BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Vienna BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260329T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261025T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10 TZNAME:CET END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:696142d841dd4804203517@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260115T093000 DTEND:20260115T104500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Stefano Bosco\nhosted by Georgios Katsaros\nAbstract: In this talk\, I will discuss recent advances in quantum computing with ho le-spin qubits\, focusing on planar germanium platforms. These systems pro vide electrically tunable spin properties\, occasionally) strong spin-orbi t interactions\, and compatibility with superconducting hybrid circuits\, making them well suited for scaling quantum architectures. I will highligh t new progresses in engineering the spin response in these platforms\, pro gress in fast baseband electrical control of gapless qubits\, high-fidelit y readout schemes based on Andreev qubits\, illustrating the potential of germanium-based devices for scalable quantum processors. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:gkatsaro@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Stefano Bosco: Quantum Computing with Germanium URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6231 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68776e25ec455620825225@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260115T110000 DTEND:20260115T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Alexander Dear\nhosted by Andela Saric\nAbstract: How do competing pathways\, surface catalysis\, and phase transitions shape se lfassembly?In this seminar\, I will first show how analytical solutions to rate laws enable mechanistic dissection of how different selfassembly pat hways compete. These solutions reveal how reaction cascades can spread fro m one system to another via crosscatalysis and crossinhibition\, providing insight into links between amyloid disorders.I will then show how applyin g precise thermodynamic reasoning to the largely experimentdriven field of protein aggregation exposes the central role of morphological defects in the selfreplication of amyloid fibrils and the influence of thirdparty sur faces in selfassembly more generally.Finally\, I will show how combining a nalytical solutions with thermodynamic reasoning reveals hidden roles of p hase transitions within protein selfassembly. Competition between fibrils and other phases leads to phenomena such as hysteresis and biochemical mem ory storage by reversible amyloids\, but can also trigger neurodegenerativ e disease. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Alexander Dear: Hidden Mechanisms in Self-Assembly: Pathway Competi tion\, Surface Catalysis\, and Phase Transitions URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6213 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6960c7d51ac45346543365@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260119T113000 DTEND:20260119T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: David Rasmussen Lolck\nhosted by Monika Henzinger\nAbs tract: Correlation clustering is a well-studied problem\, first proposed b y Bansal\, Blum\, and Chawla (2004). The input is an unweighted\, undirect ed\, simple graph. The goal is to cluster (partition) the vertices so as t o minimize the number of edges between vertices in different clusters and missing edges between vertices inside the same cluster. This problem has a wide number of applications in data mining and machine learning. We will focus on the dynamic version of this problem\, where edges are added or de leted one by one\, and the goal is to maintain a clustering during these u pdates. This talk will present a general framework that transforms existin g static correlation clustering algorithms into fully-dynamic ones that wo rk against an adaptive adversary. In this talk\, I will show how to apply the framework to known efficient static correlation clustering algorithms\ , starting from the classic 3-approximate Pivot algorithm by Ailon\, Chari kar\, and Newman (2008). Applied to the recent near-linear 1.485-approxima tion algorithm by Cao et al. (2025)\, we get a 1.485-approximation fully-d ynamic algorithm that works with worst-case constant update time. The orig inal static algorithm gets its approximation ratio with constant probabili ty\, and we get the same against an adaptive adversary. Previous dynamic a lgorithms for correlation clustering had approximation ratios around 3 in expectation against oblivious adversaries. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:achaturv@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:David Rasmussen Lolck: TCS Talk - Static to Dynamic Correlation Clu stering URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6229 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1768903200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260120T110000 DTEND:20260120T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Marta Gibert\nhosted by Kimberly Modic\nAbstract: Atom ically engineered transition-metal-oxide heterostructures provide a powerf ul platform to stabilize metastable phases and generate emergent propertie s by stacking dissimilar materials with atomic-scale precision. In this ta lk\, we present two representative examples. First\, we address the long-d ebated properties of SrCrO thin films. Through the growth of high-quality\ , strained films via magnetron sputtering\, we demonstrate that SrCrO's gr ound state is that of a metallic antiferromagnet. A combination of muon sp in relaxation\, SQUID magnetometry\, XMCD\, and XMLD reveals an antiferrom agnetic transition at a Néel temperature of approximately 150 K — about 100 K higher than in the bulk. Additionally\, increasing tensile strain i nduces a metal-insulator transition in these films while leaving the magne tic transition unaffected. Second\, we investigate structure–property re lationships in ferromagnetic double-perovskite LaNiMnO thin films as their thickness is reduced to a few unit cells [1]. Using atomically controlled LaNiMnO/RENiMnO (RE = Nd\, Sm) superlattices\, we probe the length scale of interfacial coupling between ferromagnetic and paramagnetic layers and show that the magnetic transition temperature can be tuned via superlattic e periodicity [2]. Finally\, we demonstrate that these superlattices enabl e the rational design of antipolar distortions\, paving the way for multif erroicity in artificially layered oxide systems [3]. [1] G. De Luca et al. \, Advanced Materials 34\, 2203071 (2022) [2] J. Spring et al.\, ACS Nano 19\, 14652 (2025) [3] J. Spring et al.\, Advanced Materials (accepted) LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Marta Gibert: Engineering Magnetic and Electronic Properties in Tr ansition Metal Oxide Heterostructures URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6227 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6687bf08e3e2d265502488@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260120T161500 DTEND:20260120T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Davide Desio\nhosted by Robert Seiringer\nAbstract: Th e polaron problem\, introduced by Landau in 1933\, concerns the coupling o f an electron with phonon fields in a continuum. The energy-momentum relat ion for the Frhlich polaron has been recently proved to be a concave funct ion of the square of the total momentum with a probabilistic approach via Wiener integrals. In this talk\, I will present an abstract Dyson expansio n for form bounded perturbations and apply it to the polaron Hamiltonian. I will show that the expectation value of the heat semi-group on the vacuu m is a completely monotone function of the square of the total momentum an d\, consequently\, the concavity of the energy-momentum relation as a func tion of the square of the total momentum. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Davide Desio: A rigorous Dyson expansion for polaron Hamiltonians URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6237 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1768996800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260121T130000 DTEND:20260121T140000 DESCRIPTION:hosted by Pavol Harar\nAbstract: Dear colleagues\, let's talk a bout cryoEM/ET! Again!Registration: https://lu.ma/n5h7pyh7 Intranet: http s://intranet.ista.ac.at/content/perma?id=175132 It is our pleasure to inv ite you to the next CryoCoffee—a casual\, one-hour meetup (quarterly) fo r anyone at ISTA interested in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM)\, cryo-e lectron tomography (cryo-ET)\, or related topics. Whether you work directl y with these techniques\, develop computational methods\, tackle inverse p roblems\, or are simply curious\, this is an opportunity to connect with o thers\, exchange ideas\, and find potential collaborations. We will be hap py to welcome biologists\, mathematicians\, computer scientists\, physicis ts\, chemists\, and basically anyone interested in cryo. More info in the registration link.The program includes a short talk followed by a Mini Pos ter session to share fresh ideas—not finished projects.This is a perfect opportunity to get early feedback from colleagues. Consider signing up fo r the casual A4 poster\, it is a great ice breaker that sparks fruitful di scussions. LOCATION:ErrorBar (Downtown)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Pavol.Harar@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:4th CryoCoffee URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6214 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6960d83c4ccf7738233065@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260121T133000 DTEND:20260121T143000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ravi Venkatramani\nhosted by Latha Venkataraman\nAbstr act: Our research group develops robust\, systematic and statistical descr iptions of diverse physicochemical phenomena in molecular and biomolecular systems. I will present three new conceptual ideas that have emerged thro ugh our efforts in last decade. In the first part of this seminar\, I will introduce electronic molecular breadboards as a framework for prototyping circuits within experimental break-junction setups. Here\, conductance hi stograms serve as statistical fingerprints of circuit pathways. Our new co mputational models that simulate these histograms\, enable experimental ac cess to embedded circuits and highlight how statistical descriptions can g uide the design of complex functional molecular circuits.Next\, I will tur n to the discovery of protein charge transfer spectra (ProCharTS)\, which explains puzzling but consistent detection of non-aromatic UV-vis absorpti on/emission. Overturning textbook paradigms\, we have shown that ProCharTS arises from to charge-transfer transitions within clusters of charged ami no acids. Using Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TDDFT) on statis tical ensembles of charged amino acid clusters\, I will show how such nove l spectra can be simulated and predicted. ProCharTS opens up a new label-f ree optical mode to track biologically relevant processes such as post-tra nslational modifications and biomolecular interactions.Finally\, I will ad dress the problem of quantitatively sampling rugged biomolecular energy la ndscapes in in Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. Specifically\, the int roduction of the cumulative variance of coordinate fluctuations (CVCF) as a parameter-free metric to identify Boltzmann-sampled regions of trajector ies\, and the mode evolution metric (MEM) to detect locally converged dire ctions toward hidden metastable states. These new statistical ideas are in tegrated into AutoSIM\, a software which discovers reaction coordinates an d then extracts energy landscapes governing biomolecular transitions. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room A / 27 seats (I23. EG.102)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:rpacarad@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Ravi Venkatramani: Statistical Descriptions of Molecular Phenomena: Circuits\, Spectra\, and Dynamics URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6234 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1769158800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260123T100000 DTEND:20260123T110000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Marten Chaillet\nhosted by Alicia Michael\nAbstract: C ryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) is used to visualize complex cellular en vironments at macromolecular resolution. However\, due to limitations of t he microscope\, computational image alignment is crucial for data interpre tation. Existing reference-free alignment algorithms aim to maximize simil arity between adjacent tilt images for improved registration. This often p roves ineffective due to limited information overlap between images and in accurate assumptions about the sample. Meanwhile\, human experts can easil y recognize misalignment. We introduce a new machine learning-based approa ch for training similar intuition and using it to improve alignment. MissA lignment trains a convolutional neural network to score the alignment accu racy using a contrastive loss metric that doesn’t require well-aligned g round truth. Back-propagation from this score is then used to optimize ind ividual image alignment parameters. Our method demonstrates significantly improved alignment compared to existing techniques\, leading to superior p erformance in all downstream analysis tasks. This advancement substantiall y enhances the robustness of cryo-ET data processing\, making the techniqu e applicable to a broader range of samples. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room\, ISTA ORGANIZER:alicia.michael@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Marten Chaillet: MissAlignment learns to straighten out cryo-ET til t series URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6230 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1769410800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260126T080000 DTEND:20260126T220000 DESCRIPTION:hosted by Beatriz Vicoso LOCATION:Moonstone Seminar Room G\, ISTA ORGANIZER:julia.schaubach@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:SFB Retreat URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5988 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1769423400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260126T113000 DTEND:20260126T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Moran Bercovici\nhosted by Alexander Bronstein \nAbstr act: I will present our theoretical and experimental work on leveraging th e basic physics of liquid-fluid interfaces for fabrication of a wide range of high-quality optical components\, without the need for any mechanical processing.  I will discuss the theoretical and experimental aspects of several mechanism that allow such ‘Fluidic Shaping’ – from photoacti vated Marangoni flows that enable dynamic programmable thin film deformati ons\, to passive shaping under neutral buoyancy where pinning boundary con ditions drive the liquid volume to a desired minimum energy. Finally\, I w ill discuss our collaboration with NASA on the use of Fluidic Shaping for the creation of future giant space telescopes and present our zero-g exper iments in parabolic flights and on board the international space station. Time permitting\, I will also provide a short glimpse into our early stage s in generalizing Fluidic Shaping for the creation of more complex three-d imensional structures on earth and in space – work which has taken also an artistic side and is on display as part of the European Cultural Center ’s ‘Time Space Existence’ exhibit in Venice’s Biennale for Archite cture. Moran Bercovici is a full professor of mechanical engineering at T echnion – Israel Institute of Technology\, and currently a visiting prof essor at ETH Zurich.  He is equally interested in understanding basic ph ysical mechanisms related to fluid mechanics as in leveraging them to crea te new tools and technologies across different disciplines including optic al fabrication\, in-space manufacturing\, and reconfigurable microfluidics . An aerospace engineer by training\, he worked for several years as an ae rodynamics engineer before continuing to a PhD in microfluidics at Stanfor d School of Engineering\, followed by a postdoctoral period at Stanford Sc hool of Medicine. He joined Technion as a faculty member in 2011\, where h e established the Fluidic Technologies Laboratory. He received two ERC gra nts and was awarded the Krill prize by the Wolf Foundation\, the Blavatnik Award in Chemistry\, and the Yanai prize of academic excellence.  LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Moran Bercovici: Fluidic Shaping of Optical Components – From the Lab to the International Space Station URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5966 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68de42fd17bf5619505613@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260127T100000 DTEND:20260127T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ralf Jung\nhosted by Michael Sammler\nAbstract: Rust i s primarily known for its ownership-based type system that enables a low-l evel programming paradigm in a type-safe language. However\, another key p illar of Rust is its treatment of unsafe code: while most languages tend t o shun unsafe operations\, often leaving them poorly specified\, Rust give s unsafe operations a lot of attention\, from a dedicated syntax to docume ntation and community norms. In this talk\, I will explain this often-misu nderstood aspect of Rust by talking about what unsafe Rust is\, why it exi sts\, how it is used\, and how tooling and formal methods help mitigate th e inherent risks of using unsafe operations.Bio: Ralf Jung is an assistant professor at ETH Zrich\, where he leads the Programming Language Foundati ons Lab within the Institute for Programming Languages and Systems in the Department of Computer Science. With a PhD from MPI-SWS and Saarland Unive rsity under the supervision of Derek Dreyer\, and postdoctoral experience in the PDOS group at MIT CSAIL\, he has worked on the foundations of progr amming languages and applied verification to systems software. His primary research interests are Rust and Iris. His work has received numerous awar ds\, such as a POPL Most Influential Paper Award and an Honorable Mention for the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award. In collaboration with the Rust la nguage team\, his group is working to establish the formal foundations of Rust\, particularly addressing the language's unsafe components. They are developing Miri\, a tool for identifying Undefined Behavior bugs in unsafe Rust code\, and working on MiniRust\, a proposal for the precise specific ation of unsafe Rust. His long-term aim is to use formal verification to b ring the full suite of Rust safety guarantees to unsafe Rust. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:akeri@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Ralf Jung: CS Colloquium URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6245 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1769508000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260127T110000 DTEND:20260127T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Robin Kaiser\nhosted by Julian Leonard\nAbstract: Abst ract:The quest for Anderson localization of light is at the center of many experimental and theoretical activities. Cold atoms have emerged as inter esting quantum system to study coherent transport properties of light. Ini tial experiments have established that dilute samples with large optical t hickness allow studying weak localization of light\, which has been well d escribed by a mesoscopic model. Recent experiments on light scattering wit h cold atoms have shown that Dicke super- or subradiance occurs in the sam e samples\, a feature not captured by the traditional mesoscopic models. T he use of a long range microscopic coupled dipole model allows to capture both the mesoscopic features of light scattering and Dicke super- and subr adiance in the single photon limit. I will review experimental and theoret ical state of the art on the possibility of Anderson localization of light in 3D by cold atoms. LOCATION:Heinzel Seminar Room\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Robin Kaiser: Resonant optical dipole-dipole interactions in cold a toms URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6161 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1769680800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260129T110000 DTEND:20260129T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Matthew Houtput\nhosted by Mikhail Lemeshko\nAbstract: Electron-phonon interactions are often written using the approximation of linear interaction\, where one only keeps the process where one electron interacts with one phonon. This is usually sufficient to quantitatively de scribe material properties. However\, this is no longer true in anharmonic materials with significant electron-phonon interaction\, such as quantum paraelectrics and halide perovskites. Currently\, the only available model s for nonlinear electron-phonon interaction are model Hamiltonians\, writt en in terms of phenomenological parameters. Here\, we provide a microscopi c semi-analytical expression for the long-range dipole part of the 1-elect ron-2-phonon matrix element\, which can be interfaced with first principle s techniques. We show that unlike for the long-range 1-electron-1-phonon i nteraction\, the continuum approximation is not sufficient and that the en tire phonon dispersion must be considered. We calculate an expression for the quasiparticle energies and show that they can be written in terms of a 1-electron-2-phonon spectral function. To demonstrate the method in pract ice\, we calculate the 1-electron-2-phonon spectral function for LiF and C sPbI3 from first principles\, and we show that the nonlinear interaction c ontributes significantly to the electron mobility of CsPbI3. The framework presented here bridges the gap between model Hamiltonians and first-princ iples calculations for the 1-electron-2-phonon interaction. