Advanced techniques to observe molecules, such as time-resolved spectroscopy, single-molecule detection, and nonlinear spectroscopy are being developed dramatically based on remarkable progress of laser technology. These techniques enable us to observe structure and dynamics of soft molecular systems that have been inaccessible by any conventional techniques. A deeper understanding of the nature of soft molecular systems is one of the most important subjects for molecular science.

  In A02 project, we will develop new methodologies to observe metastable structures and dynamics of molecular systems and elucidate functionally-important nature of molecular flexibility. We will study mechanisms to exhibit functions of soft molecular systems, such as supramolecules, self-assembled molecules, proteins and polypeptides, and transient structures in structure formation processes. Molecular level structures of heterogeneous systems like interfaces and their properties as fields of mass transfer and reaction are also to be elucidated in the project. We aim to accomplish these goals in collaboration with groups of theoretical and computational chemistry (A01 project) and those of molecular synthesis and transformation (A03 project).