BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//The Advanced Science Research Center - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:The Advanced Science Research Center
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Advanced Science Research Center
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20240310T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20241103T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20250309T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20251102T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20260308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20261101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20270314T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20271107T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260507T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260507T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260418T011137Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260418T011137Z
UID:10001569-1778155200-1778158800@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Neuroscience Spring 2026 Seminar Series - Mike Beckstead
DESCRIPTION:Mike Beckstead\, Ph.D.\, Professor and Hille Family Foundation Chair in Neurodegenerative Disease Research\, Aging & Metabolism Research Program\, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation\, will give a talk titled “Hyperexcitability of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons in mouse Alzheimer’s models”. \nJoin in person at the ASRC auditorium\, or Zoom (Meeting ID: 829 2182 1802 Passcode: 491508). \nView the abstract here.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/neuroscience-spring-2026-seminar-series-mike-beckstead/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/neuroscience-spring-2026-seminar-series-mike-beckstead/SPRING-SEMINAR-050726.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260429T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260429T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260122T200333Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260416T195618Z
UID:10001555-1777464000-1777467600@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Spring '26 Biochem Seminar: Abhishek Singharoy
DESCRIPTION:Inverting Biophysics: From Function to Ensembles \nMost of computational biology is predicated upon the sequence → structure → function → phenotype paradigm. Thanks to artificial intelligence and the availability of data at various scales\, researchers have been trying to bridge gaps between the different tiers of this process\, starting from the age-old genotype–phenotype modeling to CASP and Alphafold’s sequence-structure up to recent attempts to go from sequence to ensemble. However\, physical causality is often missing in the traditional bioinformatic models\, thus far sidelining the AIdriven advances only to predictions of the forward direction. The lecture will introduce physical ideas to conceive generative models that backmap phenotypes down to an ensemble of structures and sequences. For example\, leveraging our work on modeling the diffusion of charge carriers in bioenergetic membranes\, we computed the mechanism of chemokine binding to the Oxford CovidVaccine. With AstraZenaca\, we computationally redesigned the adenovirus vector to prevent potential clotting disorders. Using Google’s inception network algorithm\, we invert this immune recognition function into a generalizable learning strategy of electrostatic structures across proteins. We are now using this electrostatic network to study disease association in patients\, as well as design peptide therapeutics\, and search of hidden toxins\, covering the entire human proteome\, generalizing the molecular function-to-ensemble paradigm. \nPlease use this link to access Zoom. \nFor any questions\, please contact Hyacinth Camillieri at hcamillieri@gc.cuny.edu
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-abhishek-singharoy/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Structural Biology
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-abhishek-singharoy/20260429_singharoy_flyer.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260415T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260415T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260122T200230Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260408T152158Z
UID:10001554-1776254400-1776258000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Spring '26 Biochem Seminar: Pratyush Tiwary
DESCRIPTION:AI augmented molecular simulations for predicting protein and RNA structural ensembles\nAI is now everywhere in chemistry\, from structure prediction to molecule generation to automated synthesis. The excitement is real\, but so is the unease about what is genuinely predictive and what is closer to impressive memorization. In this colloquium I will take a statistical physicist’s perspective and use examples from my group’s work to argue for cautious\, but clear\, enthusiasm for AI in chemistry and allied fields. I will show how we combine generative AI with statistical mechanics to learn Boltzmann weighted ensembles from limited training data\, and then extrapolate across temperature\, pressure\, and other thermodynamic conditions reducing the need for explicit\, expensive simulations or experiments. I will highlight the breadth of these methods through applications that include nucleation of crystal polymorphs under nanoconfinement\, prediction of protein and RNA structural ensembles\, and conformation selective drug discovery efforts aimed at Alzheimer’s disease and hypertension. Time permitting\, I will discuss briefly what I think are the biggest challenges facing chemistry research and education as we proceed with the perhaps inevitable adoption of AI. \nPlease use this link to access Zoom. \nFor any questions\, please contact Hyacinth Camillieri at hcamillieri@gc.cuny.edu
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-pratyush-tiwary/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Structural Biology
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-pratyush-tiwary/20260415_tiwary_flyer.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260331T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260331T140000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260319T012951Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260319T012951Z
UID:10001565-1774962000-1774965600@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Dissertation Defense - Anna Flury (MCD)
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Tuesday\, March 31st\, for Anna Flury‘s Dissertation Defense Seminar titled “Elucidating the Mechanisms of Microglia-Mediated Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s Disease“! \nAttend in person at the CUNY ASRC Auditorium or via Zoom (Meeting ID: 829 1434 2008 Passcode: 351468). Please refer to the flyer and the thesis abstract for more details. \n 
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/dissertation-defense-anna-flury-mcd/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/dissertation-defense-anna-flury-mcd/Predefense-Seminar-Flyer-Flury_A.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260325T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260325T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260122T200053Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260312T185612Z
UID:10001553-1774440000-1774443600@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Spring '26 Biochem Seminar: Margaret Stratton
DESCRIPTION:Tuning a Master Kinase: How CaMKII variants are deployed and degraded \nCa²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a central signaling enzyme that regulates neuronal plasticity\, fertilization\, and cardiac function. Although its catalytic and oligomerization domains are highly conserved\, extensive alternative splicing within a variable linker region generates numerous CaMKII proteoforms whose functional roles remain unclear. Transcript sequencing of human hippocampus reveals three CaMKIIα splice variants in human hippocampal tissue. Biochemical and cellular analyses show that linker composition tunes CaMKII activation by Ca²⁺/calmodulin\, with electrostatic effects that modulate regulatory segment accessibility. In addition to activation control\, CaMKII signaling is regulated by selective degradation: activated CaMKII is targeted by the ubiquitin–proteasome system. Together\, these results reveal how alternative splicing and ubiquitin-dependent turnover cooperate to tune the activity of this master kinase. \nPlease use this link to access Zoom. \nFor any questions\, please contact Hyacinth Camillieri at hcamillieri@gc.cuny.edu
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-margaret-stratton/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Structural Biology
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-margaret-stratton/20260325_stratton_flyer.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260325T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260325T120000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260325T120220Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260325T144244Z
UID:10001567-1774436400-1774440000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Photonics Initiative Seminar: Ventsislav K. Valev
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ventsislav K. Valev \nTitle: Polarization-Resolved Nonlinear Optical Activity in Scattering \nAbstract:  Nonlinear optical activity in scattered light\, first predicted in 1979\, has recently become experimentally accessible. The original theory encompassed both elastic scattering and its inelastic counterpart\, hyper-Raman. In elastic scattering\, depending on the ratio between particle size and wavelength\, light scattering is typically classified into Rayleigh\, Mie\, and Tyndall regimes. Their nonlinear counterparts\, hyper-Rayleigh\, hyper-Mie\, and hyper-Tyndall scattering\, arise when the emitted light occurs at harmonic frequencies of the excitation. In chiral systems\, these processes give rise to optical activity\, manifesting as differences in the scattered intensity for opposite polarizations. Recent experiments have established nonlinear optical activity across multiple scattering regimes and harmonic orders; even and odd order nonlinearities follow distinct selection rules and probe different aspects of nanomaterials. We have further shown that chiral nanoparticles can transfer chirality to achiral molecules\, giving riseto both Raman and hyper-Raman optical activity. \nSo far\, however\, nonlinear optical activity in scattering has primarily been detected through intensity-based measurements. In this talk\, I will present some of our latest results demonstrating that chirality can also be directly encoded in the polarization state of the scattered light. This observation opens another dimension for probing nonlinear chiral light–matter interactions\, in both elastic and inelastic scattering regimes. \nBio: Ventsislav K. Valev is a Professor of Physics – Laser Nanoscience\, and Associate Dean (Research) at the University of Bath\, UK. He is internationally recognized for his work in nanophotonics and nonlinear optics\, and is a Fellow of Optica\, SPIE\, the Institute of Physics\, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 2023\, he was awarded the Thomas Young Medal by the Institute of Physics\, and he has developed a substantial\, award-winning outreach program.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-ventsislav-k-valev/
LOCATION:ASRC 1st Floor Seminar Room\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Photonics
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T123000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260315T212028Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260315T212530Z
UID:10001562-1774350000-1774355400@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Dissertation Defense - Jacquelyn Tomaio (Neuroscience)
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Tuesday\, March 24th\, for Jacquelyn Tomaio‘s Dissertation Defense Seminar titled “Aging Drives Selective Vulnerability of Dopamine–Glutamate Projections to the Lateral Entorhinal Cortex\, Weakening Dopamine Release and Novelty Discrimination“! \nAttend in person at the CUNY ASRC Auditorium or via Zoom (Meeting ID: 839 0024 9544 Passcode: 452588). Please refer to the flyer for more details. \n 
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/dissertation-defense-jacquelyn-tomaio/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/dissertation-defense-jacquelyn-tomaio/PredefenseSeminar-Flyer_Tomaio_J.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260323T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260323T150000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260323T152351Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260323T152351Z
UID:10001566-1774274400-1774278000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Photonics Initiative Seminar: Philipp Del Hougne
DESCRIPTION:Universal wave-control framework for extremely tunable microwave systems \nWave-domain programmability emerges as technological enabler of next-generation microwave systems for wireless communications\, sensing\, and wave-domain computing. In this talk\, I will\ndescribe our recent progress toward establishing a universal framework for controlling waves in extremely tunable microwave systems. The predominance of reconfiguration mechanisms based on tunable lumped elements leads to a universal abstraction of these systems in terms of a multiport-network representation\, capable of accurately capturing all relevant electromagnetic interactions between the tunable elements. I will explain how we experimentally calibrate such models for diverse systems such as dynamic metasurface antennas and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces. Then\, I will describe how we navigate the design space based on these models to identify fundamental bounds on realizable functionalities\, as well as configurations closely approaching these bounds. I will outline how these results contribute to the development of a prototype-aware electromagnetic information theory for programmable channels. Finally\, I will discuss principles for system\ndesign to maximize the wave-domain flexibility\, including enhanced dwell times\, non-local programmability\, and time modulation
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-philipp-del-hougne/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Photonics
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-philipp-del-hougne/Photonics-Philipp-del-Hougne.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260323T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260323T150000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260318T220256Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260319T145921Z
UID:10001564-1774274400-1774278000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Universal Wave-Control Framework  for Extremely Tunable Microwave Systems
