Symposium: Light-Driven Frontiers in Future Materials Science

Information

Symposium: Light-Driven Frontiers in Future Materials Science will bring together international researchers and students to explore cutting-edge advances in light-driven science and future materials applications. The symposium will cover ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy, advanced photon sources, and their implications for nanomaterials science, with a special focus on NanoTerasu and the broader landscape of next-generation light sources. The program will also provide a forum for researchers from diverse backgrounds to exchange ideas on emerging materials, advanced characterization, and interdisciplinary approaches to future materials science. Poster contributions covering a broad range of topics in materials science, nanoscience, photon science, and related interdisciplinary fields are welcome.

*The program includes a public lecture by Nobel Laureate Prof. Donna Strickland and a Women in Science discussion session.

Date

Tuesday, September 29 – Thursday, October 1, 2026 (JST)

Venue

September 29, 2026
SRIS Building, Entrepreneur Hall, Aobayama New Campus, Tohoku University [Access]

October 1, 2026
TOKYO ELECTRON House of Creativity 3F, Lecture Theater, Katahira Campus, Tohoku University [Access]

Capacity

70 (First–come–first–serve basis, registration required)

Keynote Speaker

Donna Strickland

Nobel Laureate in Physics 2018, Professor, University of Waterloo

Invited Speakers

Alexander Föhlisch (University of Potsdam)
Nobuhisa Ishii (National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST))
Ryuji Itakura (National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST))
Jiro Itatani (University of Tokyo)
Till Jahnke (Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics)
Olof Karis (MAX IV Laboratory)
Tetsuo Katayama (Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI))
Tim Laarmann (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY))
Arnaldo Naves de Brito (University of Campinas)
Simone Techert (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY))
Kiyoshi Ueda (Tohoku University)
Junko Yano (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Akira Yoko (Tohoku University)

Registration

Registration
Registration deadline: ~~Tuesday, September 8, 2026, 17:00 (JST)~~ → Wednesday, September 16, 2026 17:00 (JST)
To participate in the event, please register via the form below:
*Registration deadline has been extended.
– Closed
Poster Presentation
If you wish to present a poster, please follow the steps below to submit your abstract.
Step 1: Prepare Your Abstract
Please use our official template to format your poster abstract.
Download Abstract Template [Word]
Step 2: Submit Your Abstract
Please click the button below to access the submission form.
Deadline for abstract submission: ~~Tuesday, September 8, 2026~~ → Wednesday, September 16, 2026 17:00 (JST)
*Please submit it as a PDF file.
*Please fit it on one A4 page.
*Submission deadline has been extended.
– Closed

Time Schedule

Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at SRIS Building, Entrepreneur Hall, Aobayama New Campus
13:00 – 13:10: Opening Remarks

Session 1: Advanced Photon Science
13:10 – 13:40: Tim Laarmann (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)); Interferometry and ultrafast spectroscopy on extreme time and length scales: From small quantum systems to aqueous solution

13:40 – 14:10: Nobuhisa Ishii (QST); Time-resolved spectroscopy using soft x-ray high harmonics generated by mid-infrared pulses

14:10 – 14:40: Jiro Itatani (University of Tokyo); Harmonic Generation from Liquid Water under Extreme Conditions

14:40 – 15:05: Group Photo

15:05 – 15:35: Akira Yoko (Tohoku University); Ultrasmall High-Crystallinity Metal Oxide

15:35 – 17:15: Poster Session & Scientific Exchange

18:00 – 20:00: Welcome Reception @THE WESTIN SENDAI [Access]

Wednesday, September 30, 2026
10:00 – 12:00: Women in Science Tea & Talk — Conversations with Leading Women Researchers on Science and Careers —

17:00 – 19:00: Public Lecture: Seeing, Creating, and Opening the Future with Light

Thursday, October 1, 2026 at TOKYO ELECTRON House of Creativity 3F, Lecture Theater, Katahira Campus
Session 2: Synchrotron & Future Light Sources
10:00 – 10:30: Junko Yano (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory); Following light-driven water oxidation reaction in real time with X-ray spectroscopy and diffraction methods

10:30 – 11:00: Alexander Föhlisch (University of Potsdam); Beating the complexity of functional materials and chemistry
throught the selectivity of soft X-rays

11:00 – 11:30: Tetsuo Katayama (Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI)); Ultrafast solvation structural dynamics probed by X-ray free electron laser

11:30 – 12:30: Lunch

12:30 – 13:00: Kiyoshi Ueda (Tohoku University); Attosecond science in the gas phase

13:00 – 13:45: Keynote Lecture; Donna Strickland (University of Waterloo); From Nonlinear Optics to High-Intensity Laser Physics

13:45 – 14:15: Till Jahnke (Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics); Examining Ultrafast Processes in Single Molecules using Synchrotrons and XFELs

14:15 – 14:30: Coffee Break

Session 3: Ultrafast & Laser Science
14:30 – 15:00: Simone Techert (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)); Studying Chemical Reactions with Ultrafast Elastic and Inelastic X-ray Scattering

15:00 – 15:30: Arnaldo Naves de Brito (University of Campinas); Local atomic and molecular environments through non-local X-ray spectroscopy

15:30 – 15:55: Coffee Break

15:55 – 16:25: Ryuji Itakura (QST); Research activities in ultrafast laser science at Kansai Institute for Photon Science QST

16:25 – 16:55: Olof Karis (MAX IV Laboratory); MAX4U – An upgrade of the world’s first fourth-generation storage ring

16:55 – 17:20: Closing Remarks

18:00 – 20:00: Banquet @NOTTI VAGO [Link]

Poster

Download [PDF]

Abstracts

Download [PDF]

Co–hosted by

International Center for Synchrotron Radiation Innovation Smart, Tohoku University

Contact

Email: tfc_pg*grp.tohoku.ac.jp (change * to @)

Programs