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Foyer seminar room \, ISTA ORGANIZER:Michaela.Pucher@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Matthew Houtput: First principles theory of nonlinear long-range el ectron-phonon interaction URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6255 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6964a817f3eba980251668@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260129T130000 DTEND:20260129T140000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Richard Wong\nhosted by Martin Loose\nAbstract: Biomol ecular dynamics govern cellular architecture\, homeostasis\, and adaptive responses to environmental stress. While structural biology has been trans formative in defining molecular form and function\, many essential process es are driven by transient and mechanically coupled dynamics that remain d ifficult to capture. Cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography provide exquisite s tructural detail but are limited in temporal resolution and often require non-physiological conditions\, whereas spectroscopic approaches such as FR ET and NMR lack direct real-time visualization of structural transitions. High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) bridges this gap by enabling r eal-time nanoimaging of biomolecular dynamics under near-physiological con ditions with high spatiotemporal resolution and minimal perturbation. In t his talk\, I will show how HS-AFM moves us beyond static snapshots toward living structural landscapes\, focusing on nuclear pore complexes (NPCs)\, chromatin organization\, microtubule dynamics\, and extracellular vesicle s. Our work reveals that NPCs are highly dynamic\, mechanically adaptive a ssemblies that regulate nucleocytoplasmic transport while shaping perinucl ear chromatin architecture. HS-AFM captures transient interactions between NPCs and chromatin-associated proteinsgenome guardians coordinating trans cription\, DNA repair\, and stress responses. Extending this dynamic view to cytoskeletal systems\, we also visualize asymmetric protofilament failu re and spontaneous rescue events during microtubule disassembly\, revealin g unexpected stabilization mechanisms. Conceptually\, this nanoscale persp ective aligns with active-matter studies showing how single-filament prope rtiessuch as flexibility\, density\, and chiralitygovern emergent mesoscop ic order\, exemplified by chiral and nematic phase transitions in reconsti tuted cytoskeletal filaments. Together\, these findings demonstrate how na noscale dynamics at organelle and filament interfaces integrate transport\ , genome regulation\, and cytoskeletal remodeling\, providing a framework for understanding disease-relevant processes in cancer\, neurodegeneration \, infertility\, and viral infection. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room G (I24.EG.030g)\, IST A ORGANIZER:mloose@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Richard Wong: Zooming Through the Cellular Labyrinth: Journeys to t he Nuclear Pore and Chromatin URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6239 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1770026400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260202T110000 DTEND:20260202T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Kirti Jain\nhosted by Alicia Michael\nAbstract: The m ultiple antibiotic resistance (mar) operon is one of the largest regulo ns in Escherichia coli. The mar locus encodes an autorepressor\, MarR\; an autoactivator\, MarA\; and MarB\, a protein of unknown function and vi a MarA regulates a wide variety of downstream targets involved in cellu lar processes such as efflux\, pH response\, porin regulation\, etc. Al though this system has been extensively studied for its role in antibiot ic resistance\, the role of basal expression has largely been overlooked a nd dismissed as promoter leakiness.Our work explores the basal expression mode of the mar operon and shows that it is dynamic\, consisting of rare stochastic gene expression pulses. These pulses maximize phenotypic va riability in wild-type populations and\, unexpectedly\, transiently accele rate cellular elongation rates. At the molecular level\, this behavior i s linked to an unusual yet evolutionarily conserved GTG start codon in ma rR\, suggesting that natural selection has preserved this dynamic expressi on pattern across many related gut bacteria. Together\, these findings de monstrate that even so-called “leaky” uninduced gene expression can be a selected feature with meaningful ecological and physiological consequen ces\, reshaping our understanding of gene regulation in microbes.Kirti Jai n is a Postdoc Award Recipient of 2025. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Kirti Jain: Basal Gene Expression Dynamics in Bacteria URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6168 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1770633000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260209T113000 DTEND:20260209T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jasna Brujic\nhosted by Carl Goodrich\nAbstract: How c ollections of building blocks efficiently organize into structures with hi gh fidelity is a central question in both biology and materials science. H ere we show that linear chains of DNA-functionalized colloidal droplets (A BAB...) successfully fold into unique 2d foldamer geometries [1]\, which i n  turn bind to form nets that can efficiently wrap into icosahedral she lls in 3d using optimized temperature protocols. These colloidal capsids can then be opened and closed using enzymatic dynamics that write\, cut\, and modify the DNA interactions to assemble\, disassemble\, and reconfigu re these structures. Finding such designable self-assembling systems prese nts a promising route to functional materials that serve a purpose\, such as targeted drug delivery and reactive surfaces.Jasna is an experimental p hysicist and professor at New York Univeristy. Her work lies at the inter section of soft matter\, biophysics\, and materials\, and she has recently developed a platform for model colloidal proteins through DNA-functionali zed emulsions. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Jasna Brujic: Designing and Building Programmable Functional Matter URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6007 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1770642000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260209T140000 DTEND:20260209T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Zuzana Dunajova\nhosted by Carrie Bernecky\nAbstract: How is self-organization in biological systems shaped by the geometry of i ndividual units and the structure of their environment? In this thesis\, w e combine minimal active-matter models with bottom-up in vitro experiments to uncover physical principles underlying emergent biological behavior ac ross scales. At the subcellular scale\, we show how the shape and mechanic s of treadmilling FtsZ filaments control large-scale pattern formation\, w hich is relevant for bacterial cytokinesis. We find that filament flexibil ity and activity-driven straightening cause a shift from chiral to nematic -like self-organization. At the cellular scale\, we investigate how cancer cells migrate through complex microenvironments. Strikingly\, we find tha t geometric disorder alone can induce a transition from collective to sing le-cell invasion and shift the universality class of interface dynamics. F inally\, we study how cell-intrinsic geometry and chirality influence coll ective motion. Using a minimal model of rotating motile cells\, we show th at confinement can promote chiral flows\, while in dense unconfined system s chirality becomes masked even before the onset of jamming transition. Ov erall\, this work uncovers how geometric constraints - embedded in the int rinsic architecture of an active filament or encoded in the complexity of a microenvironment - couple to active forces to generate different classes of complex behaviors. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 3 (I01.O1.010) \, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Zuzana Dunajova: Thesis Defense: Geometry-driven self-organization of migrating cells and chiral filaments URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6252 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1770710400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260210T090000 DTEND:20260210T100000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Stefan Riegler\nhosted by Beatriz Vicoso\nAbstract: Du e to their sessile nature\, plants have evolved astounding developmental p lasticity\, which allows them to respond to environmental fluctuations by adapting their growth and architecture. This adaptability is the result of the interplay between numerous hormonal and nutrient-sensing processes. B y adjusting their internal signaling pathways\, plants can optimise their resource acquisition and defense strategies\, ensuring their survival and productivity in diverse habitats.The first part of this work is centered o n the gene SYNERGISTIC ON AUXIN AND CYTOKININ1 (AtSYAC1) in Arabidopsis th aliana. Despite often antagonistic interactions between auxin and cytokini n\, AtSYAC1 exhibits a massive\, non-additive induction upon simultaneous exogenous hormone treatment. This research identifies the first biological ly relevant context that induces AtSYAC1 expression in roots\, specificall y\, phosphate starvation and plant-fungal interaction. We proceed to inves tigate the spatiotemporal expression patterns and cellular localization of AtSYAC1 in response to these cues\, discovering its specific induction in root hair cells and its potential role in root hair tip growth. By invest igating the plant-fungal relationship we highlight the high environmental sensitivity of such interactions.The second part of this thesis\, as part of the Horizon Europe BOLERO project\, addresses the development of resili ent coffee rootstocks to support sustainable\, lowinput farming systems. U sing high-throughput phenotyping and transcriptomic analyses\, the study e valuates the root system plasticity of cultivated and wild Coffea species under contrasting nitrogen supply. We identify the molecular basis of high root system plasticity in C. canephora and C. congensis\, and observe a c urious response to low nitrogen availability in C. brevipes. Furthermore\, physiological and hormonal profiling of grafted plants identifies promisi ng rootstock-scion combinations and provides a molecular and phenotypic fo undation for breeding Coffea varieties with enhanced nutrient-use efficien cy and environmental resilience.  LOCATION:Zoom\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Stefan Riegler: Thesis Defense: Root System Plasticity under Nutrie nt Limitation: Investigating Hormonal and Molecular Drivers in Arabidopsis thaliana and Coffea species URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6254 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1770717600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260210T110000 DTEND:20260210T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Marco David\nhosted by Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: Abstra ct: Today’s gold standard for establishing new theoretical results in ma thematics is an accompanying formal computer-verification of the theorems and their proofs. Interactive theorem provers (ITPs)—originally designed to verify computer algorithms—are now gaining significant traction in m athematical research. Systems such as Isabelle\, Coq\, and Lean provide pr ogramming languages that mechanize reasoning and thereby allow the verific ation of proofs. In 2024\, Google DeepMind used reinforcement learning in such a formal language to win a silver medal at the International Mathemat ics Olympiad for the first time. The potential of formal methods in quant um theory remains under-explored. In this talk\, I will introduce a provoc atively titled list of the “top 100” quantum theorems\, aimed at gamif ying and popularizing the formal verification of quantum theory. Building such a quantum library will provide a unified\, searchable and cross-linke d database of formalized mathematical knowledge. This can also allow train ing artificial intelligence models in an environment where precise details matter. https://marcodavid.net/top100/  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Marco David: QED. The Quest to Formalize Physics. URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6265 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6973503e778d2133173368@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260210T110000 DTEND:20260210T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jens Elgeti\nhosted by Edouard Hannezo\nAbstract: Mech anical forces influence cellular decisions to grow\, die\, or differentiat e\, through largely mysterious mechanisms. Separately\, changes in resting membrane potential have been observed in development\, differentiation\, regeneration\, and cancer. We demonstrate that membrane potential is an im portant mediator of cellular response to mechanical pressure. We show that mechanical forces acting on the cell change cellular biomass density\, wh ich\, in turn\, alters membrane potential. Membrane potential then regulat es cell number density in epithelia by controlling cell growth\, prolifera tion\, and cell elimination. I will present the experimental evidence that lead to the discovery\, but mainly focus on the physical mechanism based on osmotic stresses and charge balance. I will introduce simulations based on this mechanism\, and show their predictions and experimental verificat ion.[1] Mukherjee\, Huang\, Elgeti\, Basan. Cell 189\, 143 (2026) LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room B / 63 seats (I23. EG.102)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jens Elgeti: Membrane potential mediates the cellular response to m echanical pressure – insights from simulations URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6271 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:698454fd67a8f977124952@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260210T161500 DTEND:20260210T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Rupert Frank\nhosted by Robert Seiringer\nAbstract: Th e CCM equation (also known as CalogeroMoser derivative nonlinear Schrdinge r equation) is a nonlinear dispersive equation in 1+1 dimensions that is c ompletely integrable. The corresponding Lax operator is a first order oper ator in the Hardy space on the real line. We develop a spectral theory of this operator\, building Jost solutions\, proving absence of singularly co ntinuous spectrum and introducing scattering coefficients. We also prove t race formulas of Birman-Krein and Faddeev-Zakharov type. Finally\, we prop ose an inverse scattering scheme for the solution of the CCM equation.The talk does not assume any previous knowledge of the CCM equation. It is bas ed on joint work with Larry Read. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Rupert Frank: Direct and inverse scattering for the continuum Calog ero-Moser equation URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6281 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1770737400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260210T163000 DTEND:20260210T184500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: portraittheater\nhosted by EDI office\nAbstract: In re cognition of the International Day (https://public-eur.mkt.dynamics.com/ap i/orgs/c4c27152-17ec-47dc-b101-24b7ac15e0e6/r/k_h0351QHEa1pmlqp78CAAMAAAA? msdynmkt_target=%7B%22TargetUrl%22%3A%22https%253A%252F%252Fwww.unesco.org %252Fen%252Fdays%252Fwomen-girls-science%22%2C%22RedirectOptions%22%3A%7B% 225%22%3Anull%2C%221%22%3Anull%7D%7D&msdynmkt_digest=CSoimo4dB%2B2k4vLMgKO 11JEDUE4pPJHRsTQicKGCrnw%3D&msdynmkt_secretVersion=7bb221762d0c46939816d3a 5592b1359) of Women and Girls in Science (https://public-eur.mkt.dynamics. com/api/orgs/c4c27152-17ec-47dc-b101-24b7ac15e0e6/r/k_h0351QHEa1pmlqp78CAA MAAAA?msdynmkt_target=%7B%22TargetUrl%22%3A%22https%253A%252F%252Fwww.unes co.org%252Fen%252Fdays%252Fwomen-girls-science%22%2C%22RedirectOptions%22% 3A%7B%225%22%3Anull%2C%221%22%3Anull%7D%7D&msdynmkt_digest=CSoimo4dB%2B2k4 vLMgKO11JEDUE4pPJHRsTQicKGCrnw%3D&msdynmkt_secretVersion=7bb221762d0c46939 816d3a5592b1359)\, we are organizing a special event on the ISTA campus.T he program will feature a performance of “Curie_Meitner_Lamarr_INDIVISIB LE” (https://www.portraittheater.net/?portfolio=curie-meitner-lamarr-ind ivisible#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=df74f893-509d-461c-b5a6-696aa7bf0200) by portraittheater\, a documentary-style theatre production that brings tog ether the stories and scientific achievements of Marie Sklodowska-Curie\, Lise Meitner\, and Hedy Lamarr. Blending historical sources with live perf ormance\, the play highlights both their groundbreaking contributions to s cience and technology\, and the structural barriers they faced\, including displacement and migration in pursuit of scientific careers. It also addr esses the importance of supportive environments and male allyship in enabl ing scientific excellence.The performance will be followed by a panel disc ussion with ISTA professors\, reflecting on the play's themes and their re levance to the current academic landscape and the future of women in STEM. A reception will conclude the evening.Transportation:  In addition to the regular ISTA shuttle bus\, a special shuttle will depart from Heiligens tadt at 3:30 pm\, with a stop at Klosterneuburg Stadtplatz\, and will ret urn from ISTA to Heiligenstadt at 8:00 pm. Click HERE (https://ista.ac.at/ en/campus/how-to-get-here/) for more information.The aim is to organize th e event in accordance with the criteria of the Austrian Ecolabel for Green Meetings (https://www.umweltzeichen.at/de/green-meetings-und-events/home) . If you have any questions about the event's sustainability standards\, p lease contact the Green Event Officer Julia Kainrath (julia.kainrath@ista .ac.at). LOCATION:ISTA - Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:portraittheater: Women in Science URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6233 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6687bf08e3e40031366181@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260210T171500 DTEND:20260210T181500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jonas Jalowy\nhosted by Andrew Campbell\nAbstract: The guiding question of the talk is "How do zeros of polynomials evolve under the action of differential operators?"For instance\, taking a Weyl random polynomial and applying the heat flow operator\, the (complex) limiting z ero distribution evolves from the circular law into the elliptic law until it collapses to the Wigner semicircle law--a transition that is well know n in Random Matrix Theory.In this talk\, I will focus on the case of polyn omials undergoing the (holomorphic) heat flow operator and begin with an o verview on results of such type as well as a description of the roots from various points of view such as (optimal) transport\, differential equatio ns and free probability. Then\, we will turn to a specific deterministic s etting of polynomial powers P^n\, where a novel limiting distribution can be described along the time evolution: For small time\, the initial zeros spread out in approximately semicircular distributions\, then intricate cu rves start to form and merge\, until for large time\, the zero distributio n approaches a semicircle law through the initial center of mass.This talk is based on joint works with Brian Hall\, Ching-Wei Ho\, Antonia Hfert\, Zakhar Kabluchko\, and Alexander Marynych. