Tokyo, JAPAN 3 January 2025

Dear IUPB Member Societies and our wider community of photobiology/photobiochemistry colleagues,

Last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic came to an end, we were able to enjoy the 18^th International Congress of Photobiology (ICP) face-to-face in Perth, Western Australia. I took over the role of the President of the International Union of Photobiology (IUPB) after Professor Janet F. Bornman (Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia) who served as the President from 2019 (17^th ICP at Barcelona) through 2024 (18^th ICP at Perth) and will continue to serve on our executive board as Past-President.

At the general assembly during the 18^th ICP in Perth, I announced several topics for the future activities of IUPB. The first and most important of these is to held a successful international congress to gather photobiologists, photochemists, photomedical scientists and related researchers from around the world. Fortunately, Dr. Luis Arnaut (Professor, University of Coimbra) proposed to organize the next ICP in Coimbra (Portugal) and his proposal has been unanimously accepted by the IUPB Executive Board. We are very much looking forward to the 19^th ICP in Coimbra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On this occasion, we would particularly like to encourage the younger generation to organize symposia and deliver talks at the congress, at the same time providing equal opportunities to scientists of all backgrounds, ages, and genders.