DESCRIPTION:Wave-domain programmability emerges as technological enabler of next-generation microwave systems for wireless communications\, sensing\, and wave-domain computing. In this talk\, Professor Philipp Del Hougne will describe his lab’s recent progress toward establishing a universal framework for controlling waves in extremely tunable microwave systems. Join us in person at the CUNY ASRC or remotely on Monday\, March 23! \nZoom:\nMeeting ID: 854 4777 9784\nPasscode: 947054\nMeeting Link: https://bit.ly/4siDO54 \n \nDownload flyer
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/universal-wave-control-framework-for-extremely-tunable-microwave-systems/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Photonics
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/universal-wave-control-framework-for-extremely-tunable-microwave-systems/GettyImages-2207828720_1280x720.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260320T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260320T120000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260318T174208Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260319T150350Z
UID:10001563-1774004400-1774008000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Heterogeneously Integrated Photonic Systems for Quantum Science
DESCRIPTION:Metasurfaces\, subwavelength optical interfaces that control the amplitude\, phase\, and polarization of light\, have transformed flat optics\, yet extending this control from static wavefront shaping to dynamic\, real-time manipulation remains a central challenge. In this talk\, scientist Prasad P. Iyer will show how his lab’s research addresses this challenge across increasing levels of complexity: from steering coherent laser beams\, to directing spontaneous emission\, to controlling quantum light. Join us in person at the CUNY ASRC or remotely on Friday\, March 20! \nZoom:\nMeeting ID: 869 1553 7863 Passcode: 073925\nMeeting Link: https://bit.ly/4sBL9Nz \n \nDownload flyer
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/heterogeneously-integrated-photonic-systems-for-quantum-science/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Photonics
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/heterogeneously-integrated-photonic-systems-for-quantum-science/GettyImages-1305059695_1280x720.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T143000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260310T161826Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260311T201824Z
UID:10001559-1773838800-1773844200@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Nanoscience Joint Speaker Seminar: Dr. Sebastián Díaz and Dr. Katarzyna Szot-Karpińska
DESCRIPTION:  \nTalk Title: Peptide Based Liquid-Liquid Coacervates for Biosensing\, Degradation Resistance\, and as Biofoundries\nDr. Sebastián Díaz\, Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory \nAbstract: Imitating nature\, we combine various biotechnologies\, e.g. peptide-based liquid-liquid phase separations and DNA nanostructures\, to access advanced functionalities. Peptide-based liquid-liquid phase separated domains\, also known as coacervates\, are neither pure homogenous liquid phase nor a heterogenous aggregate\, displaying varying degrees of order. We’ve demonstrated that sequestration of DNA biosensors within coacervates allows for a >20-fold reduction of the limit of detection; an increase in the kinetics; and enhancement in the dye fluorescent quantum yields within the coacervates\, resulting in greater signal-to-noise. We have also found that coacervates protect DNA from nuclease degradation while subsequently allowing for release from the coacervate upon proper stimuli\, which could have implications for nucleotide delivery applications. In a third demonstration\, enzymatic cascades are sequestered into coacervates improving product flux through the system by exploiting enzyme stabilization and intermediate channeling. We present some of our latest work integrating biotechnologies with inorganic nanoparticles to combine and further their novel materials capabilities. \nBio: Sebastián Díaz received his Licentiate in Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Georg-August Universität Göttingen (Germany) while working at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. He is currently a research chemist at the Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington\, D.C. His research focuses on the functionalization of nanoparticles for probe development\, controlling energy transfer pathways at the nanoscale\, and interfacing nanotechnology with biology and soft matter for novel materials and catalysis. \n— \nTalk Title: Peptide Probes for Molecular Recognition of C-Reactive Protein: A Combined Study\nDr. Katarzyna Szot-Karpińska\, Institute of Physical Chemistry\, Polish Academy of Sciences\, 01-224 Warsaw\, Poland \nAbstract: We investigate the interactions between C-reactive protein (CRP) and newly developed CRP-binding peptides using biological and physicochemical experiments supported by computational modelling. Three specific CRP-binding peptides (P2\, P3\, P9) have been identified using M13 phage-display technology. The binding properties of the phage displayed peptides to CRP were demonstrated using biological assays. Fibres of the selected phages/peptides interact differently due to different compositions of amino acid sequences on the exposed peptides\, which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Numerical and experimental studies consistently showed that the P3 peptide is the best CRP binder. A combination of theoretical and experimental methods demonstrates that identifying the best binder can be done cheaply and quickly. Such an approach has not been reported previously for peptide screening and demonstrates a new trend in science\, where calculations can replace or support laborious experimental techniques. Finally\, the best CRP binder – the P3 peptide – was used for CRP recognition on silicate-modified indium tin oxide-coated glass electrodes. The obtained electrodes exhibit a wide operational range (1.0-100 µg mL-1) and a detection limit (LOD = 3σ/S) of 0.34 µg mL-1. The dissociation constant (Kd) of 35 ± 1.2 nM was determined from the change in the current. The selectivity of the obtained electrode was demonstrated in the presence of three interfering proteins [1]. Moreover\, the affinity of the P3 peptide for CRP was demonstrated under biologically relevant conditions. The P3 peptide was used as a recognition element in a point-of-care testing sequential microfluidic device. The device was tested with serum\, plasma\, and whole blood samples to validate its applicability\, yielding satisfactory results and a very low limit of detection compared to an antibody-based device on the same platform. These results indicate that the P3 peptide is a promising CRP‑binding ligand that could serve as an alternative to specific antibodies [2]. \nBio: Katarzyna Szot-Karpińska received her M.Sc. in chemistry at the University of Warsaw in 2007. She completed a PhD with honours at the Institute of Physical Chemistry\, Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS) in 2012. From 2012 to 2014\, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Gdansk\, Poland. After her postdoc\, she joined the Surface Nanoengineering for Chemo- and Bio-Sensors at IPC PAS\, where she completed her habilitation in 2024 and is currently an assistant professor. She gained her scientific experience in Germany\, France\, the United Kingdom\, Italy\, Slovenia and the United States. She also completed postgraduate studies in 2025\, in Organization and Management of Clinical Trials\, at Lazarski University\, Warsaw\, Poland\, “Therapeutic peptides in clinical trials”. Her research interests focus on studies on protein-peptide/protein interactions\, molecular recognition\, and the development of new bioreceptors for biosensors\, using biological (phage display technology) and physicochemical (microscopic\, spectroscopic and electrochemical) methods. \n 