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jonas Jalowy: Evolution of zeros of polynomials under the heat flow URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6280 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6964b0d50ce98040791463@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260211T111500 DTEND:20260211T121500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Emily Davis\nhosted by Onur Hosten\nAbstract: Spin squ eezed states provide a seminal example of how the structure of quantum mec hanical correlations can be controlled to produce metrologically useful en tanglement. Such squeezed states have been demonstrated in a wide variety of artificial quantum systems ranging from atoms in optical cavities to tr apped ion crystals. By contrast\, despite their numerous advantages as pra ctical sensors\, spin ensembles in solid-state materials have yet to be co ntrolled with sufficient precision to generate targeted entanglement such as spin squeezing. In this work\, we present the first experimental demons tration of spin squeezing in a solid-state spin system. Our experiments ar e performed on a strongly-interacting ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) co lor centers in diamond at room temperature and squeezing (-0.5 pm 0.1 dB) is generated by the native magnetic dipole-dipole interaction between NVs. In order to generate and detect squeezing in a solid-state spin system\, we overcome a number of key challenges of broad experimental and theoretic al interest. First\, we develop a novel approach\, using interaction-enabl ed noise spectroscopy\, to characterize the quantum projection noise in ou r system without directly resolving the spin probability distribution. Sec ond\, noting that the random positioning of spin defects severely limits t he generation of spin squeezing\, we implement a pair of strategies aimed at isolating the dynamics of a relatively ordered sub-ensemble of NV cente rs. Our results open the door to entanglement-enhanced metrology using mac roscopic ensembles of optically-active spins in solids. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:swiddman@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Emily Davis: Spin squeezing in an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy cent ers in diamond URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6240 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:684830059a172858659078@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260211T153000 DTEND:20260211T163000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Valentin Blomer\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös\, Uli Wagner\ nAbstract: Arithmetically interesting objects are often a small set in som e larger ambient space and one may ask how they are distributed. In this t alk\, we take a geometric perspective and consider subsets of the modular curve\, i.e. the upper complex half plane modulo SL(2\, Z)\, a space with a rich structure. I will present various classical and modern equidistribu tion problems and describe what tools can be used to establish equidistrib ution results.  LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Valentin Blomer: Equidistribution in number theory URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5934 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1770825600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260211T170000 DTEND:20260211T180000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Martin Dvorak\nhosted by Michael Sammler\nAbstract: Th is thesis documents a voyage towards truth and beauty via formal verificat ion of theorems. To this end\, we develop libraries in Lean 4 that present definitions and results from diverse areas of MathematiCS (i.e.\, Mathema tics and Computer Science). The aim is to create code that is understandab le\, believable\, useful\, and elegant. The code should stand for itself a s much as possible without a need for documentation\; however\, this text redundantly documents our code artifacts and provides additional context t hat isn’t present in the code. This thesis is written for readers who kn ow Lean 4 but are not familiar with any of the topics presented. We manife st truth and beauty in three formalized areas of MathematiCS.We formalize general grammars in Lean 4 and use grammars to show closure of the class o f type-0 languages under four operations\; union\, reversal\, concatenatio n\, and the Kleene star.Our second stop is the theory of optimization. Far kas established that a system of linear inequalities has a solution if and only if we cannot obtain a contradiction by taking a linear combination o f the inequalities. We state and formally prove several Farkas-like theore ms over linearly ordered fields in Lean 4. Furthermore\, we extend duality theory to the case when some coëfficients are allowed to take “infinit e values”. Additionally\, we develop the basics of the theory of optimiz ation in terms of the framework called General-Valued Constraint Satisfact ion Problems\, and we prove that\, if a Rational-Valued Constraint Satisfa ction Problem template has symmetric fractional polymorphisms of all ariti es\, then its basic LP relaxation is tight.Our third stop is matroid theor y. Seymour’s decomposition theorem is a hallmark result in matroid theor y\, presenting a structural characterization of the class of regular matro ids. We aim to formally verify Seymour’s theorem in Lean 4. First\, we b uild a library for working with totally unimodular matrices. We define bin ary matroids and their standard representations\, and we prove that they f orm a matroid in the sense how Mathlib defines matroids. We define regular matroids to be matroids for which there exists a full representation rati onal matrix that is totally unimodular\, and we prove that all regular mat roids are binary. We define 1-sum\, 2-sum\, and 3-sum of binary matroids a s specific ways to compose their standard representation matrices. We prov e that the 1-sum\, the 2-sum\, and the 3-sum of regular matroids are a reg ular matroid\, which concludes the composition direction of the Seymour’ s theorem. The (more difficult) decomposition direction remains unproved.I n the pursuit of truth\, we focus on identifying the trusted code in each project and presenting it faithfully. We emphasize the readability and bel ievability of definitions rather than choosing definitions that are easier to work with. In search for beauty\, we focus on the philosophical framew ork of Roger Scruton\, who emphasizes that beauty is not a mere decoration but\, most importantly\, beauty is the means for shaping our place in the world and a source of redemption\, where it can be viewed as a substitute for religion. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 ) and Zoom\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Martin Dvorak: Thesis Defense: Pursuit of Truth and Beauty in Lean 4 URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6279 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1771237800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260216T113000 DTEND:20260216T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Marta Miaczynska\nhosted by Carrie Bernecky\nAbstract: Endocytic pathways mediate uptake of extracellular cargo and critically r egulate receptors for growth factors and cytokines to maintain proper cont rol of cell proliferation\, survival\, and differentiation. Dysregulation of endosomal trafficking and the ESCRT machinery affects inflammatory resp onses\, lysosome biogenesis\, and metabolic homeostasis\, creating vulnera bilities relevant for cancer therapy. Work on signaling endosomes and macr opinocytic uptake driven by oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinases such as AX L underscores the role of endocytic regulation in tumor progression\, meta stasis\, and precision medicine–oriented interventions.Prof. Miaczynska will willingly meet (if they are available): Carrie Bernecky\; Carl-Philli p Heisenberg\; Martin Hetzer\; Andela Saric\; and Michael Sixt. In additio n\, she is open to any other scientists who will be eager to talk to her LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Marta Miaczynska: Cellular Logistics: Membrane Trafficking and Sign aling in Health and Disease URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5923 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1771341300@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260217T161500 DTEND:20260217T180000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Joscha Henheik\nhosted by László Erdös \nAbstract: Abstract: In nature one finds superconductors of varying critical temperat ures and energy gaps. For weak superconductors\, where the critical temper ature is small\, a universal phenomenon occurs: The ratio of the energy ga p and critical temperature is a universal value\, independent of the speci fic superconductor. I will present recent work on such universal phenomena in the BCS theory of superconductivity.Based on joint works with A. B. La uritsen\, E. Langmann\, and B. Roos.  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Birgit.Oosthuizen-Noczil@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Joscha Henheik: Universalities in BCS theory URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6290 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1771497000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260219T113000 DTEND:20260219T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Christopher B. Murray & Cherie R. Kagan\nhosted by Mar ia Ibanez\nAbstract: Christopher B. Murray |Multi-Component Nanoscale Asse mbly for Nanocrystal-Based Materials and Devices"The advances in the multi scale multi-component organization of ensembles of monodisperse colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) with controlled composition\, size\, and shape now repr esent a new strategy for soft optical metamaterial fabrication. These NCs\ , acting as 'artificial atoms' with tunable electronic\, optical\, and mag netic properties\, pave the way for the development of a new periodic asse mbly.  They are ideal building blocks for incorporation into new thin fil ms\, micro-resonators\, and integrated devices. In this brief talk\, I wil l briefly outline how these tailored NCs can be assembled into single-comp onent\, binary\, and ternary NC superlattices\, providing a scalable route to the production of soft metamaterials. The scalability of this process ensures its feasibility for large-scale applications. The modular assembly of these NCs enables the enhancement of desirable features of the underly ing quantum phenomena through photonic feedback. Strategies for emulsion-b ased assembly that enable continuous production and tuning of stimuli-resp onsive\, tunable photonic resonators from dense NC 'supraparticles' will b e highlighted. Progress in the optical characterization of supraparticles and their potential as whispering-gallery-mode resonators\, with a low las ing threshold\, will be shared.____________Cherie R. Kagan |Colloidal Semi conductor Quantum Dot OptoelectronicsColloidal semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are prized for their size-dependent electronic and optical propertie s\, with bandgaps tunable from the UV to the infrared\, and as solution-pr ocessable building blocks of “artificial” solid-state materials. Here\ , I will describe our work in designing the electronic and optical propert ies of QD assemblies and their integration in optoelectronic devices. We u se chemical treatments\, namely ligand exchange\, colloidal atomic layer d eposition\, and cation exchange to tailor interparticle distance and compo sition\, to add impurities\, control stoichiometry\, or make entirely new compounds or matrices. Electrical and cw\, ultrafast\, and spatially resol ved optical spectroscopies are used to show that these treatments allow th e design of QD assemblies with tailored carrier energy\, type\, concentrat ion\, mobility\, and lifetime\, which we have used to create n- and p-type thin films from which we build optoelectronic and electronic devices and circuits. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Christopher B. Murray & Cherie R. Kagan: Multi-Component Nanoscale Assembly for Nanocrystal-Based Materials and Devices | Colloidal Semicondu ctor Quantum Dot Optoelectronics URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6167 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1771502400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260219T130000 DTEND:20260219T140000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ivana Matijevic\nAbstract: Understanding what sets the timing of cellular activation remains a central challenge in dynamic sign aling systems. Rab5 activation on membranes emerges from a feedback-drive n\, threshold-controlled process shaped by catalytic input\, substrate ava ilability\, and spatial confinement. Here\, we probe how spatial scale in teracts with inhibitory (GDI) and activating mechanisms (RR) to shape tem poral responses. By systematically varying these parameters\, we aim to b etter understand their roles and uncover how Rab5 activation emerges fro m coupled spatial and biochemical input.  LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a&b\, ISTA ORGANIZER:rita.pacarada@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Ivana Matijevic: When Biochemistry Meets Geometry: Spatial and Bioc hemical Determinants of Rab5 Activation URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6285 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1771578000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260220T100000 DTEND:20260220T110000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Fidel Emmanuel Serrano\nhosted by Alicia Michael\nAbst ract: The mammalian circadian clock is governed by a feedback loop in whic h the transcription activator CLOCK:BMAL1 induces expression of its inhibi tors\, PERs and CRYs\, which form a complex with CK1δ\, the main circadia n kinase. However\, the spatiotemporal dynamics of this feedback loop and the precise role of CK1δ remain incompletely understood. Using an inducib le overexpression system\, we show that nuclear availability of CK1δ is l imited by both rapid nuclear degradation and active export of unassembled kinase\, while cytoplasmic kinase is readily available for association wit h PERs. We demonstrate that CK1δ-mediated phosphorylation may disrupt PER 2-CRY1 interaction thereby resulting in cytoplasmic PER2 dimers containing substoichiometric amounts of CRY1. Analysis of endogenous PER2 localizati on in the context of an intact circadian clock reveals that PER2 accumulat es in the cytoplasm late in the circadian cycle. Based on these findings\, we propose that cytoplasmic accumulation of PER:CRY:CK1δ complexes contr ibutes to the clearance of nuclear PER2\, while the CK1δ-dependent releas e of CRY1 into the nucleus may sustain CLOCK:BMAL1 repression on DNA suppo rting the transition from the early to the late repressive phase. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room E\, ISTA ORGANIZER:alicia.michael@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Fidel Emmanuel Serrano: Nuclear CK1δ as a Critical Determinant of PER:CRY Complex Dynamics and Circadian Period URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6291 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1771927200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260224T110000 DTEND:20260224T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Katharina Franke\nhosted by Latha Venkataraman \nAbstr act: In addition to being an ideal tool for imaging and manipulating atoms and molecules on surfaces\, the potential of the scanning tunneling micro scope (STM) for high-resolution spectroscopy has been recognized in the fi elds of single-molecule physics\, magnetism\, and superconductivity. Recen tly\, optical and terahertz pulses coupled into the STM junction have adde d ultrafast time resolution to this versatile experimental technique. Here \, we use the STM to resolve the interplay of magnetic atoms with supercon ducting substrates. The magnetic adsorbates induce bound states - known as Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) states - within the superconducting energy gap. Th ese states remain isolated from the bulk\, and\, thus\, provide a wide ran ge of possibilities for engineering hybridized states\, band formation\, a nd topology. In a very different experiment we add time resolution to our STM experiments. To do so\, we couple THz pulses into the STM junction and then record the time-delayed response of the junction conductance. We app ly this pump-probe scheme to investigate the role of defects on phonon pro perties of the indirect bandgap semiconductor 2H-MoTe2. We identify two co herent phonons modes in the Fourier transform of the time-delay spectra. I n the vicinity of defects\, the relative intensity of the phonon modes cha nges. We ascribe this change to modified band bending near the defects\, w hich changes the coupling efficiency to the THz pulses LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Rita.Pacarada@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Katharina Franke: Atomic-scale spectroscopy: from magnetic adatoms on superconductors to coherent phonons on semiconductors URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6269 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6995914c27acd107259767@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260225T110000 DTEND:20260225T121500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Alfonso Martinez Arias\nhosted by Edouard Hannezo LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Alfonso Martinez Arias: A pluripotent stem cell view of gastrulatio n URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6305 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68761a72d3b38683755680@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260226T103000 DTEND:20260226T121500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: James Utterback\nhosted by Maria Ibáñez\nAbstrac t: The functionalities of photoactive materials ranging from optoelectroni cs\, plasmonics\, catalysis and phase-switching applications require not o nly control over the photoexcited charges but also heat generation\, trans port and dissipation. The transport of energy carriers at microscopic leng th scales underlies the efficiency of such applications. Yet\, in many mat erial systems\, energy carrier transport must navigate heterogeneities of various natures over a broad range of length and time scales. Moreover\, r eal device conditions may feature contact with other material layers\, bia s\, and nonequilibrium conditions that cause deviations from pure material behavior. There are many approaches to inferring microscopic energy trans port through energetic\, temporal\, or spatial markers\, but each faces li mitations. Moreover\, heterogeneous systems are often elusive to simple mo dels that reveal fundamental transport parameters. To understand the princ iples that govern electronic and thermal carrier dynamics in complex syste ms\, advanced experimental techniques and models are needed. In this prese ntation I will describe how pumpprobe optical measurements and modeling of energy carrier transport provide access to nanosecond dynamic information with local\, sub-micron specificity. I will highlight examples including colloidal nanocrystal assemblies\, photoelectrodes for water oxidation\, a nd insulator-to-metal phase transition thin films. This presentation will focus on the following questions: How do nanoscale and mesoscale structure and defects impact microscopic energy transport? How can we access inform ation about energy carriers such as heat that are not traditionally probed by spectroscopy? How can we control the directionality of energy carrier flow? How can we access carrier transport under more realistic device cond itions? LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:hcai@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:James Utterback: Spatiotemporal Microscopy of Energy Carrier Transp ort: from Nanomaterials to Photoelectrodes and Phase-Change Materials URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5921 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:698f1a0aaf212263034654@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260226T113000 DTEND:20260226T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Nikita Kalinin\nAbstract: The lower-triangular all-one s counting matrix is a key primitive in differential privacy\, and its fac torization norms determine theoretical utility guarantees for private mach ine learning training with correlated noise. For more than three decades\, the best known upper bound for these norms remained essentially unchanged \, and recent work asked whether an explicit factorization could provably improve it. In this talk I present an explicit\, efficiently computable co nstruction that improves the longstanding bound\, together with significan tly stronger lower bounds\, shrinking the remaining constant gap to a smal l margin. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Foyer seminar room (I21.EG.128)\ , ISTA ORGANIZER:achaturv@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Nikita Kalinin: TCS Seminar - Sharper Matrix Factorization Bounds f or Differentially Private Continual Counting URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6298 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1772447400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260302T113000 DTEND:20260302T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ramin Golestanian\nhosted by Andela Saric\nAbstract: N on-reciprocal interactions (NRIs) are quite natural among higher organisms including humans\, as we all know that the way two humans act towards eac h other does not derive from a mutual translationally symmetric “interac tion potential” that gives rise to action=-reaction. It is\, however\, a remarkably surprising that NRIs can exist at the microscopic scale among brain-less particles\, in particular enzymes\, when they are catalytically or metabolically active\, i.e. under non-equilibrium conditions. In this Colloquium\, I will introduce the topic and discuss some of its non-trivia l consequences\, following the developments in the field over the last dec ade. In particular\, we discuss how non-reciprocal active matter can provi de a paradigm within which we can understand how it may have been possible to form self-organized metabolic cycles at the early stages of life forma tion in a fast and robust manner. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Ramin Golestanian: Non-reciprocal Active Matter URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5696 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:691214567bfbd513487778@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260302T160000 DTEND:20260302T170000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Yujin Kim\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös & Jan Maas\nAbstrac t: Gaussian multiplicative chaos (GMC) is a well-studied random measure ap pearing as a universal object in the study of Gaussian or approximately Ga ussian log-correlated fields. On the other hand\, no general framework exi sts for the study of multiplicative chaos associated to non-Gaussian log-c orrelated fields. In this talk\, we examine a canonical model: the log-cor related random Fourier series\, or random wave model\, with i.i.d. random coefficients taken from a general class of distributions. The associated m ultiplicative chaos measure was shown to be non-degenerate when the invers e temperature is subcritical ($\\gamma < \\sqrt{2d}$) by Junnila. The resu lting chaos is easily seen to not be a GMC in general\, leaving open the q uestion of what properties are shared between this non-Gaussian chaos and GMC. We answer this question through the lens of absolute continuity\, sho wing that there exists a coupling between this chaos and a GMC such that t he two are almost surely mutually absolutely continuous. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:birgit.oosthuizen-noczil@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Yujin Kim: Absolute continuity of non-Gaussian and Gaussian multipl icative chaos measures URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6323 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:69a187fcbb1eb211020820@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260302T170000 DTEND:20260302T180000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Tom Hutchcroft\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös & Jan Maas\nAb stract: It is conjectured that many models of statistical mechanics have a rich\, fractal-like behaviour at and near their points of phase transitio n\, with power-law scaling governed by critical exponents that are expecte d to depend on the dimension but not on the small-scale details of the mod el such as the choice of lattice. This is now reasonably well understood i n two dimensions and in high dimensions\, but remains poorly understood in intermediate dimensions (e.g. d=3). I will overview the conjectures aroun d this area and describe recent progress on related problems for models wi th long-range interactions. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Tom Hutchcroft: Critical long-range percolation URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6324 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1772532000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260303T110000 DTEND:20260303T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Lincoln Carr\nhosted by Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: Abstr act: One-dimensional Quantum cellular automata (QCA) in quantum circuits provide an experimentally realizable quantum computing testbed for quantum entangled dynamics\, spanning both integrable and quantum many-body chaot ic extremes.  In this work\, we establish a quantum many-body Kolmogorov- Arnold-Moser (KAM) framework in 1D QCA\, characterizing the breakdown of i ntegrability through a state-dependent hierarchy of conservation laws. Sta rting from the integrable limit of Goldilocks rules that map exactly onto free-fermion dynamics\, we introduce controlled\, locality-preserving pert urbations via symmetric Strang splitting. We investigate the breakdown of integrability by tracking the deformation of the first 13 local conserved charges directly within the native discrete-time circuit dynamics.Our cent ral finding in the circuit picture is the emergence of a stability hierarc hy of charges  determined by the algebraic structure of the perturbation generator\, classified into three distinct tiers: (i) robust invariants wh ich remain exactly conserved independent of perturbation strength\; (ii) r esonant actions which drift immediately at first order\; and (iii) KAM-lik e candidates\, in particular . We identify  as weakly non-resonant: it ex hibits anomalous super-delayed deformation under general initial condition s but remains conserved when initialized in an eigenstate of a specific Ab elian charge subset.Complementing this study of quantum circuits in discre te time\, we demonstrate rigorously that the associated continuous-time QC A Hamiltonian --- constructed via projector embeddings --- defines a funda mentally distinct dynamical system\, conserving only an Abelian subclass o f the 13 first charges from Goldilocks QCA.  Within this QCA-like Hamilto nian model\, we characterize the broader phenomenology of the integrabilit y-to-chaos crossover. We observe a universal transition from Poisson to Wi gner-Dyson spectral statistics and analyze the power-law growth of out-of- time-ordered correlators. Furthermore\, using Hamiltonian-based charge aut ocorrelators\, we map the stability of  to a regime of “confined chaos\ ,” where algebraic symmetries shield specific Hilbert space sectors from rapid thermalization\, providing a continuous-time counter-part of the KA M stability observed in the discrete circuit.References: Marc Andrew Valde z\, Daniel Jaschke\, David L. Vargas and Lincoln D. Carr\, “Quantifying Complexity in Quantum Phase Transitions via Mutual Information Complex Net works\,” Phys. Rev. Lett.\, v. 119\, p. 225301 (2017)Bhuvanesh Sundar\, Marc Andrew Valdez\, Lincoln D. Carr\, and Kaden R. A. Hazzard\, “A comp lex network description of thermal quantum states in the Ising spin chain\ ,” Phys. Rev. A\, v. 97\, p. 052320 (2018)Bhuvanesh Sundar\, Mattia Wals chaers\, Valentina Parigi\, and Lincoln D Carr\, “Response of quantum sp in networks to attacks\,” J. Phys. Complexity\, v.2\, p. 035008 (2021)LE Hillberry\, MT Jones\, DL Vargas\, P Rall\, N Yunger Halpern\, N Bao\, S Notarnicola\, S Montangero\, LD Carr\, “Entangled quantum cellular autom ata\, physical complexity\, and Goldilocks rules\,” Quantum Science and Technology\, v. 6\, p. 045017 (2021)EB Jones\, LE Hillberry\, MT Jones\, M Fasihi\, P Roushan\, Z Jiang\, A Ho\, C Neill\, E Ostby\, P Graf\, E Kapi t\, and LD Carr\, “Small-world complex network generation on a digital q uantum processor\,” Nature Communications v. 13\, p. 4483 (2022)Mattia W alschaers\, Nicholas Treps\, Bhuvanesh Sundar\, Lincoln D Carr\, and Valen tina Parigi\, “Emergent complex quantum networks in continuous-variables non-Gaussian states\,” Quantum Science and Technology\, v. 8\, p. 03500 9 (2023)LE Hillberry\, M Fasihi\, L Piroli\, N Yunger Halpern\, T Prosen\, and LD Carr\, “Classical simulability\, thermodynamics\, and integrabil ity of Goldilocks quantum cellular automata\,” Quantum Science and Techn ology\, under review\, arXiv:2404.02994 (2024)P Patnaik\, LE Hilberry\, T Prosen\, and LD Carr\, “Entanglement Dynamics of Integrable and Chaotic Quantum Cellular Automata: Towards a Quantum Many-body Kolmogorov-Arnold-M oser Theory\,” In preparation (2026)  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Lincoln Carr: Entanglement Dynamics of Integrable and Chaotic Quant um Cellular Automata: Towards a Quantum Many-body Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser Theory URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6131 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1772542800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260303T140000 DTEND:20260303T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Thomas Werner\nhosted by Matthew Kwan\nAbstract: In th is thesis\, I investigate superconducting quantum circuits as a platform f or both fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and scalable quantum inform ation processing. Superconducting qubits are engineered electrical circuit s that exhibit discrete\, atom-like energy levels. Unlike natural atoms\, their spectra can be designed and fabricated\, enabling flexible control a t the cost of device-to-device variability. These systems operate below 10 0 mK to suppress thermal noise at their characteristic microwave frequenci es (~10 GHz). In contrast\, optical photons (~193 THz) are robust against room-temperature thermal noise and are ideal carriers of quantum informati on over long distances. Bridging these frequency regimes is therefore esse ntial for connecting superconducting quantum processors to optical quantum networks. To address this challenge\, we develop electro-optic transducer s. These devices convert single photons between the microwave and the opti cal domain. I demonstrate two proof-of-principle experiments: all-optical readout of a superconducting qubit state and upconversion of single microw ave photons to optical frequencies. These results establish a pathway towa rd integrating superconducting qubits with large-scale quantum communicati on networks. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room B (I23.EG.102) \, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Thomas Werner: Thesis Defense: Interfacing superconducting qubits w ith optical photons URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6316 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:699c1168a3e99368223411@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260305T113000 DTEND:20260305T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Joel Daniel Andersson\nAbstract: We study differential ly-private statistics in the fully dynamic continual observation model\, w here many updates can arrive at each time step\, and updates to a stream c an involve both insertions and deletions of an item. Earlier work (e.g.\, Jain et al.\, NeurIPS 2023 for counting distinct elements\; Raskhodnikova & Steiner\, PODS 2025 for triangle counting with edge updates) reduced the respective cardinality estimation problem to continual counting on the di fference stream associated with the true function values on the input stre am.In such reductions\, a change in the original stream can cause many cha nges in the difference stream.This poses a challenge for applying private continual counting algorithms to obtain optimal error bounds.Our work impr oves the accuracy of several such reductions by studying the induced neigh boring relation more closely.The improvement stems from tight analysis of known factorization mechanisms for the prefix-sum matrix in this setting. In particular\, we show how the square-root factorization (Henzinger et al .\, SODA 2023\; Fichtenberger et al.\, ICML 2023) can be employed to give concrete improvements in accuracy over past work based on the binary tree mechanism.We instantiate our framework for the problems of counting distin ct elements\, estimating degree histograms\, and estimating triangle count s (under a slightly relaxed privacy model)\, showing improved accuracy for a large range of parameters.Based on joint work with Palak Jain and Satch it Sivakumar (https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02257). LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room G (I24.EG.030g)\, IST A ORGANIZER:achaturv@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Joel Daniel Andersson: Improved Accuracy for Private Continual Card inality Estimation in Fully Dynamic Streams via Matrix Factorization URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6318 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:665dbdca8cda4207092114@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260305T130000 DTEND:20260305T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Elsa Maneval\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: I will first introduce the moduli spaces of Higgs bundles that appear in the Hau sel-Thaddeus topological mirror symmetry conjecture\, present the context\ , the different proofs and possible generalisations. In particular I will explain the p-adic integration approach of Groechenig\, Wyss and Ziegler. Finally\, I will present my result\, which is a generalisation beyond the coprime case of the key intermediate step of this approach\, which we call a non-archimedean topological mirror symmetry. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Elsa Maneval: Mirror symmetry for Higgs bundles URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6270 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6977627f37ed3194820186@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260306T110000 DTEND:20260306T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Kin Fai Mak\nhosted by Hryhoriy Polshyn\nAbstract: The strong Coulomb interactions between many electrons in solids can induce m any fascinating phenomena\, such as magnetism\, high-temperature supercond uctivity\, and electron fractionalization. In 1963\, physicists developed a model\, known as the Hubbard model\, to describe such interactions in a highly simplified manner. The deceptively simple model is\, however\, diff icult to solve accurately even with modern-day supercomputers. The physica l realizations and thus simulations of the Hubbard model therefore have a vital role to play in solving this important problem. Moir materials\, met amaterials built on artificial moir atoms\, have emerged as a promising Hu bbard model simulator in recent years. In this talk\, I will discuss recen t efforts on simulating the Hubbard model in moir semiconductors\, with a particular focus on the problem of high-temperature superconductivity. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:sdolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Kin Fai Mak: Simulating Hubbard model physics in moire semiconducto rs URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6278 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1773052200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260309T113000 DTEND:20260309T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ole Kiehn\nhosted by Maximilian Jösch\nAbstract: Abst ract:Movement is the output of almost all brain functions. Among movement\ , locomotion is one of the most fundamental and universal to animals and h umans. Locomotion is organised at many levels of the nervous system\, with brainstem circuits acting as the gate between brain areas regulating inna te\, emotional\, or motivational locomotion and the executing spinal motor circuits. To be executed\, locomotion requires dynamic initiation and ter mination and appropriate directionally.This lecture will focus on recent a dvances that have elucidated the functional organization of brainstem comm and circuits in mammals needed to perform these roles. The lecture will pr ovide a new framework for how basal ganglia circuits are acting via these brainstem circuits to elicit self-paced locomotion and how brainstem motor circuits may be used to define brain-wide networks involved in high-level behaviors. I will also discuss how locomotor disturbances following e.g. basal ganglia disorders may be alleviated by targeted activation of brai nstem and basal ganglia circuits. Biography:Ole Kiehn is Professor in Int egrative Neuroscience at the Department of Neuroscience\, University of Co penhagen\, and Professor in Neurophysiology at the Department of Neuroscie nce\, Karolinska Institutet. Ole Kiehn earned his medical degree from the University of Copenhagen in and his Doctorate of Science from the same ins titution. He conducted his postdoctoral work at Cornell University before returning to the University of Copenhagen as a group leader at the Institu te of Neurophysiology. In 2001\, he was recruited to Karolinska Institutet \, where he became a professor in 2004. Since 2017\, he has held a positio n as a professor at the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Co penhagen.Kiehn’s published more than 120 papers in journals including Na ture\, Nature Neuroscience\, Cell\, PNAS\, Science and Neuron among others . His research focuses on understanding the molecular\, cellular\, and fun ctional organization of motor circuitries in mammals. His work has uncover ed spinal circuits in mammals that control the ability to produce and coor dinate locomotor movements\, as well as brainstem command pathways that re gulate the expression of movement in a context-dependent manner. His work links these brainstem circuits to motor circuits in the basal ganglia\, an d higher brain area. It provides novel insights into the role of brain cir cuits in the manifestation of motor disorders\, like Parkinsons Disease.Ki ehn has served or serve on distinguished evaluation committees\, including the Nobel Committee in Physiology or Medicine\, the Brain Prize Committee and The Novo Nordisk Prize Committee. He is the currently the President o f the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies. His research has been recognized with numerous honors\, including the Torsten and Ragnar Söder berg's Professorship\, The Novo Nordisk Laureate Program\, The Lundbeck Fo undation Professorship\, Advanced ERC grants\, the Schellenberg Prize\, th e Kirsten and Freddy Johansen Preclinical Prize\, and the Brain Prize 2022 . He is an elected member of Academia Europaea\, EMBO\, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science\, and The Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Ole Kiehn: Unraveling Circuits for Movement: Insights into Gait Mot or Control and Implications for Treatment for Parkinsonian Gait Disorders URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5794 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1773154800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260310T160000 DTEND:20260310T170000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: János Pach\nhosted by Matthew Kwan\nAbstract: The cro ssing number cr(G) of a graph G\, is defined as the smallest number of crossing points between the edges of G in the best drawing of G in the plane. There is another\, equally natural\, parameter: the pair-crossing number\, denoted by pair-cr(G). This is the smallest number of crossing p airs of edges in an optimal drawing. Obviously\, we have pair-cr(G)≤cr( G)\, for every graph G. But are these two numbers always equal?  LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:János Pach: The crossing number conundrum URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6332 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1773158400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260310T170000 DTEND:20260310T180000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Matthew Jenssen\nhosted by Matthew Kwan\nAbstract: Abs tract:The classical sphere packing problem asks: what is the densest possi ble arrangement of identical\, non-overlapping spheres in Euclidean space? Over the past century\, sphere packings have been intensely studied by ma thematicians\, physicists and computer scientists alike. The interaction b etween these perspectives has been remarkably fruitful\, yielding new insi ghts into the nature of packings and many related problems. In this talk I will survey these viewpoints\, discuss recent advances\, and highlight co nnections to combinatorics along the way.  LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Matthew Jenssen: Perspectives on Sphere Packing URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6310 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6993268eef1f6760206996@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260311T110000 DTEND:20260311T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Matthijs de Jong\nhosted by Johannes Fink\nAbstract: T he Casimir force follows from quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field and yields a nonlinear attractive force between closely spaced condu ctive objects. Its magnitude depends on the conductivity of the objects up to optical frequencies. Measuring the Casimir force between superconducto rs should allow to isolate frequency-specific contributions to the Casimir effect\, as frequencies below the superconducting gap energy are expected to contribute differently than those above it. There is significant inter est in this contribution as it is suspected to contribute to an unexplaine d discrepancy between predictions and measurements of the Casimir force be tween normal metals\, which questions the basic principles on which estima tes of the magnitude are based. We have observed the Casimir force between superconducting objects through the nonlinear dynamics it imparts to a su perconducting drum resonator in a microwave optomechanical system. There i s excellent agreement between the experiment and Casimir force magnitude f or this device across three orders of magnitude of displacement. Furthermo re\, the Casimir nonlinearity is intense enough that\, with a modified des ign\, this device type should operate in the single-phonon nonlinear regim e. Accessing this regime has been a long-standing goal that would greatly facilitate quantum operations of mechanical resonators. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:swiddman@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Matthijs de Jong: Measurement of the Casimir force between supercon ductors URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6294 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:665dbdca8de8d819167394@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260312T130000 DTEND:20260312T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Xujia Chen\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: I will g ive an introduction of what the Fulton-MacPherson compactified configurati on spaces are\, and how people use them to study embedding spaces between manifolds (for example\, the space of knots\, or diffeomorphism groups). In the second part\, I will talk about some generalization of configuratio n spaces.  