ST3: Research Collaborative Network on Information-driven Biomaterials

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

New concepts in the design of biomaterials have led to the moment in which biomaterials may be designed to make decisions. These decisions - including motility, replication, collective behavior, healing, and secretion - can be driven by molecular computational and decision-making networks embedded in materials. Increasing sophistication of both soft matter design and synthetic networks allow for the possibility of embedded synthetic networks in artificial cells and tissues that allow for intelligent information processing or self replication of materials. This award proposes a workshop to develop connections and ideas an international Research Collaborative Network (RCN) for the purposes of supporting collaborative work between U.S. and European scientists in the area of information-driven materials. The goal of this meeting will be to identify key areas of intersection between biomaterials synthesis and response and information encoding. The meeting follows upon a very successful Square Table that was held at NSF in the Fall of 2018 that identified many of the key scientific issues in this area. The focus of the meeting will be on fundamental issues in the design of materials and networks, informed by quantitative methods and computing, and to assess what can be achieved through state of the art materials design. Because the discipline is highly interdisciplinary, the meeting will bring together basic scientists from chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, and biomaterials science. Furthermore, this meeting will focus on how to activate an effective network of collaboration and identify areas of potential support at NSF for future programs on information-driven biomaterials. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.