UGM 2025 Announcements – Keynote Speakers, Workshop Hosts, and Registration Deadline Extension

We’re excited to share updates for the upcoming 2025 MDAnalysis User Group Meeting (UGM), taking place November 9–11, 2025 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona (USA). This in-person event unites a global community of users, developers, and researchers to discuss advancements in molecular dynamics analysis and to foster collaborations across disciplines. This year’s UGM will feature not only contributed talks from the community, but also insightful talks from our two keynote speakers, Drs. Lillian Chong and Matthias Heyden and hands-on workshops/tutorials. To accommodate continued demand from the community, we are now accepting registrations on a rolling basis.

Meet the Keynote Speakers

Dr. Lillian Chong

Dr. Lillian Chong, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, leads the Chong Lab, where her team develops cutting-edge tools at the interface of chemistry, physics, and biology to investicate biomolecular dynamics and function. Her research group pioneered using weighted ensemble (WE) simulation techniques to study rare events, such as large-scale conformational changes and protein-protein binding, and for creating implicitly polarized AMBER force fields. Her work garned the 2020 Gordon Bell Special Prize for high-performance computing in COVID-19 research leveraging analyses that would otherwise take years but were achieved in weeks using WE and WESTPA, an open-source software for weighted ensemble path sampling.

Dr. Matthias Heyden

The second keynote, Dr. Matthias Heyden from Arizona State University’s School of Molecular Sciences, brings expertise in modeling solvation dynamics and vibrational energy transport in crowded biomolecular environments. His research integrates realistic atomistic simulations to illuminate solute-solvent interactions and energy transfer. His group has contributed to the development of interactive molecular dynamics (IMD) workflows through tools like IMDClient, enabling real-time streaming and manipulation of molecular trajectories. These capabilities, also showcased in the MDAnalysis IMD workshop materials, open new avenues for exploring simulations dynamically and interactively. This work enhances our understanding of biochemical processes in realistic settings, informing both simulation methodology and experimental interpretation.

Contributed Workshops

Alongside invited presentations, the 2025 UGM will feature community-led workshops that cover a range of tools and methods relevant to the MDAnalysis user base. Confirmed contributed workshops will include sessions from:

• MDAnalysis core development team
• OpenADMET
• Open Force Field Initiative
• Open Free Energy

These workshops are a great opportunity to learn new skills and connect with fellow developers and researchers in the field.

Registration and Bursary Applications Now Rolling

We encourage all users, from first-time analysts to veteran contributors, to join us this November in-person in Arizona or to follow along with the online recordings. There are limited travel bursaries available. Registration is now accepted on a rolling basis, until participation limits are met. If you’re interested in attending or applying for support, we encourage you to submit as early as possible to maximize your chances of receiving a bursary and securing a spot. Visit the UGM 2025 page for full details and links to the application forms.

We look forward to seeing you there!

— The 2025 MDAnalysis UGM Organizing Committee