Welcome to SMC 2026

The 2nd Workshop on Soft Matter will take place at the Bellairs Research Institute - a McGill University Facility located in Barbados, from May 3-8, 2026.


The goal of this meeting, which builds off a previous workshop on the Galapagos Islands, is to bring together a small group of leading experts in research areas across the field of Soft Matter to present their latest findings and to engage in lively discussions.

Conference Organizers

Frank Alexis - Universidad San Francisco de Quito

Matthew J. Harrington - McGill University

Alejandro Marangoni - University of Guelph

Raffaele Mezzenga - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich (ETHZ)

Ali Miserez - Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

Conference Speakers

View All Invited Speakers
Speaker Institution Title of Talk
Alejandra Acevedo Fani
Massey University Matrix Effects in Protein-Rich Beverages and their Role in Nutrient Release During Digestion
Frank Alexis
University of San Francisco - Quito Geometry at the Interface: Membrane Structure as a Driver of Bacterial Adhesion
Tosh Chilkoti
Duke University Engineered Condensates for Medicine and Biotechnology
Bertrand Czarny
Nanyang Technological University In vivo delivery of anti-cancer therapeutics using peptide coacervates
Maya Davidovich Pinhas
Technion The role of molecular assemblies in biphasic gel structure and properties
Juan De Pablo
New York University (NYU) Sustainable plastics design and characterization in the era of machine learning
Leila Deravi
Northeastern University Dissecting the Sequence-Property Relationships that Power Cephalopod Camouflage
Zvonimir Dogic
University of Califorinia, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Colloidosome Assembly, Disassembly and Mechanics
Mingdong Dong
Aarhus Unviersity Controlled Self-Assembly and Disassembly of Amyloid Crystals
Laura Fabris
Polytechnic University of Turin DNA and RNA Interactions with Nanostructured Metallic Surfaces
Peter Fratzl
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces Chemo-Mechanical Role of Water in Biological Materials
Anthony Guiseppi-Elie
Chapman University Bioactive Electroconductive Hydrogels for Biosensors and Bioelectronics
Matthew Harrington
McGill University Anatomy and Neuroregulation of a Biological Fiber Factory
Franziska Jehle
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces Snail mucus - A Soft Material with Multiple Functions
Prashant Kumar
Nanyang Technological University Good Vibrations from Programmable Aggregates of Chiral Nanoparticles
Hartmut Löwen
Düsseldorf Unviersity Active Soft Matter
Alejandro Marangoni
University of Guelph Collective Transitions in Edible Fats: A Boundary-Energetics View
Enzo Martinelli
University of Salerno A Bio-Based Solution for Seismic Strengthening of Masonry Buildings: A Cross-Scale Study from Natural Fiber Characterisation to Global Structural Analysis
Gareth McKinley
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Mucins and Mucilaginous Materials for Sustainable Frictional Drag Reduction at High Reynolds Numbers
Pierangelo Metrangolo
Politecnico di Milano Supramolecular Upcycling of Protein Materials
Phil Messersmith
University of California, Berkeley Dynamic Covalent and Supramolecular Polymers for Fetal Membrane Repair: Physical and Pharmacologic Approaches
Raffaele Mezzenga
ETH Zürich Understanding Nanoconfined Water
Ali Miserez
Nanyang Technological University Correlating Sequence/Property Relationships of Peptide Coacervates with their Intracellular Delivery Efficacy
Javier Montenegro
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Conceptually New Supramolecular Systems for Membrane Transport and Beyond
Sergio Moya
CIC BiomaGUNE Supramolecular Assemblies of Polyelectrolytes, Chemotherapeutics, and Charged Lipids for Targeted and Responsive Biomedical Applications
Adam Quotb
National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse Optical Feedback Interferometry as a New Tool for Soft Matter and Soft Surface Sensing
Anna Rising
Karolinska Institutet Spider Silk: A Biological Blueprint for Advanced Soft Matter
Patrick Ruehs
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich (ETHZ) Exploiting Ice Crystal Growth in Food Suspensions
Elke Scholten
Wageningen University Engineering Protein Oleogels through Capillary Suspension Networks
Hanadi Sleiman
McGill University DNA Self-Assembly: From Pathway Complexity to Nucleic Acid Delivery
Francesco Stellacci
Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL) Small Molecules Stabilisation of Proteins and Colloids
Regine von Klitzing
TU Darmstadt Foams Stabilized by Soft Particles: A Multiscale Approach
Carsten Werner
Leibniz Institue of Polymer Research Multifactor Affinity Materials
Yin Yang
University of Nevada, Reno Dithioacetal Bonds as Versatile Building Blocks for Dynamic Polymer Materials
Bruno Zappone
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Self-Assembly of Defect Micropatterns in Smectic Liquid Crystal Films
Eva Zununegui-Bru
INP - Grenoble Nanoconfined water within topologically distinct mesophases: an atomistic study