Workshop on Recent Trends in Microrheology and Microfluidics

Rheological testing is a key technique that addresses questions and challenges in fundamental physics as well as in applications in food and consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. Rheology on the micron scale, microrheology, bridges the gap between the local, micro-scale properties of soft materials and their macroscopic, bulk mechanical properties (bulk rheology). Scale-dependent rheological characterizations of complex fluids containing microstructures with heterogeneous nature are important but challenging. A variety of experimental techniques (both conventional and more recent coupled with microfluidics) have been developed to advance the field by combining micro-tracking, -manipulation and -fluidics. These enabling approaches and applications will be the focus of the proposed workshop.

This workshop aims to provide a singular opportunity for the most prominent researchers in microrheology and microfluidics to: (a) discuss the most recent development and new aspects of microrheology research that covers both linear and nonlinear microrheology, coupled with microfluidics; (b) participate in a panel discussion on the challenges, opportunities, and barriers to develop scale-dependent rheological techniques and related new instruments; (c) build synergy and initiate collaborations between OIST and world experts; (d) showcase interdisciplinary research activities of OIST, and target potential postdoc and graduate student recruitments. The workshop aims to address important scientific discoveries and advances in a broad range of scale-dependent rheological techniques relevant to imaging and microfluidics, with applications in inkjet printing, renewable energy, flow in porous media and biotechnology. These goals will be accomplished through 4 days of talks and informal discussions.

Organizers

• Professor Amy Shen (OIST, Japan)
• Professor Frank Scheffold (University of Fribourg, Switzerland)

Application Deadline

Friday, June 24, 2022

Code of Conduct

Purpose
To ensure that all participants have a clear understanding of the behavior that is expected of them.

Code of Conduct
We are committed to making our workshops (workshop(s) organized by OIST, hereinafter “our workshop(s)”) an inclusive space for sharing ideas and knowledge. We will not tolerate disrespectful communication, discrimination, harassment, or bullying in any form. As such, all participants attending our workshops are required to comply with this Code of Conduct. To provide all participants the opportunity to benefit from our workshops, we at OIST are dedicated to a positive, safe and harassment-free experience. Harassment in any form is specifically prohibited.

What is Harassment?
Harassment involves continued antisocial or unreasonable actions that violate a reasonable person’s personal rights and/or dignity and cause mental suffering, and thus worsen the person’s environment or make him/her anxious about participation. Behavior that is acceptable to one person may not be acceptable to another, so we ask that you use discretion to be sure that respect is communicated. Harassment intended in a joking manner nevertheless constitutes unacceptable behavior. Speech that is not welcomed or that is personally offensive, whether it is based on gender, age, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, ethnicity, national origin, religion etc. will not be tolerated.
 
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please bring this to the immediate attention of the organizers. If you wish to report an issue concerning the organizers, you can contact the Conference and Workshop Section directly and submit a confidential report by sending an email to workshop-codeofconduct@oist.jp or submitting a report through this webform (https://groups.oist.jp/cws/workshop-code-of-conduct). All complaints will be taken seriously and responded to by the Provost promptly. Confidentiality will be maintained to the extent that it does not compromise the rights of others. Individuals found in breach of this Code of Conduct will be dismissed from the workshop immediately. Retaliation for reporting harassment is also a violation of Code of Conduct, as is reporting an incident in bad faith.