Meeting of WPI Program Committee |
The World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI Program) was initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in FY 2007. By advancing operational and administrative reforms in Japanese research institutions, the program seeks to establish research centers that boast the kind of excellent research environments and high research standards that give them elevated global visibility—research centers that prompt frontline researchers from around the world to want to pursue their work at them. In FY 2007, the first five research centers (WPI centers) were selected and their operations launched under this program. Over a period of 10 to 15 years, each of them is receiving annual funding in an amount of about ¥1.4 billion.
This fiscal year, one new WPI center has been adopted in an environmental field expected to contribute to the advancement of low-carbon societies. Nine institutions answered the call for proposals and were vetted through a process of document reviews and hearings conducted by the WPI Program Committee, with JSPS assisting as the program’s administrative secretariat. Selected as a result was the Carbon-Neutral Energy Research Institute of Kyushu University, whose prospective center director is Prof. Petros Sofronis of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The new center is scheduled to go into operation in December.
- University-Industry Cooperation and Research Program Division
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