Designing matter: from quantum states to living systems
The 2027 Sino-German Frontiers of Science and Technology Symposium centers on the design of matter across scales and disciplines. From the engineered arrangement of electrons in quantum materials to the metabolic architectures of living organisms, science is increasingly moving from observation to intentional design. The symposium brings together researchers working at the frontiers of materials physics, biology, ecology, and measurement to explore how matter can be understood, constructed, and transformed. Cutting across these sessions is a shared commitment to fundamental inquiry: what principles govern matter at each scale, and how can we use them to create new structures, functions, and knowledge?
The symposium is structured around four session themes:
Session A – Exploring matter at the quantum and atomic scale
Quantum phenomena and fundamental physics at the microscale represent one of the most active frontiers in research today. This session explores how materials are understood and characterised at quantum and microscopic scales, and what new physical and chemical phenomena they reveal. Contributions may draw on condensed matter physics, quantum optical platforms, materials chemistry, or theoretical approaches.
Session B – Engineering functional living and biomedical materials
Biological systems are both a source of and an interface for functional materials at the macro scale. This session sits at the intersection of biology, materials science, and bioengineering. The scope encompasses engineered living materials that embed biomolecules and cells into self-organizing structures, as well as intelligent biomedical materials that sense, adapt to, and act on living tissue to improve health and quality of life.
Session C – Governing sustainable material systems
The transition to a sustainable society requires more than new materials: it requires rethinking how material systems are designed, governed, and transformed. This session brings together perspectives from materials science, engineering, ecology, economics, and the social sciences to explore how we build material systems that are durable, circular, and equitable.
Session D – Seeing inside and beyond matter
Understanding materials requires observation across a wide range of scales, from the atomic to the macroscopic. Advances in imaging, spectroscopy, and other characterization techniques are transforming how we identify and probe materials in the laboratory and in industrial processes, revealing structures and dynamics that were previously inaccessible. The session-scope extends to the characterisation of biological systems, including the brain, and to how imaging and measurement techniques are being applied to understand neural structures, brain function, and the physical basis of cognition.
About the SINOGFOST Symposia Series
The SINOGFOST symposia are part of the interdisciplinary Frontiers of Research Program of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Since 2008, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) have jointly organized these Symposia. Frontiers of Research symposia challenge young scientists to rethink the boundaries of their disciplines. Together, they strive to reach new frontiers of understanding as they discuss cutting edge research and budding opportunities across disciplinary lines. At the same time, the symposia serve to establish and strengthen ties among future leaders of partnering countries. The symposia create avenues for an exchange of knowledge that is both international and interdisciplinary. The goal is to bring together the best young researchers – the next generation of leaders – from China and Germany and to allow them to establish new collaborations with each other.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation supports collaborations between Germany-based and China-based participants with its dedicated follow-up program CONNECT which grants residence allowances for working visits in the partner country for up to 30 days.