Activities

The Institute's scientific activities are centered around four to six main thematic programmes per year complemented by several workshops and individual lectures organized on short notice. Participation in thematic programmes and workshops is by invitation only.

To support the scientific education of graduate students and young researchers, the ESI regularly offers lecture courses at advanced graduate level held by so-called Senior Research Fellows. In addition, there are summer and winter schools in research areas of topical interest.

In 2012, the ESI has moreover initiated the Research in Teams programme offering individual visiting positions for teams of two to four researchers on application basis.

Since June 2016 the Junior Research Fellowship Programme supports external or local graduate students and recent postdocs.

For more information on the individual programmes and the application procedure, please select the activity you are interested in in the above menu.

On the right hand side you can find a list of all current and upcoming activities. To see the past activities, please use the link at the bottom.

Current and Upcoming

Reverse Mathematics June 23, 2025 — Aug. 29, 2025 Thematic Programme
Eisenstein Series, Spaces of Automorphic Forms, and Applications Sept. 1, 2025 — Sept. 5, 2025 Workshop
Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment Sept. 8, 2025 — Sept. 12, 2025 Workshop
Individual Visiting Scientists 2025 Sept. 9, 2025 — Oct. 17, 2025 Individual Scientists
Research in Teams: Waves interacting with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current Sept. 15, 2025 — Sept. 26, 2025 Research in Teams
Putting the Cosmic Large-scale Structure on the Map: Theory Meets Numerics Sept. 22, 2025 — Sept. 26, 2025 Workshop
Free Boundary Problems Sept. 29, 2025 — Dec. 19, 2025 Thematic Programme
Fufa Beyene (Kotebe U of Education): The Cyclic Sieving Phenomenon (CSP) Oct. 1, 2025 — Nov. 30, 2025 Junior Research Fellow
IMO 2025 Oct. 25, 2025 — Oct. 31, 2025 Graduate School
Yoshihiro Tonegawa (Inst. of Science Tokyo): Introduction to Brakke's Mean Curvature Flow Oct. 26, 2025 — Nov. 15, 2025 SRF Course
ESI Medal Award Ceremony 2025 Nov. 7, 2025 Symposium
Quantum Many-body Systems and Bose-Einstein Condensation: A Mathematical Physics Perspective Nov. 24, 2025 — Nov. 28, 2025 Workshop
Research in Teams: Towards q-characters for quantum affine symmetric pairs Jan. 11, 2026 — Jan. 24, 2026 Research in Teams
Hyperboloidal Foliations and their Application Jan. 12, 2026 — Jan. 16, 2026 Workshop
Modelling Diffusive Systems: Theory & Biological Applications (MoDiS) Jan. 26, 2026 — Jan. 30, 2026 Workshop
Probabilistic Mass Transport - from Schrödinger to Stochastic Analysis Feb. 9, 2026 — Feb. 13, 2026 Workshop
Amplitudes and Algebraic Geometry Feb. 16, 2026 — March 27, 2026 Thematic Programme
Joachim Escher (Leibniz U of Hannover): Fluid Mechanics, covering Rotational Water Waves and Rayleigh-Taylor Instabilities for Potential Flows March 1, 2026 — June 30, 2026 SRF Course
Differential Complexes: Theory, Discretization, and Applications April 20, 2026 — June 5, 2026 Thematic Programme
Priyadarshini Pandit (Indian I of Technology Kanpur): May 1, 2026 — June 30, 2026 Junior Research Fellow
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Toric Geometry: Bridging Mathematics, Computation, and String Theory June 15, 2026 — July 17, 2026 Thematic Programme
New Paradigms for Harnessing Quantum Field Theory at Colliders July 27, 2026 — Aug. 28, 2026 Thematic Programme
Statistical Mechanics and Combinatorics of Discrete Planar Structures Sept. 14, 2026 — Oct. 30, 2026 Thematic Programme

Aug 20. 2025

Strict Reverse Mathematics - part I Harvey Friedman (Ohio State U, Columbus) Aug 20. 2025, 15:00 - 16:00 Part of Reverse Mathematics (Thematic Programme).

Aug 22. 2025

Strict Reverse Mathematics - part II Harvey Friedman (Ohio State U, Columbus) Aug 22. 2025, 15:00 - 16:00 Part of Reverse Mathematics (Thematic Programme).

Aug 26. 2025

Logical analysis of proofs in non-smooth optimization using set-valued monotone operators Ulrich Kohlenbach (TU Darmstadt) Aug 26. 2025, 10:00 - 11:00 Part of Reverse Mathematics (Thematic Programme).
The Reverse Mathematics of the Mountain Pass Theorem Miguel Aguilar (TU Wien) Aug 26. 2025, 11:30 - 12:30 Part of Reverse Mathematics (Thematic Programme).

Sep 08. 2025

Exploring charge effects in soft matter: responsive particles, shape anisotropy and the role of charge patches Peter Schurtenberger (Lund U) Sep 08. 2025, 14:15 - 14:45 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
On Complex(ed) Relations: the Power and Peculiarities of Nanoscopic Polyelectrolyte-based Particles Ilja Voets (TU Eindhoven) Sep 08. 2025, 14:45 - 15:15 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
From Wiggles to Flow: Multiscale Dynamics of Charged Protein Condensates Jeetain Mittal (TAMU, College Station) Sep 08. 2025, 15:15 - 15:45 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).