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/nanoscience-joint-speaker-seminar-dr-sebastian-diaz-and-dr-katarzyna-szot-karpinska/
LOCATION:ASRC 5th Floor Data Visualization Room\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Nanoscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/nanoscience-joint-speaker-seminar-dr-sebastian-diaz-and-dr-katarzyna-szot-karpinska/Nanoscience-Joint-Speaker-Seminar-March-18th-2026.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260311T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260311T143000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260313T154652Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260313T154652Z
UID:10001560-1773235800-1773239400@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Photonics Initiative Seminar: Dimitrios Sounas
DESCRIPTION:Wave Engineering with Active Metamaterials: Nonreciprocity\, Bandwidth Enhancement\, and Analog Computing \nModern technological systems are subject to escalating demands for miniaturization\, speed\, adaptability\, and energy efficiency. Conventional design approaches are increasingly approaching\nfundamental performance limits. Overcoming these constraints requires adopting novel material platforms that are not subject to the constraints of conventional materials. To this end\, time-modulated\, tunable\, and nonlinear metamaterials are particularly promising\, as they enable fundamentally new wave phenomena. In this talk\, I will present our recent theoretical and experimental advances toward the development of electromagnetic devices with unprecedented capabilities for communication and computing systems based on active metamaterials. I will discuss the fundamental physics of time modulated media and demonstrate how they can be engineered to overcome symmetry constraints and bandwidth limitations inherent to passive\ndevices. I will then highlight our progress in linear analog computing with metamaterials\, with particular emphasis on the design of programmable platforms. Finally\, I will present recent results on dynamic effects in nonlinear metamaterials and discuss how these phenomena may enable a new generation of wave-based computing architectures. \nBio: Dimitrios Sounas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Wayne State University. He focuses on the theory and design of active metamaterials\, with major contributions in the development of nonreciprocal devices. He has authored or co-authored over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals\, more than 180 conference abstracts\, 6 patents\, and he has received more than 15\,000 citations. \nDimitrios is a Senior Member of IEEE. He is the recipient of the 2020 EurAAP Leopold B. Felsen Award from the European Antennas and Propagation Society and the 2021 Brillouin Medal from the International Phononics Society. He has chaired and organized various sessions in international symposia. He is an Associate Editor for the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine\, a guest editor for Optical Materials Express\, and a reviewer for more than 20 engineering and physics journals.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-dimitrios-sounas/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Photonics
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-dimitrios-sounas/PHOTONICS-Flyer_Dimitrios-Sounas.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260311T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260311T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260122T195948Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260305T220731Z
UID:10001552-1773230400-1773234000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Spring '26 Biochem Seminar: James Fraser
DESCRIPTION:Statistical Structural Biology \nIn a post-“structure prediction is solved” world\, our lab is obsessed with the concept of statistical structural biology. We collect large datasets (X-ray fragment screens from 1000s of individual crystals) and use new statistical approaches to identify small molecule binders. This inspires new inhibitors\, allosteric modulators\, and enzyme design strategies. We also examine how experimental information encodes statistical distributions of conformations. This inspires software (e.g. qFit) that reveals hidden conformations\, new guidance frameworks for diffusion models that reveals memorization\, and experiments to extract even more information. These two aspects are synergistic in examining many aspects of biology. A current focus is the promiscuity of ligand binding in drug metabolism proteins\, as part of the OpenADMET. \nPlease use this link to access Zoom. \nFor any questions\, please contact Hyacinth Camillieri at hcamillieri@gc.cuny.edu
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-series-james-fraser/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Structural Biology
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-series-james-fraser/20260311_fraser_flyer-1.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260309T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260309T120000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260313T155023Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260313T155023Z
UID:10001561-1773054000-1773057600@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Photonics Initiative Seminar: Giovanni Scuri
DESCRIPTION:Heterogeneously integrated photonic systems for quantum science \nPhotonic integration of solid-state quantum emitters offers a promising route to scalable on-chip quantum technologies. Achieving this goal requires combining material platforms that provide both strong opto-electronic tunability and robust qubit coherence. In this talk\, I will discuss our recent progress in characterizing and enhancing the coherence of emerging solid-state spin-qubit systems\, as well as in identifying materials with large electro-optic and piezoelectric nonlinearities at cryogenic temperatures\, where many quantum platforms operate. These results provide a pathway toward realizing heterogeneously integrated quantum devices for applications in quantum simulation and sensing. \nGiovanni Scuri is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University\, working in the group of Professor Jelena Vučković. His work bridges nonlinear optics and solidstate quantum systems\, aiming to build hybrid platforms that enable new capabilities in quantum sensing\, networking\, and simulation. He develops efficient spin-photon interfaces and coherent control techniques for solid-state qubits\, while also exploring novel materials with large electro-optic tunability for next-generation active photonic and quantum interconnect technologies. For this research\, he was awarded the Bloch Postdoctoral Fellowship in Quantum Science and Engineering from the Stanford-SLAC Quantum Initiative (QFARM). Giovanni received a B.A. in Physics from Columbia University and a PhD in Physics from Harvard University. As a doctoral student in Professor Hongkun Park’s group\, he studied excitonic physics in atomically thin semiconductors\, advancing both the understanding of strongly correlated electronic systems and the development of optoelectronic devices at the atomically thin limit.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-giovanni-scuri/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Photonics
