The top portion of the campus entrance gate showing IISER Pune logo

A two-day DST Workshop for College Teachers

on Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy

IISER Pune Campus

About the Workshop

The advent of atomic force microscope (AFM) has ushered in a new era of nanomechanics, wherein nanoscale objects are subjected to forces of the order of pN and deformations therein are measured with sub-nm precision. Interestingly, the research in life sciences have benefitted enormously by this interdisciplinary development. It has provided a fecund ground for the growth of many new ideas from biologists, physicists and mechanical engineers. This is evident from a growing body of literature devoted to this topic in leading research journals worldwide. However, this development is still far from reaching textbooks devoted to Biology or Physics, given its interdisciplinary nature. Not surprisingly, this new research area, where AFM leads from front, is not part of the curriculum in Indian universities yet. One of the main achievements of AFM in life science research is to be able to perform experiments at the level of single molecules, providing information about chemical kinetics of umpteen number of molecular bonds vital for biological function. This required a complimentary novel approach from surface chemistry for specific attachment of molecules to AFM’s force sensor in order to measure the force required to rupture a molecular bond or unfold a protein of interest. The activity is rapidly growing into a mature field. Within two decades of first single molecule experiment with AFM, hundreds of measurements of rate kinetics of single bonds using force spectroscopy have been reported. It is important that teachers from universities learn about this new interdisciplinary field, which has important implications in biomedical applications.

Who can Apply:

The faculty of all disciplines preferably teaching in colleges of Pune, Nashik, and Ahmadnagar district. Faculty from other districts from Maharastra may apply if they have an accommodation arrangement in Pune.

Venue: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune

Time: January 27-28, 2025

Notes: There is no registration fee for the workshop. Selected candidates will get to attend all the sessions in the workshop for two days. Lunch and tea during the breaks will be served free of charge. A participation certificate will be provided at the end of the workshop. The funding for the workshop is provided from Core Research Grant of SERB, DST to Prof. Shivprasad Patil of IISER Pune.

A Two-Day DST Workshop for College Teachers