Sep 09. 2025

Remembering Rudi Podgornik: Charged liquids, electrified interfaces and more David Andelman (Tel Aviv U) Sep 09. 2025, 09:00 - 09:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Evolutionary changes in charge on spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 Anže Božič‬ (Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana) Sep 09. 2025, 09:30 - 10:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Field-theoretic approach to charged Janus colloids beyond mean field Nataša Adžić (IPB) Sep 09. 2025, 10:00 - 10:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Phase Separation of DNA: From Fundamentals to Artificial Cells Andreas Walther (U Mainz) Sep 09. 2025, 11:00 - 11:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
pH and Salt-Dependent Charging and Coacervation of Weak Polyelectrolytes: Hydrophobic Effects Ronald Larson (U of Michigan, Ann Arbor) Sep 09. 2025, 11:30 - 12:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Monte Carlo Simulations of pH-sensitive polyelectrolyte microgels Stefanie Schneider (RWTH Aachen) Sep 09. 2025, 12:00 - 12:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Driving Forces in the Formation of Biocondensates of Highly Charged Proteins Matthias Ballauff (FU Berlin) Sep 09. 2025, 14:00 - 14:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Biomolecular condensates sustain pH gradients at equilibrium through charge neutralisation Hannes Ausserwöger (U of Cambridge) Sep 09. 2025, 14:30 - 15:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
The interplay between electric double layers and nematic order Jeffrey Everts (U Warsaw) Sep 09. 2025, 15:30 - 16:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Charged Active Nematics Vitja Beltram (Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana) Sep 09. 2025, 16:00 - 16:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).

Sep 10. 2025

Simulation of Structure and Mechanics in Electrostatic Hybrid Networks Ahmad Reza Motezakker (KTH) Sep 10. 2025, 09:00 - 09:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Charge in Double-Network Hydrogels: A Key to Understanding Toughening Synergy? Tomáš Sedlačík (UCT Prague) Sep 10. 2025, 09:30 - 10:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Propagation of a chemo-mechanical phase boundary in polyacrylate gels Dikla Kolan (Haifa U.) Sep 10. 2025, 10:00 - 10:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Harnessing Coulombic Forces to guide Colloidal Self-assembly Stefano Sacanna (NYU, New York) Sep 10. 2025, 11:00 - 11:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Harnessing the Triboelectric Effect for Patchy Particles Synthesis: Properties and Self-Assembly Peter D J van Oostrum (BOKU) Sep 10. 2025, 11:30 - 12:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Temperature Induced Migration of Interacting Charged Colloidal Particles Jan Dhont (FZ Jülich) Sep 10. 2025, 12:00 - 12:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Counterion condensation, effective charge and ligand binding on macromolecules studied by PFG NMR Ulrich Scheler (IPF Dresden) Sep 10. 2025, 14:00 - 14:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Selective ion binding and uptake shape the microenvironment of biomolecular condensates Iris Smokers (Radboud U) Sep 10. 2025, 14:30 - 15:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Using simulations to understand the role of charge interactions in drug delivery systems Friederike Schmid (U Mainz) Sep 10. 2025, 15:00 - 15:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).

Sep 11. 2025

Asymmetry in Biopolymer Complex Coacervates: Decoding the Interplay of Molecular Weight, Flexibility, and Ionic Strength Daniele Parisi (U Groningen) Sep 11. 2025, 09:00 - 09:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Scanning probe microscopy for elucidating the rheological properties of biomolecular condensates during gelation and rejuvenation Aida Naghilou (Med U Vienna) Sep 11. 2025, 09:30 - 10:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Unifying the dynamics of viscoelastic liquids across the complex coacervation phase diagram: time-polyelectrolyte-salt superposition Mehdi Vahdati (University of Strasbourg) Sep 11. 2025, 10:00 - 10:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
The role of charge patches in antibody solution properties Anna Stradner (Lund U) Sep 11. 2025, 11:00 - 11:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Patchy charge distribution affects the pH in protein solutions during dialysis. Sebastian Pineda Pineda (Charles U, Prague) Sep 11. 2025, 11:30 - 12:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Anisotropic Interactions and Intermolecular Pose Exploration using Subdivided Spheres Mikael Lund (Lund U) Sep 11. 2025, 12:00 - 12:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Polymer topology and charged soft matter: a tale of rings Christos Likos (U of Vienna) Sep 11. 2025, 14:00 - 14:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Some nontrivial thermodynamic properties of polymer catenanes and chainmails in a salt solution Franco Ferrari (U Szczecin) Sep 11. 2025, 14:30 - 15:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Propagation rate coefficient in radical polymerization for charged monomers polymerized in aqueous solutions Igor Lacík (SAS, Bratislava) Sep 11. 2025, 15:30 - 16:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Electroadhesion: Reversibly Adhering Hydrogels to Tissues Using Electric Fields Morine Nader (U of Maryland) Sep 11. 2025, 16:00 - 16:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).

Sep 12. 2025

BIOMECHANICAL RESILIENCE IN CENTROSOME KINETICS Marketa Schmidt Cernohorska (UJEP) Sep 12. 2025, 09:00 - 09:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Toward "phase" diagrams in multidomain protein solutions in vitro Adam Harmat (Aalto U) Sep 12. 2025, 09:30 - 10:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Charged for attraction: How biomolecular condensates pull chromosomes together Valerio Sorichetti (ISTA, Klosterneuburg) Sep 12. 2025, 10:00 - 10:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Nanopore translocation of entangled DNA and RNA filaments Cristian Micheletti (SISSA, Trieste) Sep 12. 2025, 11:00 - 11:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
DNA origamis: their folding process and their interactions with lipid membranes Juan Elezgaray (CNRS) Sep 12. 2025, 11:30 - 12:00 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).
Diverse non-equilibrium behavior of protein condensates in electric fields Jennifer Tersteegen (Aalto U) Sep 12. 2025, 12:00 - 12:30 Part of Charged Soft Matter: Bridging Theory and Experiment (Workshop).

[past activities]