Monday, September 21, 2026
13:30 – 20:00
Registration & Information
14:30 – 16:30
Introductory Workshops for FRET Tools
Workshop 1: Deriving Theory for FRET
Workshop 2: Understanding Analysis Tools
Workshop 3: Progress in Integrative Dynamic Structural Biology Using FRET and Other Spectroscopies
16:30 – 18:00
Welcome Reception
Session I: Welcome Remarks & Keynote Talks
18:00 – 18:40
Victoria Birkedal, Aahus University, Denmark; Don C. Lamb, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany; Claus Seidel, Heinrich Heine University, Germany
Welcome & History of Theodor Förster
18:40 – 19:25
Taekjip Ha, Harvard Medical School, USA
Conformational Control: From Single Molecule Fret to Novel Biotechnologies
19:25 – 20:10
Philip Tinnefeld, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
From Scaling Laws of Energy Transfer to FRET Sensing of Brownian DNA Computing
20:10 – 20:30
Networking Break
20:30 – 21:30
Piano Concert by Antonio Acunto
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
8:30 – 18:00
Registration & Information
Session II: Application of FRET in Biophysics
9:00 – 9:30
Edward Lemke, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
Decoding Molecular Plasticity in the Dark Proteome
9:30 – 10:00
Jelle Hendrix, Hasselt University, Belgium
Kinetic Modelling of Multi-State Protein Systems Using smFRET
10:00 – 10:20
Chara Sarafoglou, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Greece*
smFRET-Guided Integrative Biophysics Reveals Allosteric Modules as Energetic Control Points of Protein Free-Energy Landscapes
10:20 – 10:50
Coffee Break
Session III: Application of FRET in Proteins
10:50 – 11:20
Emmanuel Margeat, CNRS-Montpellier, France
Looking at Metabotropic Gutamate Receptors Dynamics with Single Molecule FRET
11:20 – 11:40
Ecenaz Bilgen, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany*
Exploring Dynamic Protein Systems with Single-Molecule FRET
11:40 – 12:00
Catherine Ghosh, University of California, Merced, USA*
The Speed Limit of Genomic Search: A Kinetic Race Between Electrostatic Steering, Sliding Friction, and Conformational Locking
12:00 – 12:20
Elizabeth Rhoades, University of Pennsylvania, USA*
Phosphoregulation of Tau Function
12:20 – 14:00
Lunch
Session IV: Method Development / Probes
14:00 – 14:30
Scott Blanchard, St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital, USA
Quantitative Investigations of Complex Molecular Machines Using smFRET: What We Have Learned and Where Are We Going
14:30 – 15:00
Allison H. Squires, University of Chicago, USA
Design and Differentiation of FRET Constructs – Easy as ABEL-PIE
15:00 – 15:20
Thomas-Otavio Peulen, University of California, San Francisco, USA*
From Structure to Observables: Optimal Dye Models for Predicting Lifetimes, Anisotropies, and FRET
15:20 – 15:50
Coffee Break
Session V: Method Development
15:50 – 16:20
Rainer Erdmann, PicoQuant GmbH, Germany
smFRET in Industry – A 35-Year Journey
16:20 – 16:50
Jörg Enderlein, Georg August University, Germany
The Electrodynamics of Fluorescing Molecules: A Tribute to Karl-Heinz Drexhage
16:50 – 17:10
Eitan Lerner, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel*
The “Bliss” of Observing Single-Molecule Bursts from Clusters in Live Cell Biomolecular Condensate
17:10 – 17:30
Quan Wang, NIH, USA*
Recent Developments of ABEL-FRET: Resolution Limits, Fast Dynamics and Biophysical Applications
17:30 – 17:50
Mahran Shehade, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel*
Toward Understanding Structural Transitions and Dynamics in Proteins Using Plasmon-Enhanced smFRET
17:50 – 18:10
Mirjam Kümmerlin, University of Oxford, United Kingdom*
The Dark Side of FRET: Self-Quenching DNA Probes Enable Hour-Long smFRET and Live-Cell RNA Tracking
18:15 – 20:30