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-giovanni-scuri/PHOTONICS-flyer-Giovanni-Scuri.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260305T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260305T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260225T183658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260225T183843Z
UID:10001558-1772712000-1772715600@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Neuroscience Spring 2026 Seminar Series - Edward Vessel
DESCRIPTION:Edward Vessel\, Ph.D.\, Eugene Surowitz Assistant Professor of Psychology of The City College of New York\, will give a talk titled “An interactionist approach to the neuroscience of aesthetics”. \nJoin in person at the ASRC auditorium\, or Zoom (Meeting ID: 893 5219 3004 Passcode: 026235). \nView the abstract here.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/neuroscience-spring-2026-seminar-series-edward-vessel/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/neuroscience-spring-2026-seminar-series-edward-vessel/SPRING-SEMINAR-030526.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260304T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260304T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260122T195846Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260219T155919Z
UID:10001551-1772625600-1772629200@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Spring '26 Biochem Seminar: Neil L. Kelleher
DESCRIPTION:Digitizing Proteoform Biology with Single Molecule & Single Cell Mass Spectrometry \nSince the completion of the Human Genome Project\, much has been made of the need to bridge the gap from genes and traits. As a key nexus for the many interacting ‘-omes’ (genome\,\ntranscriptome\, proteome\, metabolome\, etc.)\, the proteome should offer a tight link between genotype and phenotype. Proteoforms\, or all of the precise molecular forms of a protein\, capture all sources of variability in protein composition (i.e.\, SNPs\, isoforms\, posttranslational modifications)\, and thus provide crucial insights into regulation and function. Now\, “single ion” mass spectrometry is poised to convert genes to proteoform signatures at a far faster rate. Recently we developed proteoform imaging mass spectrometry (PiMS)\, with individual ion mass spectrometry. This platform has been extended now to single-cell Proteoform imaging Mass Spectrometry (scPiMS)\, boosting cell processing rates by >20-fold in the field while detecting proteoforms from single cells. \nPlease use this link to access Zoom. \nFor any questions\, please contact Hyacinth Camillieri at hcamillieri@gc.cuny.edu
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-neil-l-kelleher/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Structural Biology
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-neil-l-kelleher/20260304_kelleher_flyer.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260219T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260219T120000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20251202T190632Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T133919Z
UID:10001541-1771498800-1771502400@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Photonics Initiative Seminar: Javier Garcia De Abajo
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Javier Garcia De Abajo (ICREA) \nTitle: When free electrons meet light: Quantum interactions at the nanoscale \nAbstract: At the intersection of electron microscopy and attosecond science\, ultrafast electron microscopy has emerged as a research frontier aiming to investigate material excitations with an unprecedented combination of spatiotemporal resolution\, while also granting us access to quantum phenomena involving photonic nanostructures. In this context\, we will discuss the fundamental principles governing the interactions between free electrons\, light\, and photonic media\, with an emphasis on exploring quantum aspects that include electron decoherence caused by coupling to radiative modes\, the generation of quantum states of light\, and new approaches for quantum sensing and metrology\, highlighting the unique characteristics of free electron–light interactions that enable access to previously unexplored physics. \nBio: Javier García de Abajo is an ICREA Research Professor and leader of the Nanophotonics Theory Group at ICFO–Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques in Barcelona. His interests include electron microscopy\, light-matter interactions\, quantum optics\, condensed matter physics\, ultrafast phenomena\, and nanophotonics. His group applies theoretical and computational techniques to investigate new phenomena and explore their potential application in microscopy\, sensing\, and information processing. He has co-authored 450+ papers cited 70\,000+ times with an h index of 128 (Google Scholar\, Feb. 2025). He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society\, the Optical Society of America\, and the Electromagnetic Academy. \nZoom Meeting ID894 3655 9130 Passcode 952358 \n2026 02 19 Photonics Seminar flier
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-garcia-de-abajo/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Photonics
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260218T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260218T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260122T195707Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260209T142433Z
UID:10001550-1771416000-1771419600@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Spring '26 Biochem Seminar: Edward P. O'Brien\, Jr.
DESCRIPTION:How a novel class of protein misfolding is associated with changes in enzyme activity\, proteostasis\, aging\, and disease \nUtilizing simulations\, experimental data\, and data science\, my lab predicted the existence of a previously undiscovered\, widespread class of protein misfolding that can result in soluble\, loss-of-function states\, some of which evade the proteostasis network. This class of misfolding involves structural changes in geometric motifs called non-covalent lasso entanglements\, which are found in 70% of the native structures of globular proteins. In this talk\, I will synthesize six lines of evidence: (1) proteome-wide and atomistic simulations establish the prevalence and physical plausibility of self-entanglement; (2) translation-speed changes from synonymous mutations can re-partition folding trajectories into slowly interconverting\, near-native entangled ensembles with reduced catalytic efficiency; (3) native-like surfaces coupled to these topological barriers explain how some misfolded states bypass chaperones; that these misfolded states are associated with (4) increased nascent protein degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in human fibroblast cells\, (5) with structural changes in proteins that occur during yeast mother cell aging\, and (6) with a higher likelihood of harboring pathogenic mutations in human diseases. Taken together\, simulations and experiments areconverging on a unified picture in which entanglement misfolding is common\, biologically consequential\, and measurable. \nPlease use this link to access Zoom. \nPlease contact Hyacinth Camillieri at hcamillieri@gc.cuny.edu if you have any questions.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-edward-p-obrien-jr/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Structural Biology
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260210T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260210T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260203T202214Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260203T202921Z
UID:10001557-1770724800-1770728400@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Nanoscience Guest Speaker: Dr. Saptarashmi Bandyopadhyay\, "Distributed AI Agents for Scientific Discovery and Real-World Decision-Making"
DESCRIPTION:Talk Topic: \nDistributed AI Agents for Scientific Discovery and Real-World Decision-Making \nSpeaker Bio: \nSaptarashmi Bandyopadhyay is a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the City University of New York at the City College of New York and the Graduate Center. He graduated with his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Maryland\, College Park (UMD) advised by Prof. John Dickerson and Prof. Tom Goldstein\, in Summer 2025. His research on Multi-Agent AI for Autonomous Decision Making in the Real World addresses the challenges and opportunities of building AI Agents to plan\, reason\, and navigate in AR/VR\, Supply Chains\, Recommender Systems\, Robotics\, Self-Driving Cars\, Climate Conservation\, and other domains. He works with Reinforcement Learning\, Imitation Learning\, Model Predictive Control\, LLMs\, VLMs\, and Game Theory algorithms to train AI Agents with Social Intelligence to take actions and provide insights at scale. He has been a Ph.D. Student Researcher at Google Augmented Reality and Google DeepMind in the Multimodal Conversational AI and Astra AR teams creating Multimodal (Audio\, Vision and Language) AI Agents to proactively assist users. At UMD\, he has been the Lead PhD RA of a DoD project on Explainable AI Agents. Saptarashmi has published twenty-six research papers in top AI venues including AAAI\, ACM AAMAS\, NeurIPS\, EMNLP\, ACL\, SPIE\, and others. He chaired the Multi-Agent AI in the Real World Workshop at AAAI-25 and created the MARL Seminar at UMD\, hosting prominent speakers from industry and academia including Turing Award Laureates. Previously\, Saptarashmi was an AI Resident at Google X\, and did research internships at CNRS LORIA and INRIA in France (as a Charpak Scholar)\, and DFKI and the University of Saarland in Germany. He is a Do-Good Fellow and Dean’s Summer Fellow at UMD. Further research details can be found on his websites https://sites.google.com/view/saptarashmi/about and https://www.gc.cuny.edu/people/saptarashmi-bandyopadhyay  \nTalk Abstract: \nArtificial Intelligence (AI) Agents are increasingly being deployed in Robotics\, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality\, Self-Driving Cars\, Scientific Discovery\, Network Communications\, and other domains. Agents need to reliably cooperate with humans using algorithms such as Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) and Imitation Learning (IL). In this talk\, Saptarashmi will introduce an imitate-then-commit algorithm for AI Agents by unifying concepts from IL and Computational Game Theory to cooperate and align in settings where they have similar goals but different priorities. Guarantees on this approach are stronger than a naive reduction of the alignment problem to IL. Saptarashmi will then share a Multimodal Agentic Model Predictive Control framework to allow fine-grained tuning of Imitation Learning demonstrations\, using VLMs\, to train autonomous vehicles with better spatio-temporal reasoning and improved control dynamics. Next\, Saptarashmi will share real-world applications of AI Agents\, including YETI (YET-to-Intervene) Multimodal Agents which efficiently detect when to autonomously intervene while interacting with users in AR for planning\, guidance\, navigation\, fixing mistakes or other tasks. He will introduce his research on improving automated scientific discovery in protein structures\, neuroscientific modeling\, accelerated photonics and material design. His focus on improving on scalable and dynamic exploration and dynamic prediction of protein structures has led to domain-specific improvements over Alphafold. He will introduce solutions to the problem of energy and system efficiency for these intelligent agents with a Multi-Agent AI Designer to reliably assist and stabilize these challenges. He will also share his research on AI Agents for Climate Conservation\, Education\, Supply Chain Orchestration\, Building Engineering Automation and other areas. Saptarashmi will highlight the importance of training such AI Agents at scale efficiently and introduce JAXMARL\, the fastest open-source MARL library with up to 12\,500× speedup over alternatives. Together\, his talk shows the promise of efficient and generalizable Deep Learning algorithms\, guiding AI Agents and Multi-Agent Decision Making with human interaction to solve real-world problems which add new capabilities to AI Agents such as planning\, reasoning and navigation while optimizing system performance by distributed processing.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/nanoscience-guest-speaker-dr-saptarashmi-bandyopadhyay-distributed-ai-agents-for-scientific-discovery-and-real-world-decision-making/
LOCATION:ASRC 5th Floor Data Visualization Room\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Nanoscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/nanoscience-guest-speaker-dr-saptarashmi-bandyopadhyay-distributed-ai-agents-for-scientific-discovery-and-real-world-decision-making/Nano-Photonics-Seminar-Dr.-Shomeek-Mukhopadhyay-Feb-10th-2026.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260209T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260209T120000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20250912T191047Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260107T124855Z
UID:10001522-1770634800-1770638400@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Photonics Initiative Seminar: Itai Cohen
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Itai Cohen\, Cornell University\nElectronically Integrated Autonomous Microscopic Robots\nAbstract – What would we be able to do if we could build electronically integrated machines the at a scale of 100 microns? At this scale\, semiconductor devices are small enough that we could put the computational power of the spaceship Voyager onto a machine that could be injected into the body. Such robots could have on board detectors\, power sources\, and processors that enable them to sense\, interact\, and control their local environment. In this talk I will describe several cutting edge technologies we are developing to achieve this vision. \nBio – Itai Cohen received his BS in Physics from the University of California at Los Angeles\, and his PhD in Physics from the University of Chicago. Following his graduate studies\, he was a Post-doctoral fellow in Physics and the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at Harvard University. In 2005 he joined Cornell and is currently a professor of Physics. \nZoom Meeting ID 851 4410 9109 Password 759514
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-itai-cohen/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Photonics
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260205T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260205T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260203T024204Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260205T033924Z
UID:10001556-1770292800-1770296400@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Neuroscience Spring 2026 Seminar Series - Patrizia Casaccia
DESCRIPTION:Patrizia Casaccia\, M.D.\, Ph.D.\, Einstein Professor of Biochemistry\, Biology and Neuroscience of the CUNY Graduate Center\, Founding Director of ASRC Neuroscience Initiative\, will give a talk titled “A multiscale approach to myelination and myelin-related disorders”. \nJoin in person at the ASRC Data Viz Room\, or via Zoom (Meeting ID 842 0580 1471\, Passcode 608719).
