Dear colleagues and friends,

We want to express our respect and gratitude to our colleagues past and present who lead the field of protistology and have promoted a creative and scientifically exciting research atmosphere.

With this in mind, on behalf of the Korean Society of Protistologists (KSOP), we announce the 16th ICOP (International Congress of Protistology) is to be held on 2025 at the SKKU (SungKyunKwan University) in Seoul, the Republic of Korea. This congress has taken place every four years and hosted scientists dealing with protists and attracted hundreds of protistologists all from around the world.

The SKKU is the oldest university in Korea, founded in 1398. We are delighted to introduce our beautiful institution and its traditions to all congress participants, where numerous scholars and students have shared their knowledge and insights for over 600 years. In addition, several grand royal palaces are located nearby the venue. We will meet on the front porch of the SKKU, an excellent place to communicate as colleagues and friends.

The leading protist group in our country, the KSOP, has organized the congress and hopes to assemble the best program possible by supporting the sharing of new knowledge and experiences. The tiny creatures ‘protists’ are highly diverse and major components of many natural ecosystems, acting as autotrophs, mixotrophs, and heterotrophs. Therefore, the subtitle at the 16th ICOP meeting is ‘Smaller but Stronger Creatures’.

Please honor us with your presence and share your knowledge and experience at the 16th ICOP, 2025. We will do our best to earn your trust. We hope that all protistologists will unleash their energy and knowledge to a greater extent than has ever been done before through the 16th ICOP meeting.

On behalf of the local organizers,