Biophysical Society Bulletin | October 2020

Communities

He moved from computational solid state physics into compu- tational molecular biophysics (and especially membrane pro- teins)  because he found the high level of spatial and temporal heterogeneity shown by biological macromolecules in realistic environments an ideal area to leverage computational approach- es to gain insights that would be difficult to obtain otherwise. He also finds it very satisfying to learn the molecular basis for funda- mental processes such as transport across the cell membrane. Recently, one of the most exciting moments was his student showing himdata where both agreed that “this looked funny,” just to realize that they have been able to literally see how a trans- porter might actually perform its function. (Of course, then a lot more work was needed to convince themselves that what they sawwas not just an artifact.)  Research has its ups and downs—he suffers fromperennial funding anxiety, but one moment from the end of his doctoral research left a lasting impression: The final paper of his DPhil, the one that he considered to be the crowning achievement, was reviewed for months and then rejected, then upon resubmission to another journal, referees were not as enthusiastic as expected, with one quipping “just saying so does not make it so.” This taught him two lessons: Communicate clearly why you are excited about your work and don’t make the reader work too hard. And, more importantly, as a scientist and scholar one needs to clearly distinguish conclusions based on evidence from a new hypothe- sis—where a new hypothesis is not a shortcoming of the paper or something that one would need to hide but an opportunity for future research. — Ming Zhou , Chair Motility and Cytoskeleton Although COVID-19 has changedmany aspects of our lives, it will not stop the Motility and Cytoskeleton Subgroup fromhaving an exciting and informative meeting in 2021! We are scheduled tomeet virtually on “SubgroupMonday,” the first day of the BPS Annual Meeting, February, 22, 2021, 2:00 pm –6:00 pm EST. We used web-based forms to gather nominations and are pleased to congratulate Marija Zanic (Vanderbilt, USA) for winning the 2021Motility and Cytoskeleton Subgroup Early Career Award. Faced with the difficult decision of how best to allocate speaker slots, we tried to optimize inclusivity, by including diversity of career stage and scientific focus. We look forward to talks by the following speakers. Joseph Atherton , King’s College, United Kingdom Krishna Chinthalapudi , Ohio State University, USA Nadia Daneshparvar , Florida State University, USA Melissa Gardner , University of Minnesota, USA Michael Greenberg , Washington University in St. Louis, USA Thomas Kamporuakis , King’s College, United Kingdom AndrewMead , University of Vermont, USA

More details will be available as we get closer to the meeting. For now, we encourage you to join the Motility and Cytoskeleton Sub- group when you renew your Society membership. Your dues help our group to support speakers and fund the Early Career Award. We look forward to reading your compelling abstracts and seeing you virtually at our 2021 Subgroupmeeting. — Sanford (Sandy) Bernstein , and Kenneth (Ken) Campbell , Co-Chairs Nanoscale Approaches The Nanoscale Approaches Subgroup is excited to announce the following lineup of speakers for the virtual Subgroup symposium onMonday, February 22, 2021: Aleksandra Radenovic , Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Switzerland Mark Williams , Northeastern University, USA Felix Rico , INSERM, France Bianxiao Cui , Stanford University, USA Ilaria Testa , KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden — Fredrik Westerlund , Chair

Next Generation Science: Start a BPS Student Chapter

Consider applying for a Student Chapter at your institution. Applications will be accepted through November 20, 2020.

For more information, please visit biophysics.org/student-chapters

Nikki Reinemann , University of Mississippi, USA Jing Xu , University of California, Merced, USA

October 2020

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