The goal of this international summer school is twofold.

First, it will provide a series of high-quality introductory lectures on Soft Matter covering the key building blocks, i.e., polymers and colloids, which can be used to formulate dispersions, gels, composites, and soft glassy materials. These materials are ubiquitous in modern engineering applications, as diverse as additive manufacturing, semi-solid flow cells, dip coating, and even adhesive locomotion. In each case, the final material properties are intrinsically coupled to complex mechanical histories. Thanks to contributions from leading experts in the field, the summer school will provide the basics of structural characterization (e.g., scattering, etc.), mechanical characterization (e.g., rheometry), and multiscale modeling, including Molecular Dynamics simulations, coarse-grained approaches (e.g., SGR & fluidity models), and continuum mechanics (e.g., fracture, plasticity, etc.).

Second, the school will apply these concepts by offering more advanced classes focusing on food-related topics. The lectures will be divided into ingredients (e.g., proteins, polysaccharides, and fat), food features, and textural attributes (e.g., interfaces, tribology, and extensional rheometry), as well as industrial applications. We also plan to organize some practical soft matter food science demonstrations.

Organizing Committee

• Emanuela Del Gado (Georgetown Univ.)
• Thibaut Divoux (CNRS, ENS de Lyon)
• Gareth H. McKinley (MIT)
  
• Laurence Ramos (CNRS, L2C Montpellier)