TEAM

Faculty members

Professor, Graduate School of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Kyoto University

角五彰

Akira KAKUGO

Born in Tokyo, Prof. Kakugo was interested in things that move beautifully like flocks of birds, schools of fish and swarm of bees. After graduating from Sakura High School in Chiba Prefecture, he entered Hokkaido University. He found biomolecular motors’ involvement in cell movement and muscle contraction, then conducted research on the mechanism of converting chemical energy into kinetic energy. In his master and doctor courses at the university, he developed the world’s smallest power unit driven by chemical energy with biomolecular motors. He was inaugurated as Associate Professor of Hokkaido University Graduate School of Science in 2011. Currently, he focuses on establishing biomolecular motors as “Active matter” and explore their emergent functions. From 2022, he was appointed as a Professor in the Graduate School of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Kyoto University. As for his major awards, he received the Young Researcher Award for Science and Technology Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2012, the Academic Award for Polymer Science in 2016 and HFSP (Human Frontier Science Program) Research Grants Award in 2021.

ResearchGate Researchmap

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Kyoto University

川又生吹

Ibuki KAWAMATA

Inspired by the multi-scale hierarchy of various systems such as biochemical reactions and electric computers, Dr. Kawamata is interested in understanding and designing complex systems with designed interactions among molecular-level components, which eventually show an emergence of intelligent behavior. He has multidisciplinary experiences ranging from Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Robotics, and Biology. First, he studied at the University of Tokyo and receive a Ph.D from the Department of Computer Science, School of Information Science and Technology. There, he learned a theoretical aspect of programming chemical reaction networks made of biomolecules. In 2014, he moved to the Department of Robotics, School of Engineering at Tohoku University, and worked on experimentally assembling robot-like biomolecular systems. For example, he has developed mechanical nanostructures, reaction-diffusion systems, and biomolecular computers. He also had a chance to learn Biophysics during his visit to the Technical University of Munich in Germany. To disseminate the fundamental methodology of his research, he wrote a Japanese book about DNA origami, which is an intriguing emergent nanotechnology using DNA as a building material for molecular architectures. From 2023, he joined the Active Matter Lab in the Department of Physics, School of Science at Kyoto University.

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Lecturer, Graduate School of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Kyoto University

市川正敏

Masatoshi ICHIKAWA

Dr. Ichikawa’s research interests lie in Softmatter Physics, Nonlinear and Non-equilibrium Physics, and Biophysics. He has been affiliated with Kyoto University since his undergraduate years and obtained his Ph.D. in Physics. Following his graduation, he became an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Sciences in Kyushu University. He moved back to Kyoto University in 2009 to become a faculty member in the Graduate School of Science, where he is currently affiliated. He now studies self-propelled motion of a living cell and a non-living object, e.g., revealing the mechanism of how simple self-propelled objects obtain diversity of movement, and revealing that living micro-swimmers such as microorganisms utilize hydrodynamics and physics for their survival strategies.

Web page (jp)ResearchGate researchmap

Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Kyoto University

谷茉莉

Marie TANI

Dr. Tani obtained her Ph.D in Physics from Ochanomizu University, and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at PMMH-ESPCI and Ritsumeikan University, respectively. She then became an assistant professor at Department of Physics, Faculty of Science in Tokyo Metropolitan University in 2018. In 2023, she joined the team as an assistant professor. She has been fascinated by a world full of beautiful forms and phenomena, observed in everyday life, that can be explained by simple physics. In particular, she works on the dynamics of soft and deformable matters, such as liquids, droplets, elastomers, foams and granular materials, and active matters.

Web page ResearchGate Research Map video (JP)video (EN)