Greeting from Director
I am Hiroyuki Fukuyama, and I have entered my third year as the Director of the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials (IMRAM). I would like to introduce our latest initiatives aimed at further leaps for the Institute, as well as our outlook for this fiscal year.
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary Milestone
This year, IMRAM celebrates its 25th anniversary, a significant milestone. We extend our deepest gratitude for your support over the past quarter-century. To commemorate this occasion, we will hold a 25th Anniversary Ceremony in September. We will take this opportunity to reaffirm our “Trinity” research system—comprising Materials, Processes, and Measurement—and transmit our vision for the next 25 years to those both inside and outside the university.
Challenges as a University for International Research Excellence
Following Tohoku University’s designation as Japan’s first “University for International Research Excellence (UREX1),” IMRAM has been promoting a strategic personnel plan to recruit world-class researchers. As a result, three world-renowned professors—Professor Jürgen Janek (solid-state batteries), Professor Mauricio Terrones (carbon nanomaterials), and Professor William F. DeGrado (protein design)—have arrived as International Distinguished Professors, and their “Branch Labs” have begun full-scale operations within the Institute. These Branch Labs serve as cutting-edge hubs where distinguished researchers collaborate closely and co-create organically with our faculty and students. By accelerating the creation of knowledge through interdisciplinary fusion, these labs will function as the core of our “New Research Center Initiative,” specifically within the energy, health, and food sectors, to solve urgent social issues.
Further Advancement of Research Infrastructure
Two years have passed since the next-generation synchrotron radiation facility, “NanoTerasu,” began operations, and it is already producing many innovative results. This year, the Institute has secured 120 hours of utilization time. I expect all members of the Institute to maximize the use of this world-class infrastructure to accelerate highly original research.
At the Tohoku Center of Excellence for Microscopy (TCEM), established in collaboration with the Institute for Materials Research (IMR), structural analysis of soft materials using cryo-electron microscopy is progressing steadily. Using these state-of-the-art foundations as an axis, we will play a central role in contributing to the realization of the “Science Park” promoted by Tohoku University.
Development of Industry-Academic Collaboration and Networks
In terms of industry-academic collaboration, new Co-creation Research Centers with NanoFrontier/Nittobo and UBE were added last fiscal year. Consequently, a total of five Joint Research Laboratories, along with the Joint Research Division, are actively conducting research activities. This serves as proof that IMRAM is highly regarded by society as an institute that prioritizes “Research First” and “Practice Oriented Research and Education”. We will continue to expand our industry-academic activities to contribute to society.
In the “Network Joint Research Center and Alliance Project,” composed of five affiliated institutes across Japan (Hokkaido University RIES, Tohoku University IMRAM, Science Tokyo RIST, Osaka University ISIR, and Kyushu University IMCE), each institute acts as a hub while collaborating to develop creative joint research. The “Alliance” project has reached its 5th year. To make this project permanent and developmental, we are currently applying for its transition to a core budgetary expenditure (Kikan-Keihi). We will promote joint research for the creation of new academic fields and social implementation in materials science on an even stronger foundation.
Future Outlook
On this 25th anniversary, empowered by the arrival of three International Distinguished Professors, the expansion of our industry-academic collaboration system, and new developments in the Alliance project, IMRAM is determined to further improve its research capabilities, promote interdisciplinary fusion, and connect those results to the sustainable development of human society.
We sincerely ask for your continued guidance and encouragement.
April 2026,
Director Hiroyuki Fukuyama