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Xujia Chen: Configuration spaces\, their usage\, and a generalizati on URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6340 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:69a04ff97f19f809141205@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260312T133000 DTEND:20260312T143000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Antoine El-Hayek\nAbstract: In population protocols\, n different agents\, which one can think of as tiny mobile computers with limited memory\, run an algorithm to try and solve a particular problem\, using pairwise interactions. Consider the relative majority problem: each agent is given an opinion among k many\, the agents have to compute the op inion that is the most represented. In this talk\, we will run an algorith m that solves the relative majority problem: I will ask each of you to pla y the role of an agent\, and we will run the algorithm collectively and ch aotically. Expect to move around\, interact with each other\, and not do a lot of sitting down. This will show how stable this surprising algorithm is to different parameters\, including human error. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room G (I24.EG.030g)\, IST A ORGANIZER:achaturv@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Antoine El-Hayek: Interactive TCS Seminar URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6339 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1773657000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260316T113000 DTEND:20260316T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Sergiu Pasca\nhosted by Simon Hippenmeyer\nAbstract: A critical challenge in understanding the programs underlying the developme nt\, assembly and dysfunction of the human brain is the lack of direct acc ess to intact\, functioning human brain tissue for direct investigation an d manipulation. In this talk\, I will describe efforts in my laboratory to build functional cellular models and to capture previously inaccessible a spects of human brain development and dysfunction. To achieve this\, we ha ve pioneered the use of instructive signals to derive\, from pluripotent  stem cells\, self-organizing 3D tissue structures called regionalized neu ral organoids that resembles domains of the developing central nervous sys tem. We have shown that these cultures\, such as the ones resembling the c erebral cortex\, thalamus or spinal cord\, recapitulate many features of n eural development\, can be derived with high reliability across dozens of cell lines and experiments\, and can be maintained for years in vitro to c apture advanced stages of neural and glial maturation and function. To mod el complex cell-cell interactions\, we developed assembloids and demonst rated their use in modeling cell migration\, formation of neural circuits  and disease processes. To advance maturation and circuit integration of organoids\, we introduced a transplantation paradigm and demonstrated that engrafted human neurons can respond to sensory stimulation in the animal and can drive reward-seeking behavior therefore enabling behavioral readou ts from patient-derived cells. Lastly\, I will illustrate how these metho ds can be combined with modern neuroscience tools to study neuropsychiatri c disorders and develop therapeutics. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Sergiu Pasca: Putting the Pieces Together: Inception of Human Neura l Circuits in Assembloids URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5960 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1773738000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260317T100000 DTEND:20260317T110000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Mirza Baig\nhosted by Julia Reisenbauer\nAbstract: Blo ckchains enable distributed consensus in permissionless settings\, where p articipants are unknown\, dynamically changing\, and do not trust each oth er. While Bitcoin\, based on Proof-of-Work (PoW)\, was the first protocol in this model\, significant research has focused on permissionless protoco ls using alternative physical resources\, specifically Proof-of-Space (PoS pace) and Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs). This thesis investigates the theoretical limits and design space of longest-chain protocols in the full y permissionless and dynamically available settings using these three reso urces. First\, we address the feasibility of blockchains relying solely on storage as a resource. We prove a fundamental impossibility result: there exists no secure longest-chain protocol based exclusively on Proof-of-Spa ce in the fully permissionless or dynamically available settings. Further\ , we quantify the adversarial capabilities required to execute a double-sp end attack. Our result formally justifies the necessity of coupling PoSpac e with time-dependent primitives (such as VDFs) or to move to less permiss ive settings (quasi-permissionless or permissioned) to ensure security.Sec ond\, we generalize Nakamoto-like heaviest chain consensus to protocols ut ilizing combinations of multiple physical resources. We analyze chain sele ction rules governed by a weight function Γ(S\, V\,W)\, which assigns wei ght to blocks based on recorded Space (S)\, VDF speed (V )\, and Work (W). We provide a complete classification of secure weight functions\, proving that a weight function is secure against private double-spend attacks if and only if it is homogeneous in the timed resources (V\,W) and sub-homoge neous in S. This framework unifies existing protocols like Bitcoin and Chi a under a single theoretical model and provides a powerful tool for design ing new longest-chain blockchains from a mix of physical resources. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room C (I24.EG.030c) and Z oom\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Mirza Baig: Thesis Defense: On Secure Chain Selection Rules from Ph ysical Resources in a Permissionless Setting URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6331 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1773741600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260317T110000 DTEND:20260317T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Selim Jochim\nhosted by Julian Léonard\nAbstract: Sta rting from a highly degenerate Fermi gas of atoms\, we distill quantum sta tes of few atoms by exquisite control of the number of bound states in an optical tweezer potential. In this way we obtain close to pure quantum sta tes of up to 42 atoms. While such systems have a lot of similarities with the electrons in an atom\, or nucleons in a nucleus\, the tunability of g eometry and interactions\, combined with versatile manipulation and detect ion capabilities offer unprecedented insights. For example\, measuring all momenta or positions of the atoms in a spin resolved way allows us to det ermine correlations\, such as those that define Cooper pairs. In our ques t to gain better control and diagnostics\, were are currently working on n ew manipulation techniques that respect the symmetry of our systems: As fi rst steps\, we learned how to manipulate angular momentum eigenstates\, an d could engineer correlated states of two atoms that are described by the Laughlin wave function.It is our vision to be able to measure and manipula te the motional state of each atom\, including the angular momentum.As fur ther progress is pushing the frontiers of our experimental capabilities\, we have designed a new modular platform that allows to quickly exchange in dividual building blocks. Each module can be characterized and validated o ffline on a test bench. We will report our first experience with this new setup.  LOCATION:Office Building West/Ground Floor/Heinzel Seminar Room\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Selim Jochim: "Manipulating and probing many-body quantum states - atom by atom" URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6138 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6687bf08e3e62490445508@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260317T161500 DTEND:20260317T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Diwakar Naidu\nhosted by Robert Seiringer\nAbstract: I will talk about the momentum distribution of an interacting Fermi gas on a three dimensional torus in mean field regime in a trial state that repro duces the Gell-Mann-Brueckner prediction for the correlation energy for Co ulomb potential. We show that the momentum distribution is a step function corrected by the random phase approximation as predicted by Bohm-Pines fo r a class of potentials including the Coulomb potential. The key tool for deriving the distribution is a rigorous bosonization method. The expressio n for the momentum distribution contains the contributions of collective e xcitations above the Fermi-surface going beyond the precision of Hartree-F ock theory. This improves the result by Benedikter-Lill by being valid a l arger class of potentials and for momenta closer to the Fermi surface.  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Diwakar Naidu: Momentum distribution of a Fermi gas with Coulomb in teraction in Random Phase approximation URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6289 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68de4989513e0953257350@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260318T123000 DTEND:20260318T141500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Guanchen Peng\nhosted by Onur Hosten\nAbstract: Altern ating the propagation direction of the Raman light (k-reversal) has been e ssential for implementing traditional large momentum transfer (LMT) for a Raman atom interferometer\, where a series of light pulses are used to per form both /2-pulse and -pulse. In this talk\, I will present our method of performing LMT without k-reversal [1]. We use microwave /2-pulse and Rama n -pulse to perform LMT\, which uses the same principle as shown in the or iginal Spin-Dependent-Kick interferometer [2]. However\, we applied an add itional microwave pulse in the middle of the interferometer sequence to r everse the spin states\, which allows closing of the interferometer arms b y the same Raman light -pulses without k-reversal. I will present a proof- of-principle demonstration of a 4hk atom interferometer and discuss its sc alability to 4Nhk. I will discuss the complicated feature due to the non-u nity fidelity of Raman pulses. I will also comment on the connection betwe en our scheme and the Bragg atom optics. [1] G. Peng \, B. Lanigan \, R. S hah \, J. Lim \, A. Kaushik \, J. P. Cotter \, E. A. Hinds \, and B. E. Sa uer\, Large momentum transfer Raman atom interferometer without k-reversal \, Phys. Rev. Res. 7\, L032045 (2025) [2] M. Jaffe\, V. Xu\, P. Haslinger\ , H. Mller\, and P. Hamilton\, Efficient adiabatic spin-dependent kicks in an atom interferometer\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121\, 040402 (2018). LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room G (I24.EG.030g)\, IST A ORGANIZER:swiddman@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Guanchen Peng: Large momentum transfer Raman atom interferometer wi thout k-reversal AND Common Scientific Meeting URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6218 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68776e696ce62156687372@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260319T110000 DTEND:20260319T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Thomas Salez\nhosted by Jérémie Palacci\nAbstract: C olloidal motions near complex boundaries are ubiquitous in fundamental phy sics and biology\, as well as in industrial applications. This class of pr oblems invariably involves the intricate coupling between confined fluid f lows\, soft boundaries\, charges\, external forces and fluctuations. Using a combination of interferometric microscopy and advanced statistical infe rence\, we address such a coupling in two main situations. First\, we cons ider the Brownian motion of a rigid particle near a rigid wall. All the ke y statistical-physics observables are reconstructed with high precision\, allowing for nanoscale resolution of local mobilities and femtonewton infe rence of conservative and nonconservative forces. Furthermore\, we charact erize the displacement non-Gaussianities induced by the flow boundary cond ition at the wall\, and their drastic consequences on target-finding dynam ics. Then\, we investigate the Brownian motion of soft micrometric oil dro plets near rigid walls. The analysis reveals the existence of a novel\, tr ansient but large\, soft-Brownian force. The latter might be of importance for microbiological and nanophysical transport\, as well as for chemical reactions in crowded environments and hence the whole life machinery. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Thomas Salez: Brownian motion near complex interfaces URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6356 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:665dbdca8ef85833342691@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260319T131500 DTEND:20260319T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Quan Situ\nhosted by Xujia Chen & Tamás Hausel\nAbstr act: The center of a category is an important invariant. In 1990 Soergel s tudied the center of each block of BGG category O\, and established an alg ebra isomorphism to the singular cohomology ring of certain (partial) flag variety. In this talk\, we will consider an analogue of BGG category O fo r quantum groups at roots of unity\, which involves the so called hybrid ( or mixed) quantum group. We show that the center of each block is isomorph ic to the singular cohomology ring of certain (partial) affine flag variet y. The first half of this talk will be devoted to review Soergels result. In the second half\, we will introduce the quantum category O and discuss our result on its center. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Quan Situ: Center of quantum category O and cohomology of affine fl ag varieties URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6329 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1774011600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260320T140000 DTEND:20260320T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Tobias Kleinhanns\nhosted by Jorryt Matthee\nAbstract: Thermoelectric (TE) technology directly converts between heat and electri city\, enabling both waste heat harvesting and localized cooling applicati ons. Yet\, TE technology remains limited to niche applications\, mostly du e to high fabrication costs\, and lower efficiencies compared to other ene rgy conversion technologies. Solution processing provides a scalable and c heaper route than conventional solid-state methods\, potentially enabling the broader adoption of TE technology. Beyond its cost benefits\, solution processing uniquely allows the synthesis of well-defined nanocrystal buil ding blocks\, translating nanoscale defect control into bulk structures. S uch microstructure engineering across length scales allows rational optimi zation of the TE performance. This thesis explores defect engineering of s olution-processed silver selenide (Ag2Se)\, with focus on compositional an d microstructural control for enhanced TE performance\, specifically throu gh thiol-amine based synthesis and post-synthetic treatment using polyanio nic CdSe complexes. The material library was extended to lead selenide (Pb Se)\, whose TE performance was optimized through chlorine (Cl) doping from functionalized two-dimensional titanium carbides (MXenes). LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room B (I23.EG.102) \, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Tobias Kleinhanns: Thesis Defense: Unraveling the Origin and Evolut ion of Defects to Enable Advanced Thermoelectric Performance URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6341 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:69941a4daa95e421953637@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260323T110000 DTEND:20260323T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Aaradhya Pandey\nhosted by Marco Mondelli\nAbstract: I n this talk\, I introduce a hypothesis-testing-based formulation of differ ential privacy in classical computation. The Gaussian Differential Privacy framework of Dong--Roth--Su (2022) established a central limit theorem fo r the composition of multiple private mechanisms. Building on this work\, I present a Poisson extension of their result and show that both the Gauss ian and Poisson limits are unified under a broader framework of infinitely divisible privacy. This perspective reveals structural connections betwee n differential privacy\, probability theory\, statistics\, and discrete ma thematics. I conclude by discussing computational differential privacy and its connections to cryptographic constructions such as pseudorandom gener ators\, as well as a step toward quantizing privacy in quantum computation \, outlining a framework for both computational and quantum differential p rivacy. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:jdeanton@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Aaradhya Pandey: Information\, Computation\, &\; Quantization: I nfinitely divisible privacy and beyond URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6299 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1774261800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260323T113000 DTEND:20260323T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Thomas Lecuit\nhosted by Edouard Hannezo\nAbstract: Ho w complex and reproducible cell shapes emerge from the interplay between d eterministic programs and stochastic dynamics remains unclear. Using high- resolution in vivo imaging\, quantitative analysis\, cytoskeletal pertur bations and modelling\, we examine the morphogenesis of dendritic arborisa tions in two classes of Drosophila mechanosensory neurons with contrasti ng architectures. Despite sharing similar local rules for the stochastic b ranching dynamics\, the two classes follow divergent growth dynamics that cannot be captured by standard diffusive growth models. Instead\, class-I dendritic branch dynamics are subdiffusive\, and a minimal model that dist inguishes short and long-term branch behaviors recapitulates most features of growth dynamics and final morphologies. Cytoskeletal perturbations rev eal that actin drives short-term branch fluctuations that power arbor expa nsion\, whereas microtubules stabilize branches\, modulate diffusivity and set the final arbor size and pattern. Together\, these findings establish a parsimonious\, generalizable model for neuronal morphogenesis and conne ct local cytoskeletal regulation to global neuronal architecture\, showing how information encoded in the branch stochastic dynamics underlies the e mergence of distinct neuronal shapes. LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Thomas Lecuit: Encoding Neuronal Shape in the Stochastic Dynamics o f Branching Processes URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5714 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6687bf08e3e68685081225@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260324T161500 DTEND:20260324T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Michiel De Wilde\nhosted by Robert Seiringer\nAbstract : Allow an ideal Bose gas to have any boundary condition. What kind of con densates are possible in the thermodynamic limit? We show that a suitable sequence of boundary conditions for the Laplacian features the appearance of an arbitrary number of condensates\, described by arbitrary harmonic fu nctions. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Michiel De Wilde: Arbitrary harmonic functions as Bose-Einstein con densates URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6359 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:69a9b2967650f821985802@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260326T113000 DTEND:20260326T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Bardiya Aryanfard\nAbstract: In the continual observat ion model of differential privacy\, problems are generally considered easy if they admit an additive error polylogarithmic in the stream length T an d the universe size n. Conversely\, problems that require additive error p olynomial in n and T are considered difficult. Recently\, Raskhodikova and Steiner (PODS 25) proved polynomial lower bounds on the additive error of many graph problems under fully dynamic edge differential privacy. This r aises a natural question: are these problems difficult even in the inserti ons-only model\, or does their hardness arise strictly from the fully dyna mic setting?We show that for many problems\, the former is true. We prove polynomial lower bounds for a variety of these problems (e.g.