World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI)
WPI ACADEMY
The World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI Program) was launched in 2007 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Over the past 10 years, the program has been highly successful in building top world-standard research centers with powerful research capacity and a high level of internationalization, centers that now boast wide global visibility.
In FY 2017, MEXT established the new WPI Academy to take the vanguard in internationalizing and further renovating Japan’s research environment, making it place that expands and accelerates the international circulation of the world’s best brains. The WPI centers that have achieved “world-premier status” will be the initial members of the WPI Academy. They may possibly be joined later by other Japanese research institutes that have amassed research results and created research environments of the very highest world standard. As it becomes operational, the WPI Academy will position Japan as a pole at the pinnacle of international researcher circulation.
In FY 2017, MEXT established the new WPI Academy to take the vanguard in internationalizing and further renovating Japan’s research environment, making it place that expands and accelerates the international circulation of the world’s best brains. The WPI centers that have achieved “world-premier status” will be the initial members of the WPI Academy. They may possibly be joined later by other Japanese research institutes that have amassed research results and created research environments of the very highest world standard. As it becomes operational, the WPI Academy will position Japan as a pole at the pinnacle of international researcher circulation.
Tohoku University Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR)
The University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU)
Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS)
The University of Osaka Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC)
National Institute for Materials Science Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA)
Kyushu University International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I²CNER)
University of Tsukuba International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS)
Institute of Science Tokyo（Formerly Tokyo Institute of Technology） Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI)
Nagoya University Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM)
For more information on WPI Academy, please see Selected Projects
The University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU)
Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS)
The University of Osaka Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC)
National Institute for Materials Science Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA)
Kyushu University International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I²CNER)
University of Tsukuba International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS)
Institute of Science Tokyo（Formerly Tokyo Institute of Technology） Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI)
Nagoya University Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM)
For more information on WPI Academy, please see Selected Projects
as of May 2026
| AD/AO | Name | Position, Affiliation | Assigned center |
|---|---|---|---|
| AD | UKAWA Akira (PDF/144KB) | Director, WPI Promotion Center, JSPS | ー |
| AO | KATO Reizo (PDF/303KB) | Deputy Executive Director (Research Strategy Advisor), RIKEN | Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR), Tohoku University |
| AO | YAMAGUCHI Masahiro (PDF/71KB) | Executive Vice President, Tohoku University | Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe(Kavli IPMU), The University of Tokyo |
| AO | NAKANO Toru (PDF/359KB) | Emeritus Professor, The University of Osaka | Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), Kyoto University |
| AO | MATSUSHIMA Kouji (PDF/465KB) | Professor, Research Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Tokyo University of Science | Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC), The University of Osaka |
| AO | KATAYAMA-YOSHIDA Hiroshi (PDF/221KB) | Professor Emeritus, The University of Osaka Contracted Researcher, Center for Spintronics Research Network, The University of Tokyo |
Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science(NIMS) |
| AO | DOMEN Kazunari (PDF/132KB) | University Professor, Office of University Professors, The University of Tokyo Distinguished University Professor, Institute for Aqua Regeneration, Shinshu University |
International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research(I²CNER), Kyushu University |
| AO | HAYASHI-TAKAGI Akiko (PDF/223KB) | Team Director, Center for Brain Science, Multi-scale Biological Psychiatry, RIKEN | International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS), University of Tsukuba |
| AO | YAMAMOTO Satoshi (PDF/34KB) | Executive Vice President, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI | Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Institute of Science Tokyo（Formerly Tokyo Institute of Technology） |
| AO | HAMACHI Itaru (PDF/205KB) | Program-Specific Professor/Professor Emeritus, Institute of Advanced Energy, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University | Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University |
With the assigned AO as its chair, an Academy working group including one overseas member for each center has been established under the Program Committee.