The Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) Student Research Network (SRN) is funded by the National Science Foundation award PHY-2014141, from the Division of Physics, Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and hosted by the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics at Rice University. It is a trans-institutional community-based network of graduate students and graduate student educators all working on the physics of living systems. These institutions have been among the pioneers in stressing the use of both theoretical and experimental physics to further the understanding of biology and biomedicine. The network structure will allow students at participating institutions (and a select number of other students) to interact with their peers (both in-person and in-silico) and collectively help define the research agenda for this field. This program includes visiting research internships to other institutions, which will serve both as a way of broadening students perspectives on possible approaches to difficult research topics and as a way of creating collaborative ties between groups at the various sites. This structure will also enable the exploration of various means of educating these students in biology, while also ensuring that they develop and maintain a firm grounding in physics. For more information describing the program, please view our PoLS Program video.

The iPoLS Annual Meeting, will take place July 28-Aug 1, 2025, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Illinois. You can submit your abstract here. All submitted abstracts will receive full review and will be selected for a talk or a poster. Abstracts received by the March 17 deadline will be given preference for talks, later submissions will be considered for talks as program space allows. You can find meeting information and registration here. You may register for the conference through July 1, 2025. A visa letter, if needed, is provided after registration is completed.
Prior to the PoLS meeting, the NSF Science and Technology Center for Quantitative Cell Biology (QCB) at Illinois, is holding their Summer School in Quantitative Cell Biology July 21-25, 2025. You may apply here. Please consider coming to Illinois for both the QCB Summer School and the iPOLS Meeting.