Oveview of 2025 Session
The 4th International School on Advanced Immunology, held from 14 to 19 September 2025, was jointly organized by the Osaka University Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC) and ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn, and was the second school in this series to be held in Maria Laach, Germany.
Forty-eight exceptionally talented young researchers were selected from 99 applicants worldwide to participate in the School, and over four days they learned cutting-edge immunology from 15 world-renowned senior researchers.
All participants gave both short oral and poster presentations. The aim of the school was to share scientific expertise and to enable a network of ambitious and creative minds to tackle the opportunities ahead in tailored immunodiagnostics and immunotherapies.
In addition, on September 19, 38 participants visited ImmunoSensation2 and toured its laboratories.
The School offered travel subsidies to all participants to partially cover travel costs. Accommodation and full board were included in the participation fee of 350 EUR.
The organizers of the School would like to express their sincere gratitude to the German Research Foundation (EXC2151-390873048), the Böhringer-Ingelheim Foundation, the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), and the JSPS Core-to-Core Program (JPJSCCA202110008) for their financial support of the School.
Date and Venue
14-19 Sep. 2025
Maria Laach, Germany.
The conference venue, Seehotel Maria Laach, is in the middle of the largest nature reserve in Rhineland-Palatinate. The traditional house, existing on the site for over 155 years, has been freshly renovated and now appears in new splendor. It is directly located at the Benedictine Maria Laach Abbey, an important Romanesque building from the 11th century that contains several monastery enterprises, and the Laacher See (Lake Laach) which is a volcanic caldera lake with a diameter of 2 km (1.2 mi).
Application and Selection
Participants were selected by the 2025 International School Selection Committee through a competitive screening process based on submitted application materials: curriculum vitae, a personal statement describing their motivation for attending the School, an abstract of the applicant’s presentation, and a recommendation letter.
- 48 participants from 23 countries were successfully selected from 99 applicants,
- 29 participants were female (60%) and 19 participants were male (40%).
- 37 participants were PhD students (77%) and 11 were early postdocs (23%).
- Participants were from 23 countries: Asia (15), Europe (11), South America (9), Oceania (6), Northern America (5), the Middle East (2), and Africa (1), which includes one with dual nationality.
- Participants belong to institutes located in 20 countries: Europe (13), Asia (10), Oceania (10), Northern America (5), South and Central America (8) and the Middle East (2).
2025 Program
The main scientific program included short oral presentations and poster sessions by participants, as well as 15 guest lectures. Each participant presented a poster and also gave a short oral presentation.
Lecturers
Philipp Beckhove, Leibniz Institute for lmmunotherapy (Germany)
Kaan Boztug, lmmunoSensation2, University of Bonn (Germany)
Tomohiro Kurosaki, IFReC, the University of Osaka (Japan)
Alice Lepelley, Institute Imagine of Genetic Diseases (France)
Michael Lotze, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (USA
Yumi Matsuoka, IFReC, the University of Osaka (Japan)
Anne-Katrin Proebstel, lmmunoSensation2, University of Bonn (Germany)
Jan Rehwinkel, University of Oxford (UK)
Georg Schett, University Hospital Erlangen (Germany)
Kiyoshi Takeda, IFReC, Osaka University (Japan)
Antigoni Triantafyllopoulou, Charite Berlin (Germany)
Roxane Tussiwand, lmmunoSensation2, University of Bonn (Germany)
Dorothee Viemann, University Hospital Würzburg Germany)
Masahiro Yamamoto, IFReC, the University of Osaka (Japan)
Presentation Award Laureates
Awards were given to the following participants for their excellent presentations.
Kelvin Chen, IFReC, University of Osaka (Japan)
Johanna Jung, University of Cambridge (UK)
Aalia Khan, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (India)
Jan Schaefer, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (Australia)
Maria Wahle, Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry (Germany)
Organizing Committee
Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University
Tomohiro Kurosaki (Director)
Kazuhiro Suzuki
Hisashi Arase
Sho Yamasaki
Naoki Hosen
Wataru Ise
James Badger Wing
Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2, University of Bonn, Germany
Gunther Hartmann
Waldemar Kolanus
Eva Bartok
Monique Breteler
Christian Kurts
Elvira Mass
Felix Meissner
Katrin Paeschke
Andreas Schlitzer
Joachim Schultze
Gallery
