JSPS HOPE Meeting Participants Tour iCeMS

On February 28, participants in the JSPS HOPE Meeting visited iCeMS to tour the research facilities. The HOPE Meeting is a weeklong event which invites outstanding doctoral students and young researchers from the Asia-Pacific region to Japan for a chance to engage in discussion with distinguished scientists and Nobel laureates. The meeting includes opportunities for participants to share their research and collaborate with each other through poster sessions and team presentations. They also engage in cultural activities and tour research facilities. This was the 15th HOPE Meeting and the first time the event was held in Kyoto. This year participants could choose between visiting the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), and iCeMS.

Fouty young researchers who were predominantly physicists and chemists chose to visit iCeMS. Before the tour Kazumitsu Ueda gave an overview of the institute, and three PIs introduced their research. Susumu Kitagawa introduced his pioneering work in PCP/MOFs, Ganesh Namasivayam discussed his path to researching epigenetic switches driven by curiosity, and Daniel Packwood demonstrated how data science can be applied to materials design. The lectures were met with inquisitive questions from the audience and were followed with tours of the research facilities. Tours included the chemistry labs, cutting-edge microscopes in the Zeiss Innovation Core showing stunning visuals of live cells, and a DNA viewing VR session. The tour benefited the expertise of many iCeMS researchers who were able to carefully explain the technology presented. Several participants mentioned they were inspired by the research ongoing at iCeMS. We hope that their participation leads to many collaborative research projects within Japan and around the world.