Poster Session with Bavarian Brotzeit (Dinner) & Drinks
20:30 – 21:30
Parallel Round Table Discussions
Round Table 1: FRET Standardization
Round Table 2: FRET-Based Integrative Structural Biology
Round Table 3: Women in FRET
Round Table 4: Triggering Innovations in FRET
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
8:30 – 18:00
Registration & Information
Session VI: Application of FRET in Biochemistry
9:00 – 9:45
Keynote Talk: Dagmar Klostermeier, University of Münster, Germany
Deciphering the Mechanisms of Molecular Machines That Unwind and Untangle Nucleic Acids by Single-Molecule FRET: From Retrospective to Perspective
9:45 – 10:15
Dina Grohman, University of Regensburg, Germany
Single-Molecule Insights into the Dynamic Human RNA Interference Machinery Using SLAM-FRET
10:15 – 10:35
Katherina Hemmen, University of Würzburg, Germany*
Quantitative Image Spectroscopy for Protein-Protein Interactions in Living Cells: An Integrated FRET Framework
10:35 – 11:00
Coffee Break
Session VII: FRET in Cellular Experiments
11:00 – 11:20
Thorsten Hugel, University of Freiburg, Germany*
Single-Molecule FRET Trajectories in Living Cells
11:20 – 11:40
Sharonda LeBlanc, North Carolina State University, USA*
Live-Cell Flim-FRET Reveals Dynamic ATPase-Driven Pre-Ribosome Remodeling States
11:40 – 12:00
Nam Ki Lee, Seoul National University, South Korea*
Direct Quantification of Protein-Protein Interactions in Living Bacterial Cells by Accurate FRET Measurement
12:00 – 12:20
Greta Schmidt, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA*
Uncovering Novel G-Protein Pathways Using Live Cell Imaging
12:20 – 12:40
Yunqing Li, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany*
Resolving MET Receptor Activation in Cells by Single-Molecule FRET
12:40 - 14:00
Lunch
Session VIII: Theory and Analysis of FRET I
14:00 – 14:30
Irina Gopich, NIDDK-NIH, USA
Photon-by-Photon Maximum Likelihood Analysis of Freely Diffusing Single Molecules
14:30 – 15:00
Hagen Hofmann, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Model-Free Photon Analysis of Diffusion-Based Single-Molecule FRET Experiments
15:00 – 15:20
Hoi Sung Chung, NIDDK, NIH, USA*
Characterizing Ultrafast Barrier Crossing Dynamics of Protein Folding Using Two- and Three-Color Single-Molecule FRET in Zero-Mode Waveguides
15:20 – 15:40
Lars Dingeldein, Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies, Germany*
A Photon-by-Photon Likelihood for Continuous Free-Energy Landscapes and Diffusion Coefficients from Single-Molecule FRET
15:40 – 17:00
Coffee & Networking Break
Session IX: Theory and Analysis of FRET II
17:00 – 17:30
Gilad Haran, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Direct Observation of Translocation by a AAA+ Machine
17:30 – 18:00
Richard Börner, Laserinstitute, University of Applied Sciences Mittweida, Germany
The Electrodynamics of Fluorescing Molecules: A Tribute to Karl-Heinz Drexhage
18:00 – 19:20
Dinner
Session X: Keynote Talks: smFRET, Back to the Future
19:20 – 19:40
Don C. Lamb, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
Summary of Round Table Discussions
19:40 – 20:25
Ben Schuler, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Probing the Rapid Interaction Dynamics of Charged Disordered Proteins
20:25 – 21:10
Shimon Weiss, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
spFRET/smFRET - A Story of Tools Making (and Their Utilization)
21:10 – 21:40
Surprise
Thursday, September 24, 2026
8:30 – 16:00
Registration & Information
Session XI: Application of FRET in Structural Biology
9:00 – 9:30
Sigrid Milles, Leibniz-FMP, Germany
Protein Disorder Across Scales – Combining NMR and Single-Molecule Fluorescence
9:30 – 9:50
Nils-Alexander Lakomek, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany*
