Editorial: “Crossing Boundaries: Stem Cells, Materials, and Mesoscopic Sciences”

Abstract

The Collaborative Research Center (Sonderforschungsbereich) 873 of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, with a focus on "maintenance and differentiation of stem cells in development and disease", and the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS) of Kyoto University, Japan, with a focus on "cell-material integration and mesoscopic sciences and their application to stem cell research", organized jointly a conference on "Crossing Boundaries: Stem Cells, Materials, and Mesoscopic Sciences" in Heidelberg, Germany, July 21-23, 2011. The focus of the conference was on cross-disciplinary research projects that break through boundaries between life and material sciences, with a special emphasis on innovations that will create novel stem cell technology for clinical applications. This symposium also represented one of the first joint projects between the two partner universities after signing the official collaborative agreement in June 2010. In addition, the meeting was part of a series of events celebrating the 150-year anniversary of German-Japan diplomatic and scientific ties. For the University of Heidelberg, this was also part of the jubilee symposia series commemorating the 625 th anniversary of the