In early August 2019, nearly 60 scientists from around the world gathered at a conference site at Lake Wannsee in Berlin for an international, scientific workshop in the field of biophysics. The Section III “Cellular Biophysics” of the German Biophysical Society (DGfB) typically hosts a biennial meeting to facilitate discussions and collaboration in the field.

This year, the chairman of this Section, Joachim Heberle, in conjunction with the SFB1078 organized the International Workshop on “The workings of ion transporters and channels”. The 2 ½ days event from Aug. 9-11 included 5 plenary sessions and one evening talk with 22 invited and contributed talks in total. The sessions ranged from “Structural basis of ion transfer” and “Mechanisms of ion channels” over “Proton channels” and “Light-activated channels” to the final session on “Methodologies”. Last, but definitely not least, a vivid poster session on the evening of the first conference day offered 22 posters mostly presented by the younger participants, PhD students and postdocs. Free beer during the poster session lubricated the scientific exchange between the various workshop participants. A detailed program of the workshop can be found here.

Definitely, the highlight of the conference venue at Lake Wannsee was the conference dinner served on board of a cruising ship on the second evening. Passing by the historic site of Schloss Cecilienhof, among others, which is famous for hosting the Potsdam Conference in July/August 1945, underlined the very special setting of the meeting place. A picturesque sunset completed the Wannsee outing.

The workshop venue Bildungs- und Begegnungszentrum Clara Sahlberg of the ver.di union was well chosen: beautifully located offering modern facilities necessary for hosting a meeting of the planned size under one roof. Moreover, it was rather easily accessible by public transport.

In summary, very positive feedback from the participants was received leading to the conclusion that the workshop has been indeed a success.