Animal, Vegetal, Mineral? Emergence and Function of Complex Shapes in Self-Assembly and Biological Cells

‘Animal Vegetal Mineral’ will be an interdisciplinary discussion meeting on structure and pattern formation in biological and synthetic systems. The particular focus will be on geometrically complex nanostructures, in particular those based on triply-periodic minimal surface geometries. While these geometries are found ubiquitously both in biological systems and synthetic self-assembly, it is becoming increasingly clear that fundamental differences in the formation mechanisms of the biotic and abiotic systems exist. These formation processes hinges on geometric concepts -from differential and hyperbolic geometry to computational and stochastic geometry, hence the importance of engaging the Australian Applied Maths community in this interdisciplinary event.