\, maximum ma tching) in the insertions-only setting. We then extend our techniques to t he problem of estimating all symmetric norms simultaneously (SNE)\, provid ing the first polynomial lower bound for this problem.Based on joint work with Monika Henzinger\, David Saulpic\, and A. R. Sricharan (https://arxiv .org/abs/2512.15981\, to appear in PODS 26) LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room C (I24.EG.030c)\, IST A ORGANIZER:achaturv@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Bardiya Aryanfard: TCS Seminar - Improved Lower Bounds for Privacy under Continual Release URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6369 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:665dbdca90071525382795@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260326T131500 DTEND:20260326T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Volodymyr Mazorchuk\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: In the first half  of the talk\, I will give a general introduction to t he so-called Kostant's problem for Lie algebra modules\, as formulated by Joseph in 1980.In the second half\, I will discuss a few recent results on this problem for  simple  highest weight modules and related properties of Kazhdan-Lusztig combinatorics. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Volodymyr Mazorchuk: Kostant's problem for highest weight modules URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6259 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1774863000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260330T113000 DTEND:20260330T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Floris van Doorn\nhosted by Matthew Kwan\nAbstract: Le an is a proof assistant which has a large mathematical library containing results from most areas of mathematics. It contains a good foundation to verify current research problems in various areas of mathematics\, and en ables new collaborative projects.In this talk I will give an overview of L ean and its mathematical library Mathlib\, and describe some of the exciti ng formalization projects in this area. In particular\, I will describe a recently finished project formalizing a generalization of Carleson's 196 6 theorem in harmonic analysis\, about the pointwise convergence of Fourie r series. This is a major result in harmonic analysis with a difficult pr oof\, and this result has been fully verified in Lean. The formalization was a large collaborative project with 17 main contributors. LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Floris van Doorn: Lean: Collaboration Using Formalization URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5761 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:69c13bfcda1b2375724544@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260401T140000 DTEND:20260401T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Vishwesha Guttal\nhosted by Vasudha Kulkarni\, Sylvia Cremer\nAbstract: Biological systems are fundamentally shaped by stochasti city. In my talk\, I will demonstrate the key role of intrinsic noise\, wh ich are fluctuations arising from inherent probabilistic nature of biologi cal interactions and are amplified in finite systems. First\, I will demon strate\, using both theory and empirical data\, how noise can shape order in small to intermediate-sized fish schools. Next\, I will show how noise can inform us about the underlying ecological dynamics. Finally\, I will s how theoretically how the stochasticity of finite populations can exhibit counter-intuitive dynamics on both ecological and evolutionary time scales . LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 3\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:vkulkarn@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Vishwesha Guttal: The role of intrinsic noise in biological systems : from animal groups to populations to evolution URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6372 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:698aeafda7e08601921534@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260401T150000 DTEND:20260401T163000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: David Taylor\nhosted by Prof. Jack Bravo\nAbstract: CR ISPRCas9s clinical utility is constrained by strict PAM requirements and t he inability to package large nucleases into AAV vectors. We engineered a modular Cas9\, split into a nuclease scaffold and an exchangeable PAM-inte racting domain (PID). This architecture enables one scaffold to function w ith multiple PIDs\, allowing ultra-multiplexing and simple PID swapping to target all disease-relevant loci. Guided by cryo-EM\, we identified funct ional split sites\, validated activity with a GFP reporter assay\, and res tored fast cleavage kinetics using intein-mediated ligation. Exchanging PI Ds broadened PAM compatibility significantly\, with several split chimeras achieving robust editing across any site in human cells. This precision n uclease system offers a compact\, PAM-flexible platform that fits within a single AAV and establishes a path toward versatile\, clinical genome-edit ing therapies. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:jbravo@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:David Taylor: "\;Reengineering CRISPR-Cas effectors"\; URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6321 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6847fefd4a140502881795@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260401T153000 DTEND:20260401T163000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Marc Lackenby\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös & Uli Wagner\nA bstract: In his final paper in 1954\, Alan Turing wrote No systematic meth od is yet known by which one can tell whether two knots are the same.' Wit hin the next 20 years\, Wolfgang Haken and Geoffrey Hemion had discovered such a method. However\, the computational complexity of this problem rema ins unknown. In my talk\, I will give a survey on this area\, that draws o n the work of many low-dimensional topologists and geometers. Unfortunatel y\, the current upper bounds on the computational complexity of the knot e quivalence problem remain quite poor. However\, there are some recent resu lts indicating that\, perhaps\, knots are more tractable than they first s eem. Specifically\, I will explain a theorem that provides\, for each knot type K\, a polynomial p_K with the property that any two diagrams of K wi th n_1 and n_2 crossings differ by at most p_K(n_1) + p_K(n_2) Reidemeiste r moves. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Marc Lackenby: The complexity of knots URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6328 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:69c0fcd2533c8436387966@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260403T110000 DTEND:20260403T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Christian Santangelo\nhosted by Scott Waitukaitis\nAbs tract: The materials of biology\, from sharkskin to cartilage to wood\, re gularly out-perform their synthetic equivalents. Organisms can achieve thi s because their materials have precise geometric structures that endow the m with tailored mechanical properties that can often be changed in situ. I t has recently become possible to fabricate comparable structures through 3D printing\, but we still seem to understand little about how geometry an d mechanics are intertwined. This talk will discuss why this is a hard pro blem (NP-hard actually)\, and highlight new work by my group and collabora tors that are starting to unveil new connections between geometry and mech anics. This new understanding has allowed us to design materials that can change their mechanical properties\, changing from rigid to floppy due to the imposition of internal stresses\, and sheds light on the flexibility o f shells and other structures. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room F (I24.EG.030f)\, IST A ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Christian Santangelo: How geometry and topology make materials rigi d or floppy URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6375 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1775646000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260408T130000 DTEND:20260408T140000 DESCRIPTION:hosted by Pavol Harar\nAbstract: Dear colleagues\, let's talk a bout cryoEM/ET! Again!Registration: https://luma.com/sj5avat7 Intranet: h ttps://intranet.ista.ac.at/content/perma?id=180240 It is our pleasure to invite you to the next CryoCoffee—a casual\, one-hour meetup (quarterly) for anyone at ISTA interested in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM)\, cry o-electron tomography (cryo-ET)\, or related topics. Whether you work dire ctly with these techniques\, develop computational methods\, tackle invers e problems\, or are simply curious\, this is an opportunity to connect wit h others\, exchange ideas\, and find potential collaborations. We will be happy to welcome biologists\, mathematicians\, computer scientists\, physi cists\, chemists\, and basically anyone interested in cryo. More info in t he registration link.The program includes a short talk followed by a Mini Poster session to share fresh ideas—not finished projects.This is a perf ect opportunity to get early feedback from colleagues. Consider signing up for the casual A4 poster\, it is a great ice breaker that sparks fruitful discussions. LOCATION:ErrorBar (Downtown)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Pavol.Harar@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:5th CryoCoffee on 08th April 1PM in ErrorBar (Downtown) URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6355 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68776fd7287fd077847583@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260409T110000 DTEND:20260409T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Martin van Hecke\nhosted by Scott Waitukaitis\nAbstrac t: Memory effects probe the complexity of disordered matter and its fundam ental constituents and interactions. While models based on independent ele ments capture generic memories\, interactions are predicted to produce man y interaction-induced memories which so far have been observed in artifici al systems only. Here we reveal that archetypical disordered materials - p olycrystalline alloys\, crumpled sheets\, and steel wool - store multiple memories that strengthen with repeated cycling - in stark contrast to pred ictions for non-interacting systems. Interacting-based models capture our observations and predict a cascade of interaction-induced memory motifs\, including the dominant one observed here. Our results reveal hitherto hidd en complexity in disordered media\, opening a fresh route towards the obse rvation\, modeling and utilization of interaction-induced memories\, inclu ding for in-materia computing. LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 2\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Martin van Hecke: Interaction-Induced Memories Reveal the Complexit y of Disordered Matter URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6380 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:69b2997d0b482398218529@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260409T113000 DTEND:20260409T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Frederik Mallmann-Trenn\nAbstract: The strong lottery ticket hypothesis (SLTH) posits that\, for any given target network\, a su fficiently large randomly initialized neural network contains a subnetwork whose inputoutput behavior can approximate that target. This viewpoint su ggests an alternative paradigm for model design: rather than adjusting par ameters through training\, we can search for effective subnetworks by prun ing. In this talk\, I will introduce the SLTH and discuss several pruning approaches. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room A / 27 seats (I23. EG.102)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:achaturv@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Frederik Mallmann-Trenn: TCS Seminar - On the Strong Lottery Ticket Hypothesis URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6397 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:665dbdca92263894233087@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260409T133000 DTEND:20260409T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jochen Heinloth\nhosted by Xujia Chen & Tamas Hausel\n Abstract: The talk will be an extension of a preparational talk in the Fri day-Bourbaki seminar\, with only aim to give some background on the geomet ric Langlands correspondence.The question started out with an arithmetic q uestion and part of the recent progress has relied on a very fruitful exch ange of ideas between arithmetic and geometric perspectives\, that finally allowed Gaitsgory and Raskin to deduce results for the original correspon dence in the case of function fields from an abstract looking categorical result. It is quite beautiful that the abstract looking statement can be u sed to deduce a classical statement on automorphic functions.The different settings involved mean that if you either like arithmetic questions or co mplex geometry you might appreciate some aspects of this and I will try to explain some of the more elementary ideas that serve as starting point to translate between these languages. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jochen Heinloth: Some background on the geometric Langlands corresp ondence URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6272 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1776072600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260413T113000 DTEND:20260413T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Giousef Alexandros Charinti & Antoine El-Hayek\nhosted by Jeroen Dobbelaere\nAbstract: Experimental research across all fields i s increasingly incorporating computing to analyze large datasets\, model m olecular dynamics\, and use AI models to identify new patterns. Whereas 10 years ago these approaches were largely limited to computer scientists\, today virtually every scientific discipline relies on computing on a daily basis. This evolution has been further accelerated by recent developments in the AI field\, which have made computing more accessible and easier to apply across different areas of research.Since experimental research alre ady has a substantial environmental footprint\, primarily from equipment and consumables\, we aimed to assess the environmental footprint of c omputing at ISTA.Mapping the use of scientific computing at ISTA\, includ ing data storage and external services\, allowed us to calculate both ener gy consumption and material footprint. Although most laboratories use scie ntific computing\, usage can vary significantly depending on the type of p roject\, leading to big asymmetries in demand. In addition to active com puting\, data storage accounts for a considerable share of the overall foo tprint. External computing services were also analyzed and are increasin gly used\, largely driven by the adoption of AI tools. We present a first estimate of the ISTA AI footprint and identify the tools most commonly use d. Although a fast-changing environment\, proper and responsible use of c omputing resources will be essential to ensure that research remains susta inable and fit for the future. LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Giousef Alexandros Charinti & Antoine El-Hayek: Environmental Footp rint of Computing\; How is ISTA Doing? URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6333 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1776081600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260413T140000 DTEND:20260413T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ksenia Khudiakova\nhosted by Mikhail Lemeshko\nAbstrac t: This Ph.D. thesis investigates how different forms of selection shape g enetic diversity in a constant environment that has led to evolutionary eq uilibrium. We progress from a non-epistatic case to increasingly complex m odels of epistasis and rely on stochastic and deterministic theory togethe r with simulations.We first show that in the non-epistatic case\, and in a n asexual population\, weak purifying selection leads to multiple-merger g enealogies\, and that the transition in genealogical properties coincides with the onset of Muller’s ratchet.Then\, we apply a result from discret e Morse theory to prove that adding each next fitness peak to the landscap e requires at least one additional special pairwise interaction between lo ci\, called reciprocal sign epistasis.We then show that reciprocal sign ep istasis can extend the diversity-promoting effects of balancing selection and delineate the parameter conditions under which this effect is expected to occur.Finally\, we demonstrate how epistasis that arises under stabili zing selection amplifies the effects of random genetic drift by causing th e selection coefficients of mutations to fluctuate through interactions wi th the changing genetic background.Together\, these results show that non- epistatic purifying selection reduces genetic diversity relative to neutra lity\, and that once Muller’s ratchet starts operating\, this reduction cannot be captured by any simple rescaling of Kingman’s coalescent. On a n epistatic fitness landscape\, reciprocal sign epistasis is a key ingredi ent for generating multiple fitness peaks\, and it substantially alters wi thin-population dynamics at evolutionary equilibrium by extending the dive rsity-maintaining effects of balancing selection and driving temporal chan ges in selection coefficients. This Ph.D. thesis thus advances our underst anding of how epistasis shapes genetic diversity and evolutionary dynamics in populations at equilibrium. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room B (I23.EG.102) and Zoom\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Ksenia Khudiakova: Thesis Defense: How epistasis and purifying sele ction shape genetic diversity URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6399 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1776157200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260414T110000 DTEND:20260414T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Elena Hassinger\nhosted by Kimberly Modic\nAbstract: A bstract:Superconductors with non-trivial pairing symmetries expand our und erstanding of correlated quantum matter and show promise for applications in quantum computing. Odd-parity superconductivity is interesting in this regard due to its robustness to magnetic field and possible topological su rface states. The phenomenon only occurs in a few materials\, the most rec ognised cases of which are strongly correlated uranium-based systems with weak ferromagnetism. Another candidate is CeRh2As2\, which exhibits a magn etic-field-induced transition between two superconducting phases\, current ly understood as states of even- and odd-parity pairing. Here\, the odd-pa rity pairing is thought to be stabilisied not by ferromagnetism\, but by t he staggered Rashba spin-orbit interaction caused by the absence of invers ion symmetry at the Ce sites. Since the tetragonal crystal structure is ce ntrosymmetric\, states of distinct parity are allowed [1\,2]. But the supe rconductivity is not the only mystery of CeRh2As2. Similarly to other unco nventional superconductors\, the material hosts a coexisting weak ordered state that can be suppressed by pressure [3-5]. Although the order paramet er is not fully identified\, internal magnetic fields are evidenced by NMR /NQR [6] and muSR [7] measurements. Intriguingly\, the transition temperat ure decreases with the out-of-plane field\, but increases strongly with th e in-plane field\, which is hard to reconcile with a simple magnetic order but can be explained by considering quadrupolar degrees of freedom [3\,8] . This unconventional magnetic state and its role for superconductivity ar e currently in the focus of research on this compound. In my talk\, I will highlight experimental results from macroscopic and microscopic measureme nts under different tuning parameters such as pressure and magnetic field\ , each nurturing our current understanding of the fascinating properties o f CeRh2As2.  References [1] S. Khim & J. Landaeta et al.\, Science 373\ , 1012–1016 (2021). [2] J. Landaeta et al.\, Phys. Rev. X 12\, 031001 ( 2022). [3] D. Hafner et al.\, Phys. Rev. X 12\, 011023 (2022). [4] M. Pf eiffer et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133\, 126506 (2024). [5] K. Semeniuk et al.\, Phys. Rev. B 110\, L100504 (2024). [6] M. Kibune et al.\, Phys. Rev . Lett. 128\, 057002 (2022).[7] S. Khim et al.\, Phys. Rev. B 111\, 11513 4 (2025).[8] B. Schmidt and P. Thalmeier\, Phys. Rev. B 110\, 075154 (202 4).  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Elena Hassinger: Mysteries of the two-phase superconductor CeRh2As2 URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6209 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68dd5c2f40cb0196725380@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260414T110000 DTEND:20260414T130000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Prof. Dr. Olga Sorkine-Hornung\nhosted by Samara Ren\n Abstract: Textile materials are ubiquitous in traditional manufacturing\, and many everyday objectsmost notably garments and footwearare made of fab ric. Fabrication with textiles supplies a plethora of interesting mathemat ical and engineering problems of high importance and impact in the real wo rld\, given that textile and fashion are one of the largest industries and contributes significantly to global economy and environmental conditions. Taking the perspective of geometry processing and computer graphics\, in this talk I will discuss the interplay between the 2D nature of fabric and the goals of 3D shape modeling with such material\, focusing primarily on garment design and fabrication. I will discuss the exciting role geometri c computing can play in this domain and present some recent work of my res earch group that touches on theoretical and applied aspects of woven fabri c modeling\, garment construction and textile based fabrication. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:akeri@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Prof. Dr. Olga Sorkine-Hornung: Computational modeling and fabricat ion with textiles URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6364 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:699c104cded21642660514@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260415T110000 DTEND:20260415T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Filippo Conforto\nhosted by Andela Saric\nAbstract: Th e activity and organisation of DNA in the cell are highly regulated by sev eral proteins\, such as topoisomerases and Structural Maintenance of Chrom osomes (SMCs)\, which are involved in topological regulation by resolving crossings between DNA strands or creating loops within chromatin. While we have rich knowledge about the impact of these proteins on the cell's func tion\, the rheological\, i.e.\, flow properties\, which affect the capacit y of DNA to reorganise and respond to stimuli\, are still poorly understoo d.In this talk\, I will investigate the viscous and elastic properties of dense DNA solutions under the effect of SMCs and the formation of gels thr ough DNA ligation. Specifically\, I show how SMCs modulate in silico and i n vitro the rheological properties both through the extrusion of loops and the creation of transient crosslinks between DNA strands. Additionally\, I investigate how DNA can be used to create percolating networks of linked rings. These DNA networks\, called "Olympic Gels''\, differ from classic transiently linked gels by the presence of permanent topological links. I show that through progressive ligation it is possible to create materials with tuneable viscoelastic properties\, which can be controlled by choosin g the length of ring and linear DNA strands used in the gel formation. Thi s work contributes to a better understanding of how proteins naturally con tained in the cell affect the topology\, structure\, and rheology of entan gled DNA\, and will help guide the design of new biomaterials inspired by the properties of DNA. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room A / 27 seats (I23. EG.102)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:mmunozba@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Filippo Conforto: Modulating the flow of entangled DNA with topolog ically active proteins URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6381 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1776338100@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260416T131500 DTEND:20260416T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Isabella Khan\nhosted by Xujia Chen\nAbstract: The Hee gaard Floer d-invariant is a numerical invariant of rational homology sphe res which is analogous to the Frøyshov h-invariant from Instanton theory. In this talk\, we use Zemke’s recent isomorphism between lattice Floer and Heegaard Floer homology to compute the d-invariant for all rational ho mology spheres which arise as negative definite plumbed manifolds\, verify ing a 20 year old conjecture of Némethi.  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Isabella Khan: The Heegaard Floer d-invariant for rational homology spheres URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6403 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1776672000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260420T100000 DTEND:20260420T110000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Eugenia Iofinova\nhosted by Samara Ren\nAbstract: As n eural-network-based models grow both in size and popularity\, interest has grown in making the models smaller and more efficient to train. To that e nd\, many methods have been proposed to prune models by reducing their num ber of nonzero parameters. Additionally\, parameter-efficient fine-tuning\ , in which a much smaller number of parameters than the total contained in the model is updated during training\, has become very popular\, especial ly in the space of Large Language Models. At the same time\, the increasin gly routine deployment of machine learning in real-world applications has spurred a drive to make them more trustworthy - in the sense of\, among ot her things\, being unbiased\, interpretable\, and editable. In this thesis \, we examine the interplay between efficiency and trustworthiness.First\, we analyze the effects of model pruning on bias in computer vision models \, demonstrating that increased sparsity leads to greater bias\, largely a s a function of increased model uncertainty in marginal cases. Based on th is observation\, we propose several bias mitigation techniques. Then\, we demonstrate that example-specific model pruning can improve model interpre tation methods while improving pruning efficiency to make example-specific model pruning feasible in real time. Then\, we investigate the effectiven ess of parameter-efficient and data-efficient model personalization via fi ne-tuning\, demonstrating that it is highly feasible with very small compu tational and data resources. Finally\, we consider efficiency in editing m odel knowledge using a custom synthetic data framework\, demonstrating tha t parameter-efficient\, low-rank fine-tuning frequently outperforms full-r ank fine-tuning\, and\, additionally\, restricting fine-tuning to specific model blocks frequently improves results. Together\, the results in this thesis provide new insights and techniques for combining trustworthiness a nd efficiency during neural network inference and training. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 ) and Zoom\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Eugenia Iofinova: Thesis Defense: On the Utility and Effects of Eff iciency in Artificial Neural Networks URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6391 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1776677400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260420T113000 DTEND:20260420T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Daniel Kronauer\nhosted by Lora Sweeney\nAbstract: The colonies of social insects are complex biological systems in which manifo ld interactions between individuals give rise to emergent properties that are adaptive at the group level. However\, most social insects cannot be p ropagated in captivity or genetically manipulated\, severely limiting the scope for experimentation. The Kronauer lab is developing and utilizing th e clonal raider ant\, Ooceraea biroi\, as a new model species that overcom es many of these limitations\, allowing them to study social dynamics and underlying mechanisms under controlled laboratory conditions. Their work h as led to a deeper understanding of how ants within a colony assume distin ct behavioral roles and efficiently divide labor\, how they communicate\, both as adults and across different developmental stages\, and how these i nteractions result in collective behavior. Additionally\, their research h as shed light on how evolution has repurposed and expanded genetic\, neura l\, and physiological mechanisms from solitary ancestors to produce highly social organisms. In this seminar\, Dr. Daniel Kronauer will provide an o verview of this work and discuss future directions in his research program aimed at understanding the evolution and organization of insect societies \, spanning from genes to neural circuits and behavior. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Daniel Kronauer: The Social Behavior of Ants URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5795 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1776679200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260420T120000 DTEND:20260421T160000 DESCRIPTION:hosted by Ludek Lovicar \nAbstract: 16th ASEM Workshop on Advan ced Electron MicroscopyWe are pleased to invite you to the 16th ASEM Wor kshop on Advanced Electron Microscopy\, the annual meeting of the Austria n Society for Electron Microscopy (ASEM) (https://asem.at/). This workshop serves as a platform for electron microscopists to exchange ideas\, discu ss recent advances\, and foster collaborations across disciplines.Research ers from life sciences\, materials science\, physics\, and chemistry – from both academia and industry – are warmly welcomed to participate an d share their expertise. As in previous years\, we place a strong emphasis on encouraging contributions from students and early-career scientists\, whose active participation is vital to the continued growth and innovatio n of our community.Thanks to the sponsors (https://asem-workshop-2026.pag es.ist.ac.at/sponsors/)\, the workshop is free of charge for all members o f the ASEM!There will be a Poster award (https://asem-workshop-2026.pages .ist.ac.at/registration/) and Image Competition (https://asem-workshop-2 026.pages.ist.ac.at/registration/) at the workshop.The ASEM offers grant to young scientists that cover travel and accommodation costs up to 200 €. More details can be found here (https://asem-workshop-2026.pages.ist .ac.at/wp-content/uploads/sites/352/2025/12/20251205_How-to-obtain-a-refun d-of-travel-costs.pdf).The official language of the ASEM Workshop is Engli sh. LOCATION:Moonstone Seminar Center (indoors and outdoors)\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:ASEM URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6325 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:69d4fd9cf30db116400989@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260423T110000 DTEND:20260423T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Beate Lichtenberger\nhosted by Florian Schur\nAbstract : Skin fibroblasts are central organizers of tissue architecture\, providi ng the structural framework of theskin while actively regulating its devel opment\, homeostasis\, and repair. Far from being a uniform cellpopulation \, fibroblasts comprise diverse subtypes with distinct spatial identities\ , functional programs\,and interactions with epithelial\, immune\, and vas cular cells. In this talk\, I will discuss how fibroblastdiversity shapes skin structure and physiology\, and how altered fibroblast states drive pa thologicalprocesses such as fibrosis and cancer. These findings position f ibroblasts as dynamic regulators of tissuefunction in both health and dise ase. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room F (I24.EG.030f)\, IST A ORGANIZER:jgazsi@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Beate Lichtenberger: Beyond Structural Support: Skin Fibroblasts as Dynamic Regulators of Tissue and Disease URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6404 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:665dbdca9443e835749719@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260423T131500 DTEND:20260423T151500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: David Hernandez\nhosted by Xujia Chen & Tamas Hausel\n Abstract: Shifted quantum groups emerged from the study of quantized Coulo mb branches (which are symplectic duals to quiver varieties). We show that the Grothendieck ring of the category O for the shifted quantum affine al gebras has the structure of a cluster algebra (jt work with Geiss and Lecl erc). This has several applications\, such as geometric character formulas for simple classes corresponding to cluster variables. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:David Hernandez: Shifted quantum groups\, cluster algebras and geom etric character formulas URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6363 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1777017600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260424T100000 DTEND:20260424T110000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Raffaele Coray\nhosted by Alicia Michael\nAbstract: Cr yo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) enables three-dimensional visualization o f macromolecular complexes in near-native conditions\, but analyzing these datasets remains challenging due to structural heterogeneity and the comp lexity of the sample context. I will present context-aware template matchi ng\, an approach that leverages sample features\, such as membranes and su pporting geometries\, to improve particle identification. I will illustrat e this method using retromer-coated membrane tubules\, showing how templat e matching\, in conjunction with subtomogram averaging\, neighborhood anal ysis\, and heterogeneity analysis\, can reveal distinct classes of arch ar rangements and global coating patterns. This example demonstrates how inco rporating contextual information can enhance structural interpretation\, p roviding a framework for studying complex membrane-associated assemblies i n cryo-ET datasets.  LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room G\, ISTA ORGANIZER:alicia.michael@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Raffaele Coray: Context-Aware Template Matching for Structural Anal ysis of Membrane-Assembled Retromer Coats URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6405 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1777042800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260424T170000 DTEND:20260424T230000 DESCRIPTION:hosted by Lange Nacht der Forschung\nAbstract: Curious about ho w scientists explore the world around us? Join us from 5:00 to 11:00 pm fo r an evening of discovery during the Long Night of Research. At our campus in Klosterneuburg near Vienna\, visitors of all ages are invited to step inside the world of research and experience science in a welcoming\, open- door atmosphere. Families\, school groups\, and anyone with a curious mind can explore interactive stations\, meet researchers\, and see how scienti fic ideas come to life.Across 14 interactive stations\, guests can enjoy h ands-on experiments\, short talks\, and engaging demonstrations. Highlight s include a lively Science Show filled with exciting chemistry experiments \, the AstroLab\, where visitors can explore stars and galaxies and even b uild a mini spectroscope\, and the colorful Rainbow Liquid Tower\, where l iquids stack to reveal the science of density. You can also test climate s trategies in the Hotspot Earth game\, investigate animal science at CSI Ve tmed\, or discover what birdsong can reveal about the origins of music. At the VISTA Science Experience Center\, explore the exhibition Science in t he Making\, join family activities\, and watch the film Encounters in the Milky Way. You can find more information about the program here: https:// langenachtderforschung.at/ausstellungsstandort/15 Take advantage of the f ree shuttle bus from Vienna Heiligenstadt and Tulln to ISTA\, or the addit ional event shuttle bus with the following times: (https://ista.ac.at/wp-c ontent/uploads/2026/04/content_lnf_busplan_2026.png)  LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building & VISTA Science Experie nce Center\, ISTA ORGANIZER:events@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Long Night of Research URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6315 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1777282200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260427T113000 DTEND:20260427T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Carl Goodrich\nhosted by Jérémie Palacci\nAbstract: If the emergence of AI has taught us nothing else\, it is that simple func tions\, connected together at scale\, can lead to extreme emergent behavio r provided the internal settings are adjusted just so. Does this principle apply to material systems as well? Can simple\, well-understood physical interactions enable complex\, maybe even life-like behavior if tuned at sc ale? Unlike most areas of science where we are trained to reduce the param eterization of a problem\, answering such questions forces us to embrace h igh-dimensional spaces in order to understand when and where extreme behav iors emerge. I will discuss efforts within my group to understand the phys ics of highly tunable material systems. First\, I will explain how physics -imposed constraints shape design spaces of self-assembling nanostructures \, leading to a quasi-analytical description of the system’s expressiven ess. Then\, I will discuss how tunable materials can contain a physical me mory of their past. While I will initially present the concept of a physic al memory in the context of tuned disordered solids\, the resulting theory provides a general framework for predicting and understanding memory in a range of tunable systems\, and I will speculate on such connections\, fro m evolution to cellular structure\, and from machine learning to the brain . Together\, these results provide critical foundational structure for the emerging interdisciplinary field of tunable matter. LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Carl Goodrich: Tunable Matter URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6384 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1777366800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260428T110000 DTEND:20260428T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jean-Philippe Brantut\nhosted by Julian Leonard\nAbstr act: Abstract:Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) is one of the most powe rful framework to observe and leverage quantum phenomena. While it has bee n thoroughly studied for simple quantum systems such as two-level systems or harmonic oscillators\, it has recently become available for complex\, c orrelated quantum many-body systems. In the last years\, we have developed systems combining cavity QED with cold Fermi gases. In such a system\, v irtual photon exchanges between atoms yield a long-range interaction leadi ng to emergent phenomena. I will describe how it induces charge-density wa ve ordering\, and the deep insights on this transition provided by real-ti me measurements and high spatial resolution. I will then discuss the inter play of pairing\, Pauli blocking and light-matter interactions in this sys tem\, the status of our understanding and some open questions. Last\, I wi ll outline the perspective open for quantum simulations in this platform\, both from the conceptual and technological point of view.  LOCATION:Office Building West/Ground Floor/Heinzel Seminar Room\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Jean-Philippe Brantut: Quantum Simulations with Atoms and Photons URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6210 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:6687bf08e3e87989250506@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260428T161500 DTEND:20260428T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jacob Shapiro\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös\nAbstract: The index of a pair of projections on a Hilbert space was introduced in 1973 b y Brown-Douglas-Filmore and connected to the integer quantum Hall effect b y Avron-Seiler-Simon in 1994. For two orthogonal projections P\,Q such tha t P-Q is compact\, index(P\,Q)=dimimPkerQ-dimimQkerP. It is manifestly an integer\, and enjoys norm and compactness stability\, much like the relate d Fredholm index. Such indices played a pivotal role in describing the qua ntization and stability properties in the quantum Hall effect\; ASS94 rela ted the Hall conductance to the index of a Fermi projection P and its Laug hlin-flux-inserted projection U*PU.What becomes of this story in the prese nce of interactions? To describe infinitely-many interacting electrons in infinite-volume\, the Hilbert space is replaced by a unital C-* algebra A (a CAR algebra)\, but there is no obvious notion of a Fredholm index. We i ntroduce a new notion\, the index of a pair of pure states (on A)\, prove its quantization\, invariance and stability properties\, and relate it to the (possibly fractional) Hall conductance. We further show that Kitaevs i nvertible states always have integer conductance. Joint with Bachmann and Tauber. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jacob Shapiro: The index of a pair of pure states and the quantum H all effect URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6368 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68776eaf380dd057014767@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260430T110000 DTEND:20260430T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Justin C. Burton\nhosted by Scott Waitukaitis\nAbstrac t: Airborne microbes critically impact our lives\, from the spread of dise ases to rainfall and food production. Yet the survival of microbes during aerosolization and atmospheric transport is not well understood. Although bacteria have been found in the atmosphere\, even larger organisms such as nematodes and spiders can drift in the air for many kilometers. In this t alk\, I will discuss two research projects where we investigate how the at mosphere plays a crucial role in micro- and meso-scale ecology. I will sho w how salt and humidity help bacteria survive during desiccation. In dried droplets on flat surfaces\, the spatial structure generated by the dried film can trap water to facilitate survival. 3D Bacterial suspensions dried under acoustic levitation survive even better. In a separate project\, I will discuss how jumping\, parasitic nematodes rely on electrostatic force s to infect their insect hosts. A model combining electrostatics\, aerodyn amics\, and Bayesian inference indicates that the electrostatic charge on jumping nematodes is ~ 0.1 pC\, which aligns with theoretical predictions for electrostatic induction. In fact\, we show that infection through jump ing may necessitate electrostatic forces as a successful evolutionary stra tegy. