The 2-day workshop will bring together experts with a very diverse background, including topics such as nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, cellular biology, Brownian motion, small scale engines, detectors and refrigerators, around the common theme of nonequilibrium fluctuations in small systems.

The description, operation and design of small systems is complicated by the fact that fluctuations cannot be ignored. They allow the system to explore its state space and are responsible for numerous physical phenomena, both at the small scale (e.g. diffusion, thermal activation) and at the large scale (e.g. pressure, light scattering, phase transitions). For systems functioning out of equilibrium, the fluctuations often cease to operate as “noise” and can play a constructive role. This feature has been illustrated in wide variety of problems some of which have developed into a field of research on their own. We cite active Brownian particles, stochastic resonance, Brownian motors and refrigerators. Other recent fields of research in which the fluctuations are receiving a lot of attention are in biological transport, e.g. transport through nano-pores or transport in confined geometries, and phase transitions in small systems. In addition one has recently established novel theoretical relationship between the properties of nonequilibrium fluctuations and response properties. Furthermore, impressive developments on the experimental side have made available large quantities of data from “single particle” measurements from the nano up to the micro scale in both “soft and hard matter”. All these developments prompt us to investigate the relation between some of the more theoretically inspired aspects with experimental techniques and to suggest and promote their cross-fertilization. In short, this small workshop will bring together some experts from very different worlds, around the common theme of nonequilibirium fluctuations in small systems.