About the laboratory of plant evolutionary ecology
The Lab of Plant Evolutionary Ecology, launched in 2023, is affiliated with the Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo. The lab was originally established as the Department of Plant Physiology and Ecology by Professor Manabu Miyoshi, who laid the foundation of plant ecology in Japan, and has produced many leading researchers in plant science. With the arrival of Professor Takashi Tsuchimatsu in April 2023 and Associate Professor Natsu Katayama in August 2023, the lab was renamed the Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology.
How have diverse plant forms and mechanisms evolved?
Plants have evolved diverse and sophisticated adaptive mechanisms as well as bizarre organs, morphologies, and body plans under their ever-changing abiotic and biotic environments. Our goal is to unravel such a tremendous diversity of plants at the molecular level and to reconstruct and predict their evolutionary processes, thereby deepening our understanding of biological evolution. For more information on our research, please visit our research page.
Fostering the next generation leaders in various fields of society
As we belong to the Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo, it is our important mission to nurture the next generation of leaders in various fields of society. Our daily research is purely basic science to solve the mysteries of intriguing plant traits, but in this process, we can cultivate many skills such as the ability to find new questions by ourselves, the ability to solve problems using novel methods, skills to present our research results, and communications in English. These abilities will be of great benefit not only to those who aim to become researchers in basic science fields, but also to those who wish to work for companies, government offices, and international organizations in the future.
A lab comfortable and attractive to a diverse group of people
Because evolutionary and ecological dynamics are extremely complex, it is critical to tackle them not only with established methods in specific fields but also with transdisciplinary approaches beyond existing academic frameworks. It is therefore important to engage in daily dialogue among people with diverse backgrounds. We aim to boost the high diversity of our lab in terms of research fields, gender, nationalities, etc., and to develop a comfortable place to study and work for a diverse group of people.
If you are interested in studying and working with us, please do not hesitate to contact us immediately! We are looking forward to hearing from you.