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,
Dr. Young-Ok Kim
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