Dr. Jun Minagawa, Vice Director-General at National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB), Japan, has built an academic career in molecular genetics and photobiology since earning his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1992. Following a postdoctoral at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he joined RIKEN, and later, Hokkaido University as an associate professor in 2001. In 2010, he became a full professor at the NIBB, leading its Division of Environmental Photobiology. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of algal photosynthesis, specifically short-term photoacclimation processes like state transitions and non-photochemical quenching. Employing a combination of biochemistry, molecular genetics, and spectroscopic methods, Dr. Minagawa's work aims to elucidate the sequence of events that a photosynthetic cell undergoes after photon absorption, a reflection of his commitment to advancing the field of photobiology.