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/neuroscience-spring-2026-seminar-series-patrizia-casaccia/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/neuroscience-spring-2026-seminar-series-patrizia-casaccia/NI_Seminar_02052026.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260203T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260203T120000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20251210T125531Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260126T144638Z
UID:10001543-1770116400-1770120000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Photonics Initiative Seminar: Rainer Hillenbrand
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Rainer Hillenbrand\, CIC nanoGUNE\nPolaritonic Insights from Near-field Nanoscopy:\nFlat-Band Ultrastrong Coupling and Plasmons in Gold Monolayers\n\nAbstract – Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and nanoscale Fourier-transform infrared (nano-FTIR) spectroscopy probe light–matter interactions at the nanoscale using the sharp tip an atomic force microscope (AFM) as an optical antenna. The illuminated tip generates a strongly confined near field that couples to local excitations in the sample\, and the scattered light is recorded to reveal these interactions. These techniques enable the local excitation and detection of\, for example\, phonons\, plasmons\, and polaritons in both bulk and low-dimensional materials across a broad spectral range [1]. After a brief introduction to the technique\, I will present recent studies on polariton mapping. \nUsing pump–probe nano-FTIR\, we investigate the coupling between optical phonons in a thin SiC layer and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in an InAs substrate. By tuning the SPP dispersion to align with the SiC phonon\, we observe ultrastrong coupling with a mode splitting exceeding 20%. Owing to the flat SPP dispersion\, this ultrastrong coupling extends over an unusual wide momentum range\, realizing a flat-band ultrastrong coupling regime [2]. \nWe further apply near-field nanoscopy to study a stable\, quasi-freestanding gold monolayer (ML-Au) formed by intercalating gold atoms between graphene and a SiC substrate [3]. Via polariton interferometry\, we obtain clear evidence of plasmon polaritons. From the experimental images\, we extract the plasmon dispersion and model it with a two-dimensional Drude conductivity. The Drude weight is found to be roughly twice that of bulk gold\, consistent with values obtained from DFT band-structure calculations\, highlighting ML-Au as a promising platform for low-dimensional plasmonics and optoelectronic applications [4]. \n\nHillenbrand et al.\, Nat. Rev. Matter. 10\, 285 (2025)\nVicentini et al.\, Nat. Mater. (2025) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02412-6\nForti et al.\, Nat. Commun. 11\, 2236 (2020)\nBylinkin et al.\, in preparation\n\nBio – Rainer Hillenbrand is an Ikerbasque Research Professor and Nanooptics Group Leader at the nanoscience research center CIC nanoGUNE in San Sebastian (Basque Country\, Spain)\, and a Joint Professor at the University of the Basque Country. He is also co-founder of the company neaspec GmbH (Germany)\, now part of attocube systems AG (Germany)\, which develops and manufactures near-field optical microscopes. From 1998 to 2007 he worked at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemisty (Martinsried\, Germany)\, where he led the Nano-Photonics Research Group from 2003 to 2007. He obtained his PhD degree in physics from the Technical University of Munich in 2001. \nHillenbrand’s research activities include the development of scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM)\, nanoscale Fourier transform infrared (nano-FTIR) spectroscopy and related techniques\, as well as their application in nanophotonics and materials sciences. He has published more than 190 peer-reviewed articles with over 30000 citations. In 2014 he received the Ludwig-Genzel-Price “for the design and development of infrared near-field spectroscopy and the application of the novel spectroscopy method in different fields of natural sciences”. \nZoom Meeting ID 815 5135 5607 Passcode 226190 \n2026 02 03 Photonics Seminar flier
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/photonics-initiative-seminar-hillenbrand/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Photonics
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260128T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260128T133000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260114T195118Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260114T195252Z
UID:10001548-1769603400-1769607000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:LinkedIn Training for Academics
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a practical\, beginner-friendly workshop on how academics can use LinkedIn to showcase their expertise\, expand professional networks\, and increase the visibility of their research and teaching. This session will cover optimizing profiles for academic and public-facing work\, understanding how the platform’s algorithm works\, and crafting posts that highlight publications\, projects\, events\, and career milestones without feeling self-promotional. Participants will also learn strategies for engaging with scholarly\, nonprofit\, and industry communities; building credibility over time; and using LinkedIn in ways that support public scholarship\, career development\, and institutional visibility. The training will be held live on Zoom and includes time for questions and real-world examples. \nRegister to attend at https://bit.ly/4pD08nK
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/linkedin-training-for-academics/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Environmental Sciences,Nanoscience,Neuroscience,Photonics,Structural Biology
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/bluesky-training-for-academics/GettyImages-1311107708_1280x852.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260128T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260128T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260122T161031Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260122T161031Z
UID:10001549-1769601600-1769605200@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Spring '26 Biochem Seminar: Christine Mayr
DESCRIPTION:Structure\, Dynamics and Assembly of Human Antimicrobial Protein \nMore than 2\,700 human mRNA 3′UTRs have hundreds of highly conserved (HC) nucleotides\, but their biological roles are unclear. A large fraction of mRNAs with highly conserved 3′UTRs\nencodes proteins with long intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). For the tested candidates\, we observed that these proteins are only fully active when translated from mRNA templates that include their 3′UTRs\, raising the possibility of functional interactions between 3′UTRs and IDRs. Rather than affecting protein abundance or localization\, we find that highly conserved 3′UTRs directly control protein activity through protein folding of IDR-containing proteins. Presence of the 3′UTR is required to prevent interference of hydrophobic clusters in the IDR with the folding of the structured domains of the mRNA-encoded protein. In addition to folding of individual proteins\, we also observed that for some transcription factors 3′UTR-3′UTR interactions determine the co-folding of the mRNA-encoded proteins\, thus generating stable heterodimers. Taken together\, our work indicates that highly conserved 3′UTRs regulate protein activity in an abundance-independent manner\, by controlling different co-translational protein folding pathways. \nPlease use this link to access Zoom.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-christine-mayr/
LOCATION:ASRC Auditorium\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Structural Biology
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/spring-26-biochem-seminar-christine-mayr/20260128_mayr_flyer_new_zoom_link.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260115T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260115T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20251219T224530Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260108T201611Z
UID:10001545-1768478400-1768482000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Neuroscience Spring 2026 Seminar Series - Anna Orr
DESCRIPTION:Anna Orr\, Ph.D.\, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College\, will give a talk titled “Astrocytes in Neurocognitive Function and Dementia Pathogenesis”. \nJoin in person at the ASRC auditorium\, or Zoom (Meeting ID: 869 8476 8406 Passcode: 743619). \nView the abstract at https://bit.ly/49sUOO2
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/neuroscience-spring-2026-seminar-series-anna-orr/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/neuroscience-spring-2026-seminar-series-anna-orr/011526-seminar.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260114T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260114T140000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260112T145738Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260112T152229Z
UID:10001547-1768395600-1768399200@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Nanoscience Joint Guest Presentation: Dr. Luke Baldwin & Dr. Peter A. Mirau\, Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL)
DESCRIPTION:“Harnessing dynamic covalent chemistry for reprocessable elastomers”\nDr. Luke A. Baldwin\, Research Chemist\, Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) \nAbstract: Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) are a promising route to develop next-generation materials with enhanced reprocessability and repairability. In this presentation\, I will present our recent work on oligosiloxane-based epoxy-thiol CANs designed to manufacture self-healing elastomers. By systematically varying the oligosiloxane side chains\, we synthesized a library of elastomers with properties ranging from near-supersoft (elastic modulus < 250 kPa) to highly stretchable (>180% strain). These networks utilize an amine catalyst to facilitate dynamic covalent bonding\, enabling fast stress relaxation and excellent mechanical recovery. I will also discuss our efforts toward a bio-based hardener for accessing supersoft networks\, focusing on the atomic-level characteristics that control macroscopic properties. Finally\, I will highlight how we are harnessing Bayesian optimization and flow chemistry to accelerate the optimization of synthetic reactions. \n~20-25 minute presentation.  \nShort Biography (one paragraph) of Dr. Luke A. Baldwin: \nLuke Baldwin is a Research Chemist working to understand organic materials and artificial intelligence (AI) coupled synthesis at the Air Force Research Labs (AFRL). He received a BSc from Carroll University and PhD in Chemistry from The Ohio State University. Luke began his independent career at AFRL in 2018 and has since received many early career allocated including two prestigious 3-year Fellowships from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (2021\, 2026)\, the ACS-PMSE Emerging Investigator Award (2025)\, and the AFRL Early Career Award (2025). Broadly\, his research focuses on harnessing organic materials chemistry\, continuous flow chemistry\, and digital chemistry methods to investigate structure-property correlations within synthesis materials. \n“Nonnatural Materials from Nature”\nDr. Peter A. Mirau\, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate\, Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) \nAbstract: The focus of our research is to use nature to create new materials with emergent properties\, including discovering DNA aptamers to bind biomarkers of human performance and the engineering organic-inorganic biocomposites. The biocompostes are created from the interactions of low complexity protein domains with polyphosphate. The combination of synthetic biology and materials characterization has been used to identify the reaction mechanisms that can be borrowed from nature to create these new materials. \n~20-25 minute presentation. \nBio: Peter A. Mirau received a BA in chemistry from the University of California Santa Barbara and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of California at San Francisco studying drug-DNA interactions. Following a post doc at the University of California at San Diego he transitioned to AT&T Bell Laboratories where he studied polymer physics\, mainly using NMR spectroscopy. He moved to the Air Force Research to study biomaterials and is the author of many publications on biomaterials and polymer physics and is the author and coauthor of several books on NMR.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/nanoscience-joint-guest-presentation-dr-luke-baldwin-dr-peter-a-mirau-air-force-research-laboratories-afrl/
LOCATION:ASRC 5th Floor Data Visualization Room\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Nanoscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/nanoscience-joint-guest-presentation-dr-luke-baldwin-dr-peter-a-mirau-air-force-research-laboratories-afrl/Nano-Guest-Speakers-AFRL-January-14th-2026.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260113T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260113T133000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20260107T214617Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260107T215450Z
UID:10001546-1768307400-1768311000@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Bluesky Training for Academics
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a practical\, beginner-friendly workshop on how academics can use Bluesky to share research\, build a public profile\, and connect with scholarly and professional communities. We’ll cover everything from account setup and posting basics to best practices for engagement\, visibility\, and credibility. Participants will also learn strategies for promoting publications\, events\, teaching\, and public scholarship in a way that feels authentic and manageable. This training will be held live on Zoom and includes time for questions.
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/bluesky-training-for-academics/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Environmental Sciences,Nanoscience,Neuroscience,Photonics,Structural Biology
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/bluesky-training-for-academics/GettyImages-1311107708_1280x852.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260113T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260113T170000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20251203T174024Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251219T224938Z
UID:10001542-1768298400-1768323600@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Epigenetics Core Presents: Hands-on Bioinformatics: Exploring Single Cell RNA-Seq
DESCRIPTION:Get ready for a hands-on exploration of the single cell gene expression analysis journey! \nThis interactive boot camp takes you from experimental design to data interpretation using real single-cell datasets – including the possibility to work with your own data. \n\nData processing with 10x Cloud\nUsing Cell Ranger\nDive into Loupe Browser\nExplore developmental trajectories using RNA velocity analysis\nOne-on-one meeting with 10X Field Application Scientists and the ASRC Epigenetics Core.\n\nPlease refer to the flyer for details. Download a PDF copy here. \nSpace is limited. Register Now! \nREGISTRATION FEES:\nStudents: $20\nPostdocs: $30\nFaculty & others: $50
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/hands-on-bioinformatics-exploring-single-cell-rna-seq/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T183000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20251118T224251Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251119T165928Z
UID:10001540-1765902600-1765909800@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Alumni and Friends Community Science Night
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Tuesday\, Dec. 16 to reconnect and learn all about what’s happening at the CUNY ASRC! All are welcome — especially former and current students\, interns\, summer researchers\, and their friends and family. The night will include fun science activities for all ages and an updated tour of the the CUNY ASRC’s state-of-the-art research facilities. \nHere is the RSVP form: https://bit.ly/3JGRh5V \n \n\nDownload and share flyer
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/alumni-and-friends-community-science-night/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Environmental Sciences,Nanoscience,Neuroscience,Photonics,Structural Biology
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/alumni-and-friends-community-science-night/TAYB7879_1280x720.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251211T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251211T133000
DTSTAMP:20260507T210229
CREATED:20251017T184838Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251017T184838Z
UID:10001535-1765454400-1765459800@asrc.gc.cuny.edu
SUMMARY:Neuroscience Fall 2025 Seminar Series - Michelle Monje
DESCRIPTION:Michelle Monje\, MD\, PhD is a physician-scientist\, neuroscientist\, and neurooncologist at Stanford University\, where she has developed new treatments for brain cancer since 2011. Her interests are neurodevelopment\, pediatric gliogenesis\, chemobrain\, and molecular and cellular (including glial) neurobiology. Her accomplishments are too many to count. She has published numerous high-impact papers (mostly in Cell\, Nature\, and Science) and won many prestigious awards\, including the MacArthur Genius Award (2021) and the NIH Pioneer Award (2018). She is also an HHMI investigator (2021) and a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2025).
URL:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/event/neuroscience-special-seminar-michelle-monje/
LOCATION:Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC)\, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace\, New York\, NY\, 10031\, United States
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://asrc.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/media/event/neuroscience-special-seminar-michelle-monje/Michelle-Monje-121125.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR