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 2024
| AD/AO | Name | Position, Affiliation | Assigned center |
|---|---|---|---|
| AD | UKAWA Akira (PDF/144KB) | Director, Center for World Premier International Research Center Initiative, JSPS | ー |
| AO | KATO Reizo (PDF/303KB) | Deputy Executive Director (Research Strategy Advisor), RIKEN | Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR), Tohoku University |
| AO | NAKANO Toru (PDF/359KB) | Emeritus Professor, Osaka University | Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), Kyoto University |
| AO | MATSUSHIMA Kouji (PDF/447KB) | Professor, Research Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Tokyo University of Science | Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC), Osaka University |
| AO | KATAYAMA-YOSHIDA Hiroshi (PDF/273KB) | Emeritus Professor, Osaka University | Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science(NIMS) |
| AO | DOMEN Kazunari (PDF/43KB) | University Professor, The University of Tokyo/Special Contract Professor, Research Initiative for Supra-Materials, Shinshu University | International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research(I2CNER), Kyushu University |
| AO | YAMAGUCHI Masahiro (PDF/69KB) | Professor/Vice President, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University | Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe(Kavli IPMU), The University of Tokyo |
| AO | MIYAMA Shoken (PDF/143KB) | President, Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University | Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Institute of Science Tokyo（Formerly Tokyo Institute of Technology） |
| AO | OSUMI Noriko (PDF/189KB) | Vice President, Tohoku University | International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS), University of Tsukuba |
| AO | HAMACHI Itaru (PDF/103KB) | Professor, Department of Synthetic Chemistry & Biological Chemistry, 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.