Convergence Workshop on the Mechanics of BioNetworks; Boulder, Colorado; 11-13 May 2026

About This Grant

This grant supports a two and half day interdisciplinary Convergence Workshop on the Mechanics of BioNetworks, MechNet’26, which will take place at the University of Colorado Boulder, 11-13 May 2026, bringing together approximately 40 senior speakers and a broad group of about 30 early-career researchers in biophysics, mechanobiology, and mechanics. The grant provides funding for travel awards for researchers, including Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows, to facilitate participation and participation. The workshop will feature keynote lectures, invited talks, flash presentations, poster sessions, and structured breakout discussions centered on the unifying concept of networks. These activities are designed to foster sustained cross-disciplinary interaction and to identify shared challenges and opportunities at the interface of biology, mechanics, and physics. The specific objectives of this workshop are: 1) to advance the scientific foundations of network mechanics and shape a coherent research agenda for multiscale, adaptive, and living networks, and 2) to promote interdisciplinary collaborations, professional networking, and career development for early-career scientists. MechNet’26 focuses on the unifying concept of networks to bridge the gap between biophysics, mechanobiology, and mechanics. By bringing together leading theorists, experimentalists, and computational scientists, the workshop will identify unifying principles, critical open problems, and promising methodological directions in the mechanics, dynamics, and adaptation of biological and soft-matter networks. The intellectual merit lies in advancing these scientific foundations and fostering integration across disciplines to guide future NSF investments in convergence science, most notably between active matter physics, mechanics, and mechanobiology. The workshop will have broad impacts on workforce development, interdisciplinary education, and community building by engaging and broadening participation to generate momentum in the field. Primary outcomes will include a community-informed white paper with actionable recommendations, a peer-reviewed review and perspective article, and a potential special journal issue to consolidate emerging results and strengthen this community. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.