chemistry, and robotics, in understanding the processes that govern the organization and dynamics of active filament collectives. A key challenge lies in identifying unifying principles that link microscopic activity, mechanical properties, and emergent behaviors across these diverse systems.

This workshop will bring together leading scientists from multiple fields to identify common features of active filament systems, clarify the mechanisms driving their self-organization, and define overarching open questions. A central objective is to determine principles of regulation, adaptation, and design in soft, entangled natural and engineered materials: how collectives balance resilience and compliance to external stimuli across scales, and how these principles can be leveraged to develop adaptive soft robots capable of tasks such as gentle grasping or reconfigurable actuation. By stimulating interdisciplinary dialogue, the workshop will bridge fundamental research on biological filaments and filamentous matter with efforts to design novel functional materials - from active, shape-shifting structures to programmable robotic matter.

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