iCeMS holds 25th International Symposium “Self-Assembly Science for Unlocking Life’s Secrets”

Speakers and participants on the first day of the symposium

On January 11 - 12, iCeMS held its 25th International Symposium. This was the first International Symposium held under Director Motonari Uesugi. Profs Shuhei Furukawa and Jun Suzuki, organizers of the event, titled the symposium in line with iCeMS’ redefined vision, “Self-Assembly Science for Unlocking Life’s Secrets.” Uesugi introduced iCeMS and Akira Ukawa (director of WPI Academy) introduced the WPI program and praised iCeMS’ excellent results and its successful transition to the WPI Academy. The symposium brought together fourteen researchers working in Japan in a variety of scientific fields who all shared their research through the lens of self-assembly. Four sessions were spread across two days and divided speakers into different focus groups: Biological assembly, chemical assembly, manipulating assembly, and mesoscale assembly. Diverse perspectives led to engaged question and answer periods which spilled over into the breaks between sessions.