The Center for the Physics of Living Cells (CPLC), a National Science Foundation-funded physics frontier center at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, just finished its fourth annual CPLC Summer School from July 30 to August 4. The Summer School brings scientists from all over the world to the UIUC campus for intensive research training in experimental single-molecule, live-cell, computational, and theoretical biophysics.
Written by Jaya Yodh
TheCenter for the Physics of Living Cells (CPLC), a National Science Foundation-funded physics frontier center at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, just finished its fourth annual CPLC Summer School from July 30 to August 4. The Summer School brings scientists from all over the world to the UIUC campus for intensive research training in experimental single-molecule, live-cell, computational, and theoretical biophysics.
The center, co-directed by physics faculty, Taekjip Ha and Klaus Schulten, includes professors from UIUC physics, bioengineering, chemistry, biochemistry, and microbiology, in addition to faculty from Baylor University and University of Notre Dame. All faculty members are involved in the development and application of tools that create quantitative, high resolution pictures of cellular processes such as DNA replication, cell motility, protein folding, cytoskeletal motors, gene expression, and translation.
CPLC graduate student Peggy Qiu (right) teaches total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy to summer school students Yongfang Zhao (left) and Christiane Jungnickel (center).Graduate student Jayan Rammohan comes to the program from Washington University, St. Louis.
"The CPLC summer school was nothing short of a formative experience with regards to my professional development as a budding single-molecule biophysicist,” said Rammohan. “This is in part due to the cutting-edge, hands-on training I received, but also due to the continuous interactions I had with an exceedingly talented group of scientists from all over the world.”
An increasing number of applicants from new institutions put in for the program each year. According to CPLC Director of Education and Outreach Jaya Yodh, the CPLC Summer School has trained 122 students to date and is gaining a strong reputation in the biological physics community.
This year’s summer school class wasCPLC graduate student Yanxin Liu (left) assists summer school student Sara Capponi in the advanced module on computational biophysics. the largest to date, with 38 participants—one undergraduate, twenty-seven graduate students, seven postdoctoral fellows, one research scientist, and two assistant professors—from the disciplines of physics, biophysics, engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, and cell biology. Students from International institutions made up 23 percent of the class; 44 percent of the US students came from universities in the Midwest.
The week-long program began with two days of basic training elements, including faculty lectures, CPLC poster sessions, and mini-courses in total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF) optics, as well as Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD), MATLAB, and LabVIEW software. Next, students received three and a half days of intensive training in one of ten advanced modules taught by the CPLC summer school faculty in their respective labs:
A significant factor in the success of the CPLC Summer School is the near 1:1 ratio of students to teaching assistants (TAs). This year, 27 TAs–graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from CPLC labs–developed and taught the mini-courses and advanced modules, gaining critical teaching and research expertise.
CPLC graduate student Patrick Mears (right) teaches MATLAB to summer school student Mariya Georgieva.Alongside the hands-on training in state-of-the-art biophysical methods, program participants enjoyed a number of opportunities for both scientific and social networking among students, faculty, and teaching assistants. In this way, the summer school provides a unique foundation for building not only the CPLC community, but a global community of early-career scientists who will shape the future of biological physics.
Contact: Jaya Yodh, Director of Education and Outreach, Center for the Physics of Living Cells, 217.244.1155.
Madeline Stover is a physics doctoral student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying atmospheric dynamics applied to forest conservation. She interns as a science writer for Illinois Physics, where she also co-hosts the podcast Emergence along with fellow physics graduate student Mari Cieszynski. When Stover is not doing research or communications, she enjoys hosting her local radio show, singing with her band, and cooking with friends.
Daniel Inafuku graduated from Illinois Physics with a PhD and now works as a science writer. At Illinois, he conducted scientific research in mathematical biology and mathematical physics. In addition to his research interests, Daniel is a science video media creator.
Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Ph. D. is a science writer and an educator. She teaches college and high school physics and mathematics courses, and her writing has been published in popular science outlets such as WIRED, Scientific American, Physics World, and New Scientist. She earned a Ph. D. in Physics from UIUC in 2019 and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Jamie Hendrickson is a writer and content creator in higher education communications. They earned their M.A. in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2021. In addition to their communications work, they are a published area studies scholar and Russian-to-English translator.
Garrett R. Williams is an Illinois Physics Ph.D. Candidate and science writer. He has been recognized as the winner of the 2020 APS History of Physics Essay Competition and as a finalist in the 2021 AAAS Science and Human Rights Essay Competition. He was also an invited author in the 2021 #BlackinPhysics Week series published by Physics Today and Physics World.
Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Ph. D. is a science writer and an educator. She teaches college and high school physics and mathematics courses, and her writing has been published in popular science outlets such as WIRED, Scientific American, Physics World, and New Scientist. She earned a Ph. D. in Physics from UIUC in 2019 and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.