Quantitative understanding of biophysical mechanisms increasingly requires analysis of dynamical and physiologically relevant cellular changes. This is especially relevant for biological membrane processes that occur at distinct points in time and space, such as membrane fusion or fission, and that are driven by localized and quantifiable interaction of proteins, lipids and messenger molecules. This interdisciplinary meeting addressed the growing need for collaboration between experimentalists and theorists to fully take advantage of the quantitative nature of the experimental observations in this field and to improve the quantitative descriptions of membrane events.