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Justin C. Burton: Biology in the air: from hitchhiking microbes to jumping electrified nematodes URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6407 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1777874400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260504T080000 DTEND:20260505T180000 DESCRIPTION: LOCATION:\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:MPS Retreat 2026 URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5916 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:684800150f201048290295@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260506T153000 DTEND:20260506T163000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Hong Wang\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös & Uli Wagner\nAbstr act: A Kakeya set is a compact subset of R^n that contains a unit line seg ment pointing in every direction. Kakeya set conjecture asserts that every Kakeya set has Minkowski and Hausdorff dimension n. We prove this conject ure in R^3 as a consequence of a more general statement about union of tub es.This is joint work with Josh Zahl. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Hong Wang: Kakeya sets in R^3 URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6400 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68776f9104d40763009008@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260507T110000 DTEND:20260507T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Nachi Stern\nhosted by Carl Goodrich\nAbstract: From e lectrically responsive neuronal networks to immune repertoires\, biologica l systems can learn to perform complex tasks. In this seminar\, we explore physical learning\, a framework inspired by computational learning theory and biological systems\, where networks physically adapt to applied force s to adopt desired functions. Unlike traditional engineering approaches or artificial intelligence\, physical learning is facilitated by physically realizable learning rules\, requiring only local responses and no explicit information about the desired functionality. Our research shows that such local learning rules can be derived for broad classes of physical network s and that physical learning is indeed physically realizable\, without com puter aid\, through laboratory experiments. We take further inspiration fr om learning in the brain and demonstrate the success of physical learning beyond the quasi-equilibrium regime\, enabling physical systems to adapt c omplex dynamical functions. By leveraging the advances of statistical lear ning theory in physical machines\, we propose physical learning as a promi sing bridge between computational machine learning and biology\, with the potential to enable the development of power-efficient AI platforms\, and new classes of smart metamaterials that adapt in-situ to users needs. LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 2\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Nachi Stern: Learning without neurons in physical systems URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6287 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1778491800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260511T113000 DTEND:20260511T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Veronika Sunko & Xujia Chen\nhosted by Mikhail Lemeshk o LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Veronika Sunko & Xujia Chen: Inaugural Lecture | Veronika Sunko & X ujia Chen URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6094 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:686bce5b41e34965306073@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260512T110000 DTEND:20260512T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Benjamin Sacépé\nhosted by Georgios Katsaros\nAbstra ct: Topological superconductivity has attracted considerable attention due to its great promise for fault-tolerant quantum computing. Conventional a pproaches rely on intricate hybrid systems combining topological insulator s and superconductors\, requiring precise material engineering and fine-tu ned conditions\, yet a clear experimental demonstration remains absent to this day. In this colloquium\, I will introduce a novel type of topologica l insulator state emerging from the physics of the quantum Hall effect. Th is state leverages the unique properties of the zeroth Landau level in gra phenea remarkable\, strongly interacting flat band where electron-electron interactions give rise to diverse broken-symmetry phases\, characterized by distinct topological and lattice-scale orders. These phases can be iden tified through transport measurements [1] and directly visualized using sc anning tunneling spectroscopy [2]. I will also demonstrate how superconduc tivity can be induced in quantum Hall edge channels to create robust Josep hson junctions\, despite the presence of a strong perpendicular magnetic f ield [3]\, thus opening a new path toward the realization of topological s uperconductivity in quantum Hall Josephson junctions.[1] L. Veyrat et al. Science 367\, 781 (2020)[2] A. Coissard et al. Nature 605\, 51 (2022)[3] H . Vignaud et al. Nature 624\, 545 (2023) LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:sandra.widdmann@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Benjamin Sacépé: Exploring Quantum Hall Edge Channels in Graphene as a Path to Topological Superconductivity URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6303 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:69c104cda01c7847075710@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260512T140000 DTEND:20260512T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Sashi Weerawarana\nhosted by Florian Schur\nAbstract: All living beings must package and compact their DNA to protect genetic ma terial and regulate genome access. In my thesis work\, I investigate genom e organization in mitochondria\, bacteria\, and viruses. Mitochondria util ize the HMG-box protein TFAM to fulfill this vital role\, whereas bacteria and viruses employ histone proteins that adopt different binding modes. T he central focus of this talk is TFAM-mediated DNA compaction. Using a wid e array of biochemical methods and structural biology approaches\, I show that TFAM compacts DNA into homogenous higher-order complexes that exhibit continuous conformational dynamics. The talk also presents cryo EM data r evealing distinct strategies utilized by bacterial histones from Bdellovib rio bacteriovorus and Leptospira interrogans to compact DNA and highlights unique structural features of the Medusavirus medusae nucleosome. Togethe r\, this work reveals diverse mechanisms of genome compaction across organ elles and domains of life. LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 2\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:jgazsi@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Sashi Weerawarana: Genome organization in mitochondria\, bacteria\, and viruses URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6371 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1779096600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260518T113000 DTEND:20260518T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Alexander Schier\nhosted by Edouard Hannezo LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Alexander Schier: Institute Colloquium | Alexander Schier URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5796 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1779181200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260519T110000 DTEND:20260519T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jonathan Home\nhosted by Julian Léonard\nAbstract: A bstract: The development of useful quantum computers will rely on the abil ity to suppress errors which occur both naturally and through the erroneou s application of gate operations. Error-correction typically comes with si gnificant resource overheads\, which motivates the search for implementati ons which can naturally provide error correction in a compact manner. One approach is to use bosonic degrees of freedom to encode information redund antly\, allowing to perform feedback which suppresses errors. I will descr ibe two sets of experiments in which we perform operations and bosonic err or correction using mechanical oscillations of a single trapped ion. In th e first\, we demonstrate the entanglement and subsequent error-correction of logical qubits encoded using superposed displaced squeezed states formi ng periodic structures in phase space. This “GKP” encoding is particul arly well suited to diffusive errors in the oscillator phase space. Then\, using a novel non-linear regime of control\, I will show how we realize n on-linear reservoir engineering to perform confinement of states into fini te-dimensional subspaces which have discrete rotational symmetry\, and whi ch protect from dephasing errors. Alongside coverage of the state-of-the-a rt\, I will provide perspectives as to how these approaches could be embed ded in larger systems.” LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jonathan Home: Bosonic error-correction codes with trapped ions URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6406 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1779786000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260526T110000 DTEND:20260526T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jie Ren\nhosted by Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: Abstract: Understanding how complex systems transition between order and chaos is a central challenge of nonequilibrium physics. While weak perturbations of c lassical integrable systems give rise to a mixed phase space of coexisting regular and chaotic trajectories\, analogous behavior in interacting quan tum many-body systems has remained elusive. Here we develop and experiment ally implement a hybrid quantum–classical feedback protocol that autonom ously discovers and stabilizes long-lived regular trajectories in a superc onducting quantum processor. Each iteration combines short-time quantum ev olution with classical optimization that projects the dynamics back onto a low-entanglement variational manifold\, effectively distilling coherence from chaotic evolution. The stabilized trajectories reveal a quantum many- body mixed phase space emerging from nonlinear variational dynamics\, with out a direct analogue in classical or few-body quantum systems. Our result s establish a versatile framework for algorithmic discovery and control of coherent dynamics previously inaccessible to experiment.  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jie Ren: “Quantum many-body mixed phase space revealed by hybrid feedback control" URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6345 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1779951600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260528T090000 DTEND:20260529T170000 DESCRIPTION: LOCATION:\, ISTA ORGANIZER:lilla.kukor@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:ISS Area Retreat 2026 URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5689 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1779958800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260528T110000 DTEND:20260528T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Federica Surace\nhosted by Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: TB A LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Federica Surace: "Slow dynamics in quantum many-body systems" URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6217 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:68776ee57aa4b682558249@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260528T110000 DTEND:20260528T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Mitja Drab\nhosted by Andela Saric\nAbstract: Biologic al membranes are active\, multicomponent systems whose shape emerges from a complex interplay between curvature-inducing inclusions\, in-plane order ing\, and cytoskeletal forces. In this talk\, I present a numerical framew ork for modeling closed membranes populated by curved anisotropic componen ts that interact via nematic alignment and couple to active forces. Our si mulations reveal a rich landscape of membrane morphologies arising from th e competition between intrinsic curvature\, nematic interactions\, and act ive stresses. We show how nematic alignment organizes curved inclusions in to defect structures that localize in regions of high curvature\, thereby guiding membrane remodeling and stabilizing complex shapes such as tubules \, necks\, and pearled structures . Active forces further drive the system out of equilibrium\, enabling transitions to morphologies that are inacce ssible in passive systems\, including flattened\, protrusive\, and dynamic ally fluctuating states. These results provide a unified physical picture of how curvature\, orientational order\, and active forces cooperate to co ntrol membrane shape\, with implications for processes ranging from endocy tosis and phagocytosis to cell spreading and motility. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Mitja Drab: Numerical Modeling of Nematic Membranes with Active Cur ved Anisotropic Inclusions URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6382 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1780390800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260602T110000 DTEND:20260602T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Hannes Bernien\nhosted by Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: Rec onfigurable arrays of neutral atoms have emerged as a leading platform for quantum science. Their excellent coherence properties combined with progr ammable Rydberg interactions have led to intriguing observations such as q uantum phase transitions\, the discovery of quantum many-body scars\, and novel quantum computing architectures. Here\, I am introducing a dual-spe cies Rydberg array that naturally lends itself for measurement-based proto cols [1] such as quantum error correction\, long-range entangled state pre paration\, and measurement-altered many-body dynamics. Furthermore\, Rydbe rg interactions between the two species then lead to novel regimes\, inclu ding greatly enhanced resonant dipole interactions\, that we use to demons trate a two-qubit gate and quantum non-demolition readout [2]. I will pre sent our current experiments on implementing quantum cellular automata in a dual-species array. Cellular automata are famous for producing complex b ehavior as well as universal computation based on simple initial states an d update rules. Here we investigate this paradigm by implementing an updat e rule based on dual species Rydberg blockade and periodic driving. [1] S ingh\, Bradley\, Anand\, Ramesh\, White\, Bernien\, Science 380\, 1265 (20 23).[2] Anand\, Bradley\, White\, Ramesh\, Singh\, Bernien\, Nature Physic s 20\, 1744 (2024). LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Hannes Bernien: Dual-Species Atom Array Quantum Processors and Quan tum Networks URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6208 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1780911000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260608T113000 DTEND:20260608T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Roberto di Leonardo\nhosted by Jérémie Palacci LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.gruber@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Roberto di Leonardo: Institute Colloquium | Roberto di Leonardo URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5793 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1781600400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260616T110000 DTEND:20260616T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Michael Buchhold\nhosted by Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: T BA LOCATION:Office Building West/Ground Floor/Heinzel Seminar Room\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Michael Buchhold: Quantum Colloquium | Michael Buchhold URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6211 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:665dbdca9d01d401146589@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260618T130000 DTEND:20260618T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jianrong Li\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: Frenkel and Reshetikhin introduced q-characters for finite-dimensional representa tions of quantum affine algebras\, providing a fundamental tool in their r epresentation theory. Together with Tomasz Przezdziecki\, we defined bound ary q-characters for finite dimensional representations of quantum affine symmetric pairs of split and quasi-split types. In this talk\, I will pres ent a new joint work Tomasz Przezdziecki on evaluation modules for split q uantum affine symmetric pairs. By computing the action of generators in Lu and Wangs Drinfeld-type presentation on GelfandTsetlin bases\, we determi ne the spectrum of a large commutative subalgebra arising from this presen tation. This leads to an explicit formula for boundary analogues of q-char acters\, which we interpret combinatorially in terms of semistandard Young tableaux. Our results show that boundary q-characters share familiar feat ures with ordinary q-characters\, while also exhibiting new phenomena\, in cluding an additional symmetry. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jianrong Li: Boundary q-characters of finite-dimensional representa tions of quantum affine symmetric pairs URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6284 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1781787600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260618T150000 DTEND:20260618T193000 DESCRIPTION: LOCATION:Moonstone Seminar Center\, ISTA ORGANIZER:events@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Graduate Ceremony 2026 URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6273 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1782725400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260629T113000 DTEND:20260629T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Julia Reisenbauer & Charles Roques-Carmes\nhosted by M ikhail Lemeshko LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Julia Reisenbauer & Charles Roques-Carmes: Inaugural Lecture | Juli a Reisenbauer & Charles Roques-Carmes URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6385 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1785740400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260803T090000 DTEND:20260807T140000 DESCRIPTION: LOCATION:Moonstone Seminar Center\, ISTA ORGANIZER:eurowd-2026@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:24th European Workshop on White Dwarfs URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6292 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1789983000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260921T113000 DTEND:20260921T123000 DESCRIPTION: LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:ISTA PostDoc Award URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6386 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1790089200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260922T170000 DTEND:20260922T180000 DESCRIPTION: LOCATION:Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2\, 1010 Vienna\, Austria\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:ÖAW-ISTA Lecture Prof. Klaus Robert Müller URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6288 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1791192600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20261005T113000 DTEND:20261005T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Friedrich Stricker & Yuval Wigderson\nhosted by Mikhai l Lemeshko LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Friedrich Stricker & Yuval Wigderson: Inaugural Lecture | Friedrich Stricker & Yuval Wigderson URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6357 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1792402200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20261019T113000 DTEND:20261019T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Lora Sweeney\nhosted by Mario de Bono LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Lora Sweeney: Tenure Talk | Lora Sweeney URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6387 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1794825000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20261116T113000 DTEND:20261116T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Vivian Kuperberg & Carla Fernandez-Rico\nhosted by Mik hail Lemeshko LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Vivian Kuperberg & Carla Fernandez-Rico: Inaugural Lecture | Vivian Kuperberg & Carla Fernandez-Rico URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6389 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260415T142955Z UID:1795429800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20261123T113000 DTEND:20261123T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Kim Modic\nhosted by Mikhail Lemeshko LOCATION:ISTA | Central Building | Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER:diana.zubcevic@ista.ac.at SUMMARY:Kim Modic: Tenure Talk | Kim Modic URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6390 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR