The Faculty of Advanced Life Science provides overseas travel support to its researchers to form international networks, such as by holding seminars overseas.
Late August to Early September 2025, Assistant Professor Tatsuya Arai visited the University of Milan in Italy.
Deepening Our Passion for Ice-Binding Proteins: International Conference and Seminar in Milan
I participated in the 5th Ice-Binding Proteins Conference (IBP2025) held at the University of Milan, Italy, and gave an oral presentation.
Ice-binding proteins (IBPs) are protective biomolecules produced by various organisms that live in cold environments. As their name suggests, they bind to ice crystals and regulate their growth. IBPs are unique molecules that interact with the hard and specific structure of ice crystals, and researchers around the world are conducting both fundamental and applied studies on them.
On the day after the IBP international conference, we held a mini-seminar at the same venue, joined by Professor Ido Braslavsky of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the conference. We shared our deep passion for IBPs—something we couldn’t fully express during the main sessions—and had fruitful discussions about future collaborative research.
Through this overseas research trip, I was able to gain valuable insight into the latest developments in IBP and ice crystal research, making the experience extremely fulfilling.
While I had to attend the previous IBP international conference in 2022 online due to the lingering effects of COVID-19, participating in person this time truly underscored the importance of engaging in lively discussions and building new research communities face-to-face.