On March 29 and 30, the 3rd RIKEN-Academia Sinica Joint Conference: Focus on Chemistry and Chemical Biology was held on RIKEN’s Wako campus.

RIKEN and Academia Sinica have conducted collaborative research in a number of areas, including chemical biology, developmental biology, and structural biology, since concluding a comprehensive research agreement in January 2008. The field of chemical biology has been particularly productive, with two joint conferences being held in Taipei in March 2013 and October 2015, at the initiative of former Academia Sinica President Chi-Huey Wong.

For this year’s conference, 12 scientists from Academia Sinica came to RIKEN’s Wako campus just as the cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom. In advance of the conference, they paid a visit to the RIKEN Gallery where they learned about RIKEN’s centennial, which takes place this year.

The joint conference itself began with welcoming addresses from RIKEN President Hiroshi Matsumoto and Academia Sinica President James Liao. Presentations were given by 11 researchers from Academia Sinica and 14 from RIKEN, who presented their research achievements to about 100 attendees. The presentations covered a wide area of topics such as new catalysts, cell-to-cell communication, immunity, and new antibiotics.

The next joint conference is scheduled to take place in Taipei in March 2019, which even greater representation of research fields. For information on the 2nd RIKEN-Academia Sinica Joint Conference, see the previous news article.