About Society

Introduction of the Korean Society of Protistologists (KSOP):

The Korean Society Of Protistologists (KSOP) began in 1992 but partly took a rest for about 10 years. In 2011, the KSOP actively re-started for the Asian Conference of Protistology (ACOP 2011) held in Jeju Island, Korea. Furthermore, the KSOP organized an international joint meeting with the Japan Society of Protistology (JSP) every two years. The KSOP has currently enrolled about 130 members who cover almost all directions of protistological fields. About 50 members participated in the KSOP annual meeting. In 2020, the KSOP annual meeting will be replaced with the 3rd joint meeting of the KSOP and JSP held in Kobe, Japan. The KSOP is a small but strong society and is composed of many progressive protistologists based on the foundation of experience. Compared to a short history of the protistology in Korea, the KSOP has considerable strength and breadth in Protistology. The KSOP is pledged to success the upcoming ICOP (the 16th International Congress of Protistology) meeting in Seoul, Republic of Korea from June 21st-25th in 2021. We are looking forward to seeing you at the 16th ICOP meeting in Seoul 2021.


Best regards,
Prof. Mann Kyoon SHIN, Ph.D.
Chairperson of the KSOP



Past Congresses & Chairpersons

The International Congress of Protistology (ICOP) has been running every four years without a break since 1961, and has provided an important venue to highlight the progress of our science and a great opportunity to reconnect with colleagues worldwide.

No. Year Location President/Chair Co-Chair/Secretary-General
I 1961 Prague, Czech Republic O. Jírovec J. Lom, J. Vávra
II 1965 London, England P.C.C. Garnham R.S. Bray
II 1969 Leningrad, Russia G.I. Poljansky I.B. Raikov
IV 1973 Clermont-Ferrand, France P. de Puytorac J. Grain
V 1977 New York City, United States W. Trager J.J. Lee
VI 1981 Warsaw, Poland S. Dryl S.L. Kazubski
VII 1985 Nairobi, Kenya T.R. Odhiambo L. Otieno
VIII 1989 Tsukuba, Japan K. Hiwatashi Y. Nozawa
IX 1993 Berlin, Germany H. Mehlhorn K. Hausmann
X 1997 Sydney, Australia G.F. Mitchell A. Johnson, D.J. Patterson
XI 2001 Salzburg, Austria D.T. Spira H. Aspöck, W. Foissner
XII 2005 Guangzhou, China M. Li X.-G. Chen, Z.-R. Lun
XIII 2009 Rio de Janiero, Brazil W. De Souza M. Attias
XIV 2013 Vancouver, Canada D.H. Lynn S. Adl
XV 2017 Prague, Czech Republic V. Hampl I. Čepička