Conformational Dynamics and Conformational Selection of Intrinsically Disordered SNAP25 During Snare Complex Assembly
9:50 – 10:10
Hugo Sanabria, Clemson University, USA*
Frustrated Flexibility Shapes the Dynamics of Calmodulin Trapping
10:10 – 10:30
Mikayel Aznauryan, Inserm, France*
Single-Molecule Spectroscopy of Disordered Protein Self-Assembly and RNA Recognition
10:30 – 10:50
Coffee Break
Session XII: FRET: From Methods to Applications
10:50 – 11:20
Viktorija Glembockyte, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Germany
Programming FRET: Engineering Precise Interactions for Modular Sensing and Superresolution Imaging
11:20 – 11:40
Andrea Soranno, Washington University in St. Louis, USA*
Single-Molecule Spectroscopy of Disordered Regions and Nucleic Acids in Bacterial Transcription
11:40 – 12:00
Tim Schröder, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany*
Microtime-Gated Photon Statistics: From Fast FRET Dynamics to Exciton Colliders
12:00 – 12:20
Hannah Baird, Cardiff University, United Kingdom*
Single-Molecule FRET Insights into the Dynamic Synergistic Mechanism of Antimicrobial Peptides
12:20 – 14:00
Lunch
Session XIII: FRET: Studies of Protein Nucleic Interactions
14:00 – 14:20
Nils Walter, University of Michigan, USA*
Flux and Function: Watching RNA-Protein Complexes Assemble to Control Gene Expression
14:20 – 14:40
Nusrat Qureshi, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany*
Sync or Sink: The Extent of Transcription-Translation Coupling Determines Transcription Factor Recruitment to Regulate Gene Expression
14:40 – 15:00
Johannes Hohlbein, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany*
DNA FRET Sensors: From Probing DNA Synthesis in Nanofluidic Devices to Quantifying Complex Interactions Between DNA Transcription Factors
15:00 – 15:20
Adreas Hartmann, Dresden University of Technology, Germany*
Different Personalities of Phase-Separating Proteins Reveal Multiple RNA Binding Modes
15:20 – 15:40
Evelyn Ploetz, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany*
Combining Single-Molecule FRET and Graphene Energy Transfer to Resolve Promoter-Dependent DNA Deformation by TBP
15:40 – 16:00
Yale Goldmann, University of California, Davis, USA*
Nanometer-Scale RNA Protein Clusters (RPCS) Foster Helicase Activity of Dead-Box Helicase EIF4A
16:00 – 18:00
Poster Session & Coffee Break
18:15 – 21:00
Boat Tour & Banquet Dinner
Friday, September 25, 2026
8:30 – 13:00
Registration & Information
Session XIV: New Directions in FRET I
9:00 – 9:30
Sebastian Deindl, Uppsala Biomedical Center, Sweden
From Sequence to Function: Bridging Single-Molecule Kinetics with Molecular Identity
9:30 – 10:00
Sonja Schmid, University of Basel, Switzerland
Breaking the Photobleaching Limit in Single-Molecule FRET by Dyecycling
10:00 – 10:20
Jagadish Hazra, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, India*
Elucidating Single-Molecule Reaction Kinetics Using Multiplexed in Situ Fluorescence-Based DNA Sequencing
10:20 – 10:50
Coffee Break
Session XV: New Directions in FRET II
10:50 – 11:10
Mariska Haas, Ulm University, Germany*
Quantitative smFRET of Low-Affinity Complexes in Nanoholes
11:10 – 11:40
Chirlmin Joo, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Next-Generation Single-Molecule Tools for Exploring Biomolecular Sequence Space
11:40 – 12:25
Keynote Talk: Claus Seidel, Heinrich Heine University, Germany
Dynamic Structural Biology with smFRET and FRET Nanoscopy
12:25 – 12:45
Victoria Birkedal, Aahus University, Denmark; Don C. Lamb, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany; Claus Seidel, Heinrich Heine University, Germany
Closing Remarks & BJ Poster Awards Presentation
11:00 – 13:00
Boxed Lunch & Farewell
* Contributed talks selected from among submitted abstracts