DPG Spring Meeting in Regensburg March 16-23, 2025

At the DPG Spring Meeting 2025 in Regensburg, we enjoyed in CPP ca. 320 submitted contributions (talks and posters) as well as 14 invited talks. This corresponds to the level of the last meeting, which was held in Regensburg (2022). You find the entire CPP program here.

We thank all invited speakers, session chairs, lecturers and poster presenters as well as the members of the poster committee for their contribution to a successful meeting of the Condensed Matter Section in Regensburg. Moreover, we thank the local organizers, the colleagues of the DPG head office, and the organizers of the symposia. Special thanks go to Lucas P. Kreuzer (TU München) and Simone A. Techert (Uni Göttingen) for organizing the focus session „Interactions Between Water and Cellulose“. Together with the division Biological Phyiscs (BP), common sessions on the topic „Biomaterials, Biopolymers and Bioinspired Functional Materials“ were held. The division CPP participated in the following interdivisional symposia: “AI in (Bio-)Physics”, “Physics of Embryonic Development Across Scales: From DNA to Organisms”, “Pushing the Boundaries of Fair Data Practices for Condensed Matter Insights: From Workflows to Machine Learning”, and “Nonequilibrium Collective Behavior in Open Classical and Quantum Systems”.

The focus session „Interactions Between Water and Cellulose“ addressed the complex interplay between cellulose and water. Two invited talks from Uppsala set the tone for the session: Valentina Guccini demonstrated how water–nanocellulose interactions can be purposefully controlled to develop functional materials, while Malin Wohlert presented multiscale modeling approaches that explain why different types of wood respond differently to moisture. The program was complemented by contributions on conductive, humidity-responsive nanopaper foils (Marie Betker, DESY), molecular simulations of callose and cellulose hydrogels (Robinson Cortes-Huerto, MPI-P Mainz), 3D imaging of fiber swelling in paper (Maximilian Fuchs, TU Graz), and neutron scattering combined with simulations to study water dynamics in amorphous cellulose (Veronika Reich, FRM II). The session stood out for its balanced mix of theory and experiments, and the strong interest of the participants resulted in lively discussions.

The CPP poster awards 2025 were donated by the publisher De Gruyter Brill (Thanks a lot!). They consisted of a certificate as well as an award sum of 250 EUR and were awarded to

• Leonie Beer (TU Darmstadt): Enhancing Endothelial Cell Attachment on PNIPAM-Based Microgel Coatings with RGD Ligand Functionalization
• Martin Tress (Uni Leipzig): Intermolecular bonds - connecting structure and dynamics
• Chinwendu Nancy Anabaraony (Uni Münster): Ionic transport race between lithium and sodium in non-aqueous electrolytes

We thank all members of the poster jury for their great work and congratulate the winners!

The plenary lecture given by Marcus Müller (Uni Göttingen) on “Process-directed formation of nonequilibrium structures in copolymer materials” and the award lecture given by Regine von Klitzing (TU Darmstadt) on “Complex liquids under confinement” attracted a large audience from many divisions.

As always, we appreciate the lively participation at the members’ assembly of the division CPP on March 20, 2025, the discussion and your feedback. As the new 2nd co-chair, Prof. Tayebeh Ameri (Uni Kiel) was elected.