The Asian Pacific Congress of Protistology (APCOP-V) 2024 is the new branding for the 5th edition of the Asian Congress of Protistology (ACOP), to be held for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere. This event is championed by regional societies of Japan, South Korea, and China, affiliated with the International Society for Protistologists. Our society members represent over 1,000 scientists in protistology and adjacent disciplines, based in the Asian Pacific region. Unique in 2024, APCOP-V will be held jointly with the Annual Meeting of the Australasian Society for Phycology and Aquatic Botany (ASPAB), to stimulate engagements and expand our community to researchers of seaweeds and seagrasses.
APCOP-V 2024 will bring together students, academics, researchers, and professionals from the Asian Pacific region (and beyond) to showcase the latest research on protists applying cutting-edge technologies, brainstorm ideas, and forge new connections. Relevant research disciplines encompass ecology, parasitology, biochemistry, physiology, genetics, genomics, evolution and many others. Through our collaboration with ASPAB in a joint meeting, APCOP-V will also bring together researchers of these disciplines focusing on seagrasses and seaweeds that play pivotal roles in sustaining the marine ecosystems through photosynthesis; many of these species produce natural bioactive compounds with broad biotechnological and medical applications.
What are protists?
Protists are any eukaryotic organisms that are not plants, animals, or fungi. While many not visible to the naked eye, protists represent extreme biodiversity, ranging from microalgae, amoeba, slime moulds, to parasites in diverse hosts.
Some species critically sustain coral reef health through symbiosis, some are malaria parasites, and some cause harmful algal blooms that have devastating impact on fisheries and seafood industry.
Protists are found in all ecosystems on Earth including extreme habitats, such as hotsprings, volcanic vents, deep trenches, and polar sea ice.
Organising Committee
Scientific Committee
Kanagawa University, Japan
Cell biology of ciliates, sexual reproduction, model organisms
The University of Melbourne, Australia
Microscopy, photophysiology, symbiotic interactions
Dr Eunsoo KIM
Ewha Womans University, South Korea
Protist diversity, taxonomy, and evolution
Pukyong National University, South Korea
Marine microbial diversity and ecology, harmful algal blooms
Professor Zhao-Rong LUN
Sun Yat-sen University, China
Parasitic flagellates, gene function, evolution, host-parasite interactions
Institute of Hydrobiology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Protist genomics, gene function, genome evolution, phylogenetics
University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Harmful algal blooms, algal ecology and evolution, aquaculture
Kyungpook National University, South Korea
Protist diversity, taxonomy, ecophysiology
Southern Cross University, Australia
Natural bioproducts, host-microbe interactions, genomics, protein engineering
Professor Weibo SONG
Ocean University of China, China
Protist ecology and evolution, taxonomy, phylogenetics
Kobe University, Japan
Cell-cell interactions, cell motility, cell biology of protists
Dr Juliane Wolf
The University of Queensland, Australia
Algal biotechnology, marine bioproducts, aquaculture
National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation, Japan
Endosymbiosis, organellogenesis, phylogenetics, protist evolution
Professor Joe Zuccarello
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Algal diversity and evolution, phylogenetics, seaweeds
APCOP-V is organised in collaboration with
supported by
proud affiliate societies of
If you have any questions about the APCOP-V, feel free to contact the Organising Committee at: