Organizers Topics Programme Venue Registration Contact Sponsors

Words from the host chairman

Dear Colleagues,
Membrane proteins represent very important yet challenging research objects in a number of disciplines, since they participate practically in all life processes of the cellular world, e.g. energisation, transport, catalysis, cellular sensing, communication and mechanics. The host lipid matrix presents an amphiphilic environment for both integral and peripheral membrane proteins. On the one hand this reduces the conformational space of membrane proteins. On the other hand, the amphiphilic nature of membrane proteins makes them extremely difficult to study in the absence of their native lipid environment (just compare the abundance of membrane proteins in known genomes with their presence in the protein structure database). Biophysical approaches address purification, reconstitution, prediction and experimental determination of structure, function, dynamics and folding, physical and molecular modelling of membrane proteins, as well as their interaction with the host membrane.

This conference covers most of these topics, in a greater detail than it is possible in any session of the mother EBSA Congress, in about twenty (40+ minutes) talks from experienced researchers in the field. We will secure plenty of time for discussions, in a friendly, relaxing environment. In addition, we will let a few motivated young researchers bring their project in focus and let other participants and key speakers advice on those projects. We, the organisers are confident that this will be a very nice meeting.

I am looking forward to meet you in Tata at the end of August 2011.

Tibor Páli, host chairman of the conference

Organizers

Tibor Páli (Szeged, HU), Anthony Watts (Oxford, UK), Alajos Bérczi (Szeged, HU) and Balázs Szalontai (Szeged, HU)

on behalf of the

Biophysics Workgroup of the Szeged Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Biomembrane Structure Unit (Oxford)

Membrane Section of the Hungarian Biophysical Society

Insitute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre Szeged

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Topics

This strongly international conference focuses on recent developments in primarily biophysical research on membrane proteins. The main goal of the meeting is to attract researchers early in their scientific career and let them learn key techniques and major topics from highly experienced researchers (also from the EBSA Congress), hence enhancing their training in biophysics. The conference will include lectures, discussions. These are important for young researchers: they can explain their work and let more experienced experts advise on their projects. Edition of a special issue for the European Biophysics Journal from the covered topics is being considered. The tentative list of topics of the conference, all in relation to membranes and membrane proteins, include:

• Purification, solubilisation, reconstitution
• Structure-function relationship in view of recent data on selected examples
• Folding and functional assembly
• Lipid-protein interactions
• High resolution techniques of structural biology (X-ray, NMR, pulsed EPR)
• Physical and molecular modelling, simulations
• Bioinformatics and structure predictions
• Novel techniques and new developments in approaches delivering data on structure, dynamics, kinetics and thermodynamics

In-focus discussions

Since most of the young participants will have already presented their posters in the main event, the 8th EBSA Congress, we decided not to organise another poster session. However, if you have an exciting project or problem, we ask you to submit a one page abstract of your work to bring that project, well, in focus. The organising committee will select a few (about 4-8) abstracts for a shorter (10-30 minutes - depending on the number of selected abstract) oral presentation followed by a focused discussion (10-20 minutes) on that project. The deadline for the in-focus abstracts is 15th July 2011.

Technical requirements for in-focus abstracts:

One author may submit only one abstract.
Title (in bold face): limited to 100 characters (including spaces - All lower case, except for first letter, for first letter of names, and for abbreviations).
Authors: limited to 14 authors
Affiliations: limited to four affiliations consisting of Institution, Town, Country.
Text: limited to 1300 characters (including spaces). There is no space for figures.
Font: 10pt, Times.
We prefer PDF format.

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Detailed Programme

27 August, Saturday

28 August, Sunday

Proteins and their lipid environment - Chairs: Ernst Bamberg and Derek Marsh

Transport and channels - Chairs: Anthony Watts and Alajos Bérczi

29 August, Monday

Transport and channels (continued) - Chairs: Anthony Watts and Alajos Bérczi

Advanced experimental techniques - Chairs: Gunnar Jeschke and Timothy Cross

30 August, Tuesday

Folding, assembly - Chairs: Antoinette Killian and Jesus Perez-Gil

Experimental and theoretical models - Chairs: Anthony G. Lee and István Simon

31 August, Wednesday

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Venue

The satellite meeting will take place in a small historic town, TATA, about 70 km Northwest from Budapest, along the M1 Budapest-Vienna highway (see Tata in wikipedia).

