Symposium

August 27, 2026 (Day 1 – Thursday)

08:30 – 08:40Opening remarks by Johannes Walter | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg & Alexander Bepperling | Sandoz, Germany
Session 1: New methods and methods development – Part 1
Chair: TBA
08:40 – 09:05Peter Schuck | National Institutes of Health, USAAnalysis of Macromolecular Size Distributions in Concentrated Solutions
09:05 – 09:30Chad Aaron Brautigam | UT Southwestern Medical Center, USAPractical approaches to determining partial-specific volume from density-contrast sedimentation velocity experiments
09:30 – 09:50Lukas Dobler | University Konstanz, GermanyBeyond Constant behavior: Quantitative Analytical Ultracentrifugation under Dynamic Density and Viscosity Gradients
09:50 – 10:10Emre Brookes | University of Montana, USASAXS-A-FOLD: SAXS-guided ensemble modeling of AlphaFold or user-supplied structures and molecular dynamics trajectories
10:10 – 10:30Coffee break
Session 2: Biopharma applications and cross-disciplinary research
Chair: TBA
10:30 – 10:55Susumu Uchiyama | Osaka University, JapanAnalytical Ultracentrifugation as the Reference Analytical Platform for Comprehensive Characterization of AAV Vectors
10:55 – 11:20Wenqi Li | Tsinghua University, ChinaAnalytical Ultracentrifugation for Biopharmaceutical Characterization and Quality Control
11:20 – 11:45Trushar Patel | University of Lethbridge, CanadaG-quadruplex in dengue virus 3′ untranslated region regulates viral replication cycle
Session 3: Hydrodynamic simulations
Chair: TBA
11:45 – 12:05Mattia Rocco | IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, ItalyImportant advances in the US-SOMO suite
12:05 – 12:25Patrick Fleming | Johns Hopkins University, USAEntrained water contributes to hydrodynamic volume
12:25 – 12:50Karen Fleming | Johns Hopkins University, USAReconciling Molecular Dynamics Ensembles with Sedimentation Data
13:00 – 14:00Lunch
Session 4: Protein applications – Part 1
Chair: TBA
14:15 – 14:40Dalal Almutairi |
University of Nottingham, UK		A re-evaluation of the dissociation behaviour of the soy-bean 11S globulin
14:40 – 15:05John Correia | University of Mississippi Medical Center, USASimulation of the Johnston-Ogston Effect in Multi-Component Human Serum Solutions
15:05 – 15:30Huaying Zhao | National Institutes of Health, USABiophysical Investigation of the Architectural Principles of Ribonucleoprotein Complexes of the Disordered Nucleocapsid Protein
15:30 – 16:00Coffee break
Session 5: Multi-wavelength analytical ultracentrifugation
Chair: TBA
16:00 – 16:25Christina Spruck | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, GermanyGlobal analysis of sedimentation data from multiwavelength analytical ultracentrifugation and analytical centrifugation experiments
16:25 – 16:50Walter Stafford | Boston Biomedical Research Institute, USASEDANAL V7.96 New features and improvements
16:50 – 17:15Sigang Yu | University of Lethbridge, CanadaExperimental Design Optimization for AAV Analysis
17:15 – 18:30Trade fair and poster session
19:00 – 20:30Dinner

August 28, 2026 (Day 2 – Friday)

Session 6: New methods and methods development – Part 2
Chair: Alexander Bepperling | Sandoz, Germany
09:00 – 09:25Borries Demeler | University of Lethbridge, CanadaRecent Innovations in UltraScan AUC
09:25 – 09:50Alexander E. Yarawsky | Bioanalysis LLC, USAA fundamental approach to buoyant density determination by DGE-AUC
09:50 – 10:10Sitong Xu | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, GermanyAn Integrated Tool for Buoyant Density Characterization of Bionanoparticles by Density-Gradient Equilibrium Analytical Ultracentrifugation
10:10 – 10:30Zhexian Liu | Tsinghua University, ChinaCorrecting Wiener Skewing for Analytical Ultracentrifugation of High-Concentration Solutions by Light Propagation Model
10:30 – 10:50Moritz Moß | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, GermanyDeep Learning based Synthesis of Sedimentation Boundaries in Centrifugation Experiments
10:50 – 11:15Coffee break
Session 7: Protein applications – Part 2
Chair: TBA
11:15 – 11:35Renwick Dobson | University of Canterbury, New ZealandMechanisms of transcriptional regulation by the RpiR family of proteins
11:35 – 12:00Olwyn Byron | University of Glasgow, UKGreater than the sum of its parts: the need for orthogonal measurement and modelling
12:00 – 12:20Liam Turk | University of Canterbury, New ZealandExploring the protein biochemistry of TAXI transporters using structural and biophysical approaches
12:30 – 13:45Lunch
Session 8: Nanoparticles and polymers – Part 1
Chair: Johannes Walter | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
14:00 – 14:25Wolfgang Peukert | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany…. the distribution of their particle sizes is of the greatest interest to us …
14:25 – 14:50Ilya Anufriev | Friedrich Schiller University Jena, GermanyMultimethod characterization of polymer-lipid conjugates: from purity to hydration
14:50 – 15:15Ivo Nischang | Friedrich Schiller University Jena, GermanyFrom polymers to assemblies: conformation, structural dimensions, and hydration
15:15 – 15:40Tianbo Liu | University of Akron, USADeterminations of Hydration Shell and Intermolecular Distances from Counterion-mediated Attraction for Charged Macromolecules by AUC and Correlation to Their Self-assembly and Phase Separations
15:40 – 16:15Coffee break
Session 9: Nanoparticles and polymers – Part 2
Chair: TBA
16:15 – 16:35Mengdi Chen | East China Normal University, ChinaProbing Nanoparticle Interfaces with Multiwavelength Analytical Ultracentrifugation
16:35 – 16:55Johannes Walter | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, GermanyCharacterization of the two-dimensional length and diameter distributions of gold nanorods by size exclusion chromatography
16:55 – 17:20Xiaodong Ye | University of Science & Technology of China, ChinaAnalytical Ultracentrifugation for Nanoparticle Characterization: Implementation of Turbidity Detection on Commercial Platforms and Solvent Density Variation for Size–Density Analysis
17:20 – 17:40Tran Kim Quyen Dang | Friedrich Schiller University Jena, GermanyInvestigation of polyelectrolytes by hydrodynamic techniques
17:45 – 18:00Closing ceremony
18:30 – 20:00 Dinner