October 13, 2014 to November 7, 2014
Nordita, Stockholm
Europe/Stockholm timezone

Venue

Nordita, Stockholm, Sweden

Scope

Water is ubiquitous and a prerequisite to life as we know it, yet the fundamental origin in terms of structure and dynamics of its many anomalous properties is still under debate. No simulation model is currently able to reproduce these properties throughout the phase diagram. Experimental techniques, such as x-ray spectroscopies and x-ray and neutron scattering, femtosecond pump-probe and free-electron laser experiments in “no man’s land”, provide data that stimulate new theory developments. This program brings together experimentalists and theoreticians in strong synergy to explore interpretations and to provide a strong basis for further experimental and theoretical advances towards a unified picture of water.

The first goal of the program is to identify critical aspects of water’s anomalous behavior that need to be included in new water models in order to give an overall encompassing agreement with experiments. The second goal is to stimulate further developments of models that can also include perturbations due to ion solvation, hydrophobic interactions as well as describe water at interfaces. There currently exist many water models that can describe some properties well, whereas others are poorly represented. In order to have a fundamental understanding of the relationship between thermodynamic, kinetic and chemical properties with the structure and dynamics of water at various state points and in aqueous solutions it is essential to develop a unified description. The program is intended to stimulate a systematic and synergistic approach towards this goal.

[Timetable]

Format

The program will be built around working groups (WG) during weeks 1, 3 and 4 together with an international conference during week 2. There will be four WGs running each week covering different themes. The 1st week will focus on the anomalous properties of water with an emphasis on simulations, the 2nd week will be an international conference, the 3rd week will focus on theoretical description and our fundamental understanding of various experimental techniques to probe the structure, dynamics and thermodynamics of water. The 4th week will extend water models into ion solvation, hydrophobic interactions and interfaces. The format of the working weeks 1,2 and 4 will be a flexible division into working groups where each group has the task to contribute to, and coauthor, a major review summarizing the current state of the art. Each working group will identify areas where agreement has been reached, areas that are contentious and also provide suggestions for new experiments or theoretical developments to resolve the outstanding issues.

Weeks 1, 3 and 4 will have the following general structure:

Monday: WG chairs present their thoughts on topics to discuss and work on during the week. General discussion and first meeting of working groups.

Tuesday-Friday:Each invited speaker will give a half hour presentation followed by discussion. In addition there will be WG sessions to discuss specific topics and work on writing for the review paper. 16:30- General assembly with reports from each WG and general discussion.

Week 1: Thermodynamics and Simulations of Water
Working group Topic WG Chair
WG 1 Thermodynamics of Water Mikhail Anisimov
WG 2 Force Field Simulations Francesco Paesani
WG 3 Ab Initio Simulations Marivi Fernández-Serra
WG 4 Quantum Effects Tom Markland
Week 2: International Conference - See Below
Week 3: Theoretical Interpretations of Experimental Data
Working group Topic WG Chair
WG 5 X-ray Spectroscopy Jan-Erik Rubensson
WG 6 X-ray and Neutron Scattering Marie-Claire Bellissent-Funel
WG 7 Vibrational Spectroscopy and Dynamics Fivos Perakis/Yuki Nagata
WG 8 Confined Water as Model of Supercooled Water Jan Swenson
Week 4: Aqueous Solutions and Interfaces
Working group Topic WG Chair
WG 9 Cations and Anions in Solution Huib Bakker/Nico van der Vegt
WG 10 Protons and Hydroxide Ions Ali Hassanali
WG 11 Biomolecular Hydration Angel Garcia
WG 12 Water at Interfaces Hendrik Bluhm

Week 2: Confirmed Invited Conference Speakers

  • Heather Allen, Ohio State University, USA
  • Austen Angell, Arizona State University, USA
  • Mikhail Anisimov, University of Maryland, USA
  • Chris Benmore, Argonne National Laboratory, USA
  • Mischa Bonn, MPI Mainz, Germany
  • Fabio Bruni, Roma 3, Italy
  • Roberto Car, Princeton University, USA
  • Frédéric Caupin, Université de Lyon, France
  • Thomas Elsaesser, Max-Born-Institut Berlin, Germany
  • Giulia Galli, University of Chicago, USA
  • Paola Gallo, Roma 3, Italy
  • Peter Hamm, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  • Yoshihisa Harada, University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Thomas Kühne, Universität Paderborn, Germany
  • David Limmer, Princeton University, USA
  • Thomas Loerting, University of Innsbruck, Austria
  • Francesco Mallamace, Universitá di Messina, Italy
  • Angelos Michaelides, UC London, UK
  • Iwao Ohmine, Institute for Molecular Science, Japan
  • Francesco Paesani, UC San Diego, USA
  • Athanassios Panagiotopoulos, Princeton University, USA
  • John Rehr, University of Washington, USA
  • Jonas Sellberg, Stockholm University, Sweden
  • James Skinner, UW Madison, USA
  • Gene Stanley, University of Boston, USA
  • Jan Swenson, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
  • Hajime Tanaka, Tokyo University, Japan
  • Renato Torre, University of Firenze, Italy
  • Carlos Vega, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Spain
  • Limei Xu, Peking University, China
  • Application

    If you want to apply for participation in the program, please fill in the application form. You will be informed by the organizers shortly after the application deadline whether your application has been approved. Due to space restrictions, the total number of participants is strictly limited. (Invited speakers and WG chairs are of course automatically approved, but need to register anyway.)

    Application deadline: 31 August 2014

    A minimum stay of one working week is required and we encourage participants to stay for a period of at least two weeks.

    There is no registration fee.

    Travel Reimbursement

    Invited speakers and WG chairs will have their travel expenses reimbursed by the program. Limited travel grants are available to participants in the program. If you are interested in such a grant, please mark the corresponding field in the application form, briefly summarize your interest in the program in the comments field, and indicate an estimation of your expected travel expenses. Since only a limited number of grants is available, decision concerning the grants will be made on a case-by-case basis and you will be notified shortly after the application deadline.

    Accommodation

    Nordita provides a limited number of rooms in the Stockholm apartment hotel BizApartments free of charge for accepted program participants.

    Sponsored by:

    Nordita
    The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

    The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences through its Nobel Institutes for Physics and Chemistry
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    Europe/Stockholm
    Nordita, Stockholm
    132:028