The conference aims to bring together international researchers from various scientific fields such as biology, chemistry, engineering, materials sciences, philosophy, psychology, and sustainability for an in-depth exchange of knowledge with respect to materials systems exhibiting life-like properties and functions.

Topics

• Energy autonomy
  Solar, thermal and mechanical energy harvesting, and storage
• Adaptivity
  Response to the environment, training and learning
• Longevity
  Avoiding, removing, and coping with damage
• Societal implications
  Sustainability, psychological acceptance and decisions, and philosophy and ethics
• Demonstrators
  Proof-of-concept demonstrators, prototypical products

Selected Speakers

• Jean-Marie Lehn, University of Strasbourg, France (Nobel Laureate)
• Barbara Mazzolai, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Italy
• Zoubeida Ounaies, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
• Yuji Suzuki, University of Tokyo, Japan
• Hayden Taylor, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• Nancy Tuana, Penn State University, USA
• Sybrand van der Zwaag, TU Delft, The Netherlands
• Bilge Baytekin, Bilkent University, Turkey
• Katja Corcoran, University of Graz, Austria
• Marc Desmulliez, Heriot Watt University, UK
• Alexandra Houssaye, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, France
• Olli Ikkala, Aalto University, Finland
• Achim Menges, University of Stuttgart, Germany
• Kornelius Nielsch, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, Germany
• Ullrich Steiner, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
• Ted Toadvine, Penn State University, USA
• Roman Truckenmüller, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
• Marek Urban, Clemson University, USA
• Christoph Weder, University of Fribourg, Switzerland