Tata, frequently named as the town of waters, having a picturesque setting, surrounded by wine-yard covered mild hills. Within a few kilometres there are mountains (for hiking, hunting), as well.
Tata in several senses is a hidden treasure: It has a geological setting, which is unique in Europe; here one can see layers of rocks from Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous ages lying on each other (nicely presented in the Geological Museum). The charm of the place can be best illustrated by the fact that the most ancient human relics in Europe were found here together with settlements of Neanderthaler people; i.e. the site has been inhabited for about 250.000 years. Prehistoric and modern men all enjoyed the pleasant climate and the rich, warm water springs (19-23 °C), from which once there were more than 300 in and around the town. Intensive coal mining through the XXth century decreased the water level in the ground so much that all water sources have disappeared. After stopping the coal mining at the end of the XXth century, the water level started to increase, and in the present years the citizens of Tata are waiting with their fingers crossed for the rebirth of the springs and streams.
In addition to its natural resources, Tata has a rich cultural history as well, reflected by important medieval and baroque monuments. Its present look, with its already renovated and still neglected sites in the town camouflaged by the vivid activity of its citizens is typical of the life of the Hungarian countryside in these days.

The conference will be held in Hotel Gottwald on the side of the Old Lake of Tata, in a forest. If because of the (hopefully) large interest, the number of participants would exceed the capacity of this hotel, the excess participants will be accommodated in Hotel Arnold of similar comfort from where they will be transported to the principal hotel by a restored veteran bus.

Transport

All participants, who attended the EBSA congress in Budapest, will be transported from the Conference site to Tata on the afternoon of 27th August. There will be a bus staying between the two major buildings of the University campus, where the EBSA Congress will take place. The bus will leave from here at 19:00 o'clock. For easier orientation, see the image below!

At the EBSA Congress Reception Desk, there will be a guarded place for your luggage, where you can keep them after checking out from your hotels. Of course, those, who come directly for the Tata Conference, may also choose this option.

At the end of the conference all participants will be transported to the railway station of Tatabanya from where there are trains in about half hour intervals towards Budapest (60 min) or towards Vienna (120 min) (see the timetable).

Participants coming by car can take the M1 highway (Vienna-Budapest) and take the exit at a Shell station at about 62 km. Drive in the forest on a small road starting at the gas station (from the direction of Vienna, drive at first to the other side under the highway). Then take the direction to Tata, and after about 1.5 km there is Hotel Gottwald on the left side of the road. In the case of any confusion, for exact addresses and coordinates, visit the hotel’s homepages.

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Registration

The conference registration fee covers all costs: Transport from Budapest; at the end of the Conference transport to Tatabánya railway station; accommodation; full board; social events. The conference fee is 340 € in single room, 280 € per person in double/twin room.

The first 25 students automatically get a further 40 € deduction from the price of the twin room accommodation, thanks to the generosity of the EBSA, i.e. the reduced student fee is 240 € per person in a twin room.

Since all technical costs related to the scientific part of the Conference are covered by the EBSA, these fees are pure costs; therefore the same fees apply to accompanying people.

For registration, please download, fill out, and send us back the Registration form, attached to an e-mail to membprot [at] brc.hu.

With the payment, please wait until you get a confirmation from the organizers!

Payment

Deadline: 30th June 2011.

Bank transfer: Please take care that the indicated amount of money should arrive, the sender should cover the bank costs.

Account holder: Fotoszintezis – Elet a fenybol Alapitvany
Name of the Bank: ERSTE BANK Hungary Nyrt.
SWIFT code: GIBAHUHB
IBAN number: HU24 1199 1102 0218 6726 0000 0000

Bank transfer details: In the bank transfer, please indicate: EBSA Tata, and your name.

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Contact information

Tibor Páli Institute of Biophysics Biological Research Centre Hungarian Academy of Sciences Temesvári krt. 62. H-6726 Szeged Hungary Phone: +36-62-599603

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Institutions and sponsors

Please click on the logos to visit the home page of the organizing institutions and our sponsors.