1.

Invited talks at international conferences

In 2009, members of the program gave a total of 17 invited talks at international scientific meetings (5 by Rudolf Podgornik) and a total of 22 lectures at foreign universities (10 by Primož Ziherl). These talks and lectures do not only serve as an efficient way of dissemination of scientific results, they also contribute to the international reputation of the research work done in Slovenia.

B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference

COBISS.SI-ID: 2181988

2.

Higher education

In 2009, members of the program taught a total of 38 undergraduate courses. They also taught a total of 17 courses at MS and PhD level. In addition, many junior members of the program were engaged in educational activities as teaching assistants or instructors. Members fo the group were instrumental in the accreditation and the establishment of the PhD program Physics (specializations: biophysics, physics, educational physics) at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor.

D.10 Educational activities

COBISS.SI-ID: 16972040

3.

Vesicle budding and the origin of cellular life

This review provides an appropriate opportunity to demonstrate the connection between the results of some early experimental and theoretical investigations of vesicle budding and the more recent application of the concepts developed there to the process of vesicle self-reproduction. Herein, we also explain why vesicle budding could have preceded the establishment of cellular life.

F.02 Acquisition of new scientific knowledge

COBISS.SI-ID: 26244057

4.

Editorial work

Members of the program serve on editorial boards of several international scientific journals (Rudolf Podgornik is editor of J. Biol. Phys.; Rudolf Podgornik, Mojca Čepič, Marko Marhl and Primož Ziherl are members of editorial boards PMC Biophysics, Eur. J. Phys., Biosystems, and Phys. Rev. E, respectively) and a national journal (Marko Marhl is a member of editorial board of Fizika v šoli). In addition, we review manuscripts for many prominent international journals (Appl. Phys. Lett., Biophys. J., Phys. Rev. Lett., Phys. Rev. E, Solid State Commun., Soft Matter).

C.06 Editorial board membership

COBISS.SI-ID: 25103360

5.

Polyelectrolyte-mediated interactions in columnar phases of DNA

In his PhD thesis, Matjaž Ličer has developed a mean-field theory of charged molecular chains in external field in the limits of weak and strong coupling. Using this theory, he described a polyelectrolyte chain on a hexagonal lattice of DNA macroions in the presence of salt ions. The solutions indicate a presence of polyelectrolyte bridging, which results in a like-charge attraction of DNA macroions, which may lead to a phase transition between phases of identical symmetry.