General information 7th Flash Conference

the 7th Flash conference on “Bioinspired Chemistry”
Santiago de Compostela, October 24-27th, 2010

As Arthur Kornberg said, “Much of life can be understood in rational terms if expressed in the language of chemistry. It is an international language, a language for all of time, and a language that explains where we came from, what we are, and where the physical world will allow us to go”.[[1]] Chemical Biology is not anymore just a buzzword, but has become an established field of research, at the frontier between Chemistry and Biology. It seeks a deep molecular understanding of biological phenomena. Moreover, its scope has expanded its scope to the application of that understanding to the advance of chemical sciences.

Just as when in 1964 a US National Academy of Sciences committee defined chemistry as “the research activities of chemistry departments in this country”, Chemical Biology is a rich and diverse field that defies a closed definition and that constantly grows, as new tools and approaches open new research venues. From the development of new bioconjugation methods for the selective modification of biomolecules, bringing the power of modern catalytic methods into the creation of bioactive species with extended properties, the design of new sensing strategies that allow the visualization of hidden phenomena, as well as the use of the rich properties of biological molecules, protein and nucleic acids, outside their realm and into materials science or nanotechnology, Chemical Biology will be without any doubt at the core of the greatest advances in chemical (and biological) sciences.

The objective of the 7th ERA-Flash conference “Bioinspired Chemistry” is to give an overview of the field. Given the broad nature of Chemical Biology it will necessarily be incomplete, but we hope it will be accurate, and provide an insight into future developments.

[[1]] Kornberg, A. The Two Cultures: Chemistry and Biology, Biochemistry 1987, 26, 6888-68891.


History and basic facts about the Flash conferences

In 2007, the European project ERA-Chemistry inaugurated a new style of chemistry conference: the Flash Conference. It aims to bring together experienced and young researchers to discuss topics at the frontiers of chemical research. The Flash Conferences are based around some key points that differentiate them from all existing conferences. These 5 principles are:

"Hot topics" approach: Emerging fields of immediate scientific importance. The selected domains are either at the forefront or should be put to the forefront of European research. The “hot” character to define the topic should be proposed no more than six months in advance.
Innovative scientific organisation - The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) proposes the topics and suggests possible chairperson(s) for the conference, who must be two experts in the field, one of them from the host country. The National Scientific Councils of ERA-Chemistry suggest possible invited speakers, but the Chairpersons remain free to decide whom they wish to invite.
Limited audience - The conference is fully open to all researchers, and junior researchers are especially welcome. Each regular attendant must contribute, as far as is possible, with a poster presentation. The maximum number of attendees is between 100-120 with selection of contributions based on quality.
No registration fees, no profits - The event is organised at the lowest possible cost. There is no registration fee, with the only costs being for travel and accommodation (except for invited persons).
A dedicated format - The conferences are scheduled on a 2-3 day basis with a mix of long lectures (30 min + 15 min discussion) by invited speakers, free-time for discussion and poster presentations, and finally short talks (20 min + 10 min discussion).

Two Flash Conferences per year are scheduled, in different European countries. They are planned for 3 full days, on a single site for both conference and accommodation, starting on a Sunday afternoon and ending on Thursday morning.

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