Miho Yanagisawa, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo; Hiroki Sakuta, a project assistant professor; Arash Nikoubashman, a Heisenberg Professor at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden; and their colleagues have identified a new physicochemical principle governing liquid–liquid phase separation in polymer solutions. Their research demonstrates that during the separation of a polymer mixture into two fluid phases, coexisting ions are unequally distributed between the phases. Using an established aqueous two-phase system composed of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and dextran (Dex), the researchers discovered that positively charged ions preferentially accumulate in the Dex-rich phase due to its slightly more negative charge than PEG. This ion partitioning drives the selective localization of negatively charged biomolecules within the Dex-rich phase. The study provides the first direct quantitative evidence of ion accumulation in liquid–liquid phase-separated systems. It offers new insights into molecular selectivity relevant to intracellular phase separation and biomolecular separation technologies.

Associate Professor Yuichiro Matsushita of Materials and Structures Laboratory, Institute of Science Tokyo, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Associate Professor Takahide Umeda of Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba and Quemix Corporation  announced today that they have achieved the world’s first¹ elucidation of how hydrogen produces free electrons² through the interaction with certain defects³ in silicon. The achievement has the potential to improve how insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are designed and manufactured, making them more efficient and reducing their power loss. It is also expected to open up possibilities for future devices using ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) materials.⁴

Secondary lymphedema, a chronic condition caused by lymph node removal during cancer surgery, leads to swelling, pain, and reduced mobility with limited treatment options. In a recent study, researchers from Japan developed a centrifugal cell stacking technique to create artificial lymphatic tissues that can restore lymphatic flow. When transplanted into mice, CeLyTs form functional lymph node-like structures that reduce swelling and promote lymph flow, offering a promising therapeutic strategy for lymphedema.

Adversarial examples—images subtly altered to mislead AI systems—are used to test the reliability of deep neural networks. However, existing methods often produce images with unnatural noise that is easy to detect. In a recent study, researchers from Japan developed “IFAP,” a new framework that aligns adversarial noise with the spectral characteristics of the original image. Extensive tests show that IFAP generates more natural-looking perturbations while remaining highly effective and resistant to common defenses.

When we assign work or chores in social units like our workplaces and households, feelings of unfairness are inevitable. While we hope to keep things fair, this can sometimes be difficult to achieve, and we often find ourselves caught in terrible dilemmas. Graduate School of Humanities Assistant Professor THAM Yukari Jessica has been conducting research on the “volunteer’s dilemma,” receiving awards such as the 12th JSPS Ikushi Prize and the 2025 Maenosono Memorial Award for Young Researchers for her paper on feelings of unfairness in work delegation. We asked her about the fundamentals of unfairness, how we can resolve these feelings, the relationship between fairness and well-being, as well as the results of her research and their implications for society.

An animal ecologist researching large marine animals such as whales and dolphins, Assistant Professor IWATA Takashi of the Graduate School of Maritime Sciences has performed surveys in oceans across the world. By using a method known as “biologging,” which involves attaching various recording instruments to animals in order to collect data, Iwata is working to elucidate the activity and surrounding environment of mysterious marine life. In recent years, he has also focused on surveying endangered finless porpoises native to nearby Osaka Bay. We sat down with Iwata to learn more about the current state of the oceans revealed through his research, as well as problems facing ecosystem conservation.

How do cutting-edge science and technology respond to ethical and legal issues when incorporated into society? These issues are known as ethical, legal and social issues, or “ELSI” for short, and research on these issues is being carried out both within Japan and around the world. In 2023, Kobe University launched KOBELSI, its university-wide research project on ELSI in life sciences and natural sciences. As revolutionary technology in fields such as medicine and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to pop up one after another, how has ELSI research advanced? We spoke with Professor CHATANI Naoto of the Graduate School of Humanities, leader of the project and an expert in ancient Greek philosophy and bioethics, about the current state of ELSI research and its future prospects.

The university is a place of research and knowledge. But have these things actually served to make people happy? Professor ISHIDA Tatsuro asked himself this question time and time again during his two-year-plus tenure as deputy director of Kobe University’s Office for Promoting Well-being. While performing research and diagnosing and treating patients as a physician, he also pondered their well-being. In addition, as part of a team effort to contribute to society with municipalities in Hyogo Prefecture, Ishida volunteers to provide medical care to the community. We asked Ishida, who currently serves as dean of the Graduate School of Health Sciences and who concurrently served as director of the Center for Advancement of Community Medicine through March 2025, about the current state and future outlook of well-being promotion at Kobe University, as well as his perspectives on research and medical settings.

Kobe, the international port city, has an over 150 year-long history since opening its port to foreign trade in the Meiji era. Once a foreign settlement that sprawled along the coastline, at the time of its reopening for Japanese residents, it was praised as being the most beautiful city in all the East. Kobe continues to both deepen and broaden its connections to the world to this day, and international charter flights from Kobe Airport commence service just in time for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. We asked Project Associate Professor KOSHIRO Kaoru of the Center for Computational Social Science and the Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, an expert on the history of modern architecture and modern cities and who has organized walk events around Kobe as a part of his research, to speak about the origins of the city of Kobe, the history of the buildings scattered around the city, and its future.