The JST FOREST program has selected highly competitive adopters in a variety of fields over three years. Although these fields are basically determined based on the categories of Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, interdisciplinary research in biology and other fields based on new technologies and concepts that do not belong to the classical classifications of the past have emerged and matured recently.

I myself started a small project and have continued to work on it, thinking that the essence of living organisms might be revealed by transcending the barriers of conventional concepts of the field. Even though my small project was not well accepted by many people at first, and even though I often hit a wall in my research, I am happy to see that the project has begun to resonate with people around me and that I am gaining more and more friends both in Japan and abroad. The unique feature of this FOREST project is that we do not expect only success. I hope that you will cherish your own small ideas and nurture your original research over a long period of time.

In addition, this panel has a broad discipline, covering everything from atoms and molecules to cells. Therefore, we have asked for the cooperation of experienced and unique scientific advisors who have been active in a variety of research subjects and developing state-of-the-art technologies to review and manage this panel. We hope that the active interaction between these advisors and the researchers who will be selected for this panel will lead to further breakthroughs in his/her research. We want this panel to be a place where you can boldly devote yourself to what you love. We look forward to receiving your applications with all the strength you can muster.