The Arctic Meeting for Adaptive Mechanisms in Biological Systems

Welcome to the Arctic Meeting for Adaptive Mechanisms in Biological Systems!

Join us in Abisko, Sweden, January 19–23, 2026, for a scientific adventure in the heart of the Arctic. This meeting brings together researchers from physics, biology, mathematics, and ecology to explore how living systems adapt to stress, from molecular regulation to ecosystem resilience. The conference is part of the Swedish–Korean STINT collaboration and is jointly organized with the Integrated Science Lab (IceLab) at Umeå University.

Stress Response Modeling at IceLab is a multidisciplinary complexity center that aims to reveal universal principles of adaptation and stability in living systems under stress. Its research spans three pillars: empirical knowledge across scales, network inference for prediction, and dynamical systems modeling to explain stability, resilience, and tipping points. This meeting continues that mission by combining science, collaboration, and Arctic exploration.

Participants

List of participants

Åke Brännström, IceLab,

Ala Trusina, NBI,

Chaitanya Gokhale, Würzburg Univ.,

Cheol-Min Ghim, UNIST,

Deok-Sun Lee, KIAS,

Hyeong-Chai Jeong, Sejong Univ.

Jae Woo Lee, Inha Univ.,

Jae-Hyung Jeon, POSTECH,

Yuriy Pichugin, MPI Plön,

Albertas Dvirnas, IceLab,

Alžbeta Kuižová, Umeå Univ.,

Elim Mallmin, MPI Plön,

Hae Seong Lee, Inha Univ.,

Josephine Solowiej-Wedderburn, IceLab,

Juhee Lee, IceLab,

Seong-Gyu Yang, IceLab,

Sreekanth K. Manikandan, Univ. Göteborg,

Sunhee Chae, Inha Univ.,

Suvam Roy, IceLab,

Andreas Stillits, NBI,

Antón Carcedo Martinez, IceLab,

Aswin Gopakumar, IceLab,

Dongho Lee, POSTECH,

Jakob Schauser, NBI,

Jong-Won Hong, Inha Univ.,

Léa Maheux, IceLab,

Sofia Almirante, IceLab,

WooJoong Kim, UNIST,

Lucas Hedström, UMIT

Schedule

Monday (January 19)

14:00 — 17:00   Free time & Discussion

17:00 — 17:30   Registration

17:30 — 20:00 Welcome Dinner

Tuesday (January 20)

08:45 — 09:00   Opening and brief presentation of IceLab - Ludvig Lizana and Hugo Harlin

09:00 — 10:00   Yuriy Pichugin, Evolution of Informed dispersal strategies in trophic meta-communities

10:00 — 10:30   Josephine Solowiej-Wedderburn, Can Bacteria Playing Bayesian games learn Cooperative strategies in competitive environments

10:30 — 11:00   Coffee break

11:00 — 11:30   Eric Libby, Complexity as a Stress Response

11:30 — 14:00   Welcome to STF Abisko Turiststation (History and adventures around, Annete Löv), Lunch

14:00 — 15:00   Mathias Heltberg (online), Dynamics and Condensation related to DNA damage Response

15:00 — 15:30   Suvam Roy, Forecasting multi-trait resistance evolution under antibiotic stress

15:30 — 16:00   Coffee break

16:00 — 16:30   Chaitanya Gokhale, Trust is not enough

16:30 — 17:00   Emil Mallmin, Modelling the Dynamics of species-rich communities

17:00 — 17:30   Hae Seong Lee, Species Survival Probability under degree-interaction strength correlation

17:30 — 20:00   Dinner & Poster

Wednesday (January 21)

09:00 — 10:00   Ala Trusina, Bacterial Aging, When history and stress matter

10:00 — 10:30   Sreekanth K. Manikandan, Localising Energy Dissipation in Cellular Processes

10:30 — 11:00   Coffee break

11:00 — 12:00   Jae-Hyung Jeon, Fickian yet non-Gaussian diffusion in disordered media

12:00 — 14:00   Lunch

14:00 — 17:30   Excursion: Ice Hotel

17:30 — 20:00   Dinner

Thursday (Jan. 22)

09:00 — 10:00   Ralf Metzler (online), Anomalous Diffusion and Non-Gaussianity

10:00 — 10:30   Sunhee Chae, Cooperation Fostered by Spatial Vacancies

10:30 — 11:00   Coffee break

11:00 — 12:00  Cheol-Min Ghim, Timing on a Budget: Cost-Effective Circadian Rhythm

12:00 — 14:00   Lunch

14:00 — 15:00   Åke Brännström Group: Åke Brännström, Aswin Gopakumar and Albertas Dvirnas

15:00 — 15:30   Hyeong-Chai Jeong, Sex Ratio and Last-Born Balance Generalisation of Fisher’s Problem

15:30 — 16:00   Coffee break

16:00 — 16:30   Alžbeta Kuižová, Bacterial Spores

16:30 — 17:00   Juhee Lee, Survival by Resetting: Navigating Group Dynamics to Avoid danger

17:00 — 17:30   Seong-Gyu Yang, Multi-fractals in Hi-C Networks

17:30 — 20:00   Conference Dinner at Abisko Aurora Sky Station

Friday (January 23)

09:00 — 10:00   Deok-Sun Lee, Equilibrium-preserving Laplacian Renormalization Group (EqLRG) Theory and Applications

10:00 — 10:30   Jae Woo Lee, A group based modelling apporach to hearing dynamics in sika deer AND Commuter meta population framework for COVID-19 transmission

10:30 — 11:00   Coffee break

11:00 — 11:30   Closing

11:30 — 14:00   Lunch

We thank our funders for supporting this event