Japan funds new international energy center, led by University of Illinois
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Japan funds new international energy center, led by University of Illinois www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-toplevel http://i2cner.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en
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new materials research institute focused on overcoming the challenges to achieving a carbon neutral society is the latest of six World Premier International Research Centers (WPIs) to be funded by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology. Through this program, Japan aims to establish preeminent research centers that leverage the resources of the international community to overcome barriers and make breakthroughs in clean energy science. The International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) is located at Kyushu University in Japan, with a satellite location at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). I2CNER will be funded entirely by the government of Japan, at a level of about $16 million per year for five years, with the possibility of extensions. The Institute will be led by Petros Sofronis from the University of Illinois. I2CNER is the only WPI directed by a non-Japanese researcher, although more than 30% of the researchers at each WPI are from overseas. Japan is investing in international research centers in part because of its geographic location, said Yoshinori Yamamoto, who directs the Advanced Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University. Researchers can easily travel between North America and Europe exchanging ideas and collaborating, he said, but Japan is more isolated. Establishing these centers is a way to foster an international research environment within Japan. The partnership between Kyushu University and the University of Illinois has its roots in a previous research collaboration related to mechanical properties of materials in the presence of hydrogen.
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MRS BULLETIN
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VOLUME 36 • OCTOBER 2011
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From this evolved the idea for an institute focused on the fundamental research underlying the technological developments necessary for a hydrogen-powered society, said Sofronis. “Certainly, this is an ambitious plan that we feel provides the international community with a new vehicle for conducting research and pursuing solutions to the energy problems that are global.”
work experience obtained at a worldclass research university [UIUC] into the operation of not only the Institute, but also of Kyushu University,” said I2CNER President Setsuo Arikawa in a welcome message posted on the center’s website. “This approach to management also characterizes a paradigm shift for research, operation, and administration at Japanese universities.” One of the main differences between university research in the two countries is the laboratory culture. Research in U.S. universities is largely driven by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who work with collaborating junior and senior faculty members. Research laboratories in Japan traditionally have a more hierarchical structure, where students, postdoctorates, and junior members have less influence on
Director Petros Sofronis (first row,
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