6th Visegrad Symposium on Structural Systems Biology

19 - 21 June, 2016 | Warsaw, Poland

The Visegrad Symposium on Structural Systems Biology (VSSSB) gathers researchers interested in the study of biomolecular systems with wide array of scientific approaches. They range from computational mehtods, including quantum calculations and atomistic or coarse-grained simulations, to experimental, mainly spectroscopic techniques. As such the meeting is a unique platform for sharing ideas and approaching common scientific problems from different points of wiev, often leading to the estabilishment of fruitful, intersisciplinary collaboration.

The history of the meetings dates back to 2009, when „Mini-symposium on computation of interactions in biological systems“ was organised by the research teams from Nove Hrady and Szeged. Later joined by partners from Bratislava and Kraków, and benefitting from the support of Visegrad International Fund, they estabilished the tradition of annual symposia on structural systems biology. The 1st VSSSB was organized in 2010 in Nové Hrady, Czech Republic, followed by 2nd VSSSB at 2012 in Gyöngyöstarján, Hungary, 3rd VSSSB in 2013 in Smolenice, Slovakia, 4th VSSSB at 2014 in Nové Hrady, and 5th VSSSB in Szeged, Hungary.

The conferences were very succesfull. Apart of the scientists from the partner institutions and their colleagues in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the conference attracted many scientist from the other countries like Austria, Germany, France, Great Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland. The conferences were also attended by many students including the participants of the summer schools organized in Szeged and Nové Hrady, that are mainly the undergraduate students from USA, Canada and UK.

As in the previous years, this year conference will mainly focus on various computational methods used in the study of biologicaly relevant macromolecules ranging from quantum calculations via atomistic models to coarse-grained molecular dynamics of biological systems. The other main topic will focus on experimental techniques, mainly spectroscopic methods, that complement the simulations or can be used for verification. We hope that this year conference will be as successful as the previous ones.