Welcome to IWOB2024 !

Utsunomiya University’s Center for Optical Research and Education (CORE) received support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for the project “Synthetic promotion project in Bioimaging technologies” from 2012 to 2017. One of the key goals for the project was “live imaging”, which was performed by using X-ray, digital holography, spectroscopic imaging, thermal imaging, and other optical imaging technologies. Many important results were obtained through this project. A second project goal was to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers in engineering, especially optical engineering, and researchers in biology and agriculture. As a result of the project, interesting, innovative work was performed that established many new collaborations were born. On Feb. 18, 2019, International workshop on Bioimaging (IWBI) was successfully held for ensuring the collaborations. As a key achievement, “Optics program” including with tight cooperation with “Molecular agriculture program” in master course was started, furthermore from spring in 2021, Optics and Bio-design program in the graduate school will start. A PhD student in this program will get the degree of Optical Engineering.

The workshops IWOB2021 and IWOB2022 have been held by online during the COVID19 by online.The IWOB 2022-2023 was held partly face-to-face in Nikko. It is to communicate research achievements and provide an opportunity for open discussion among the invited researchers, collaborators, colleagues, and students in response with the establishment of new graduate school. Open discussion also fosters the continued development of our interdisciplinary collaborative research in bioscience, agriculture, and optical technologies.