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World Premier International Research Center Initiative
What is WPI Program?
The WPI Program (World Premier International Research Center Initiative Program) was launched in 2007 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) with a mission to create globally open and appealing centers of research that serve as pivotal hubs for global brain circulation. It provides concentrated support for projects to establish and operate research centers that have at their core a group of very high-level investigators.
These centers are to create a research environment of a sufficiently high standard to give them a highly visible presence within the global scientific community - that is, to create a vibrant environment that will be of strong incentive to frontline researchers around the world to want to come and work at these centers.
In 2007, NIMS and four national universities were selected for grants, and the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA) was launched on October 1st of the same year.
To date*, 14 research centers have been selected as WPI centers by meeting these four objectives: advancing leading-edge research, establishing international research environments, reforming research organizations, and creating interdisciplinary domains.
In 2017, five prior WPI centers including MANA were certified as WPI Academy Centers: a new framework intended to take the vanguard in internationalizing and further renovating Japan's research environment to accelerate and expand the global circulation of the world's best brains.
*as of December 1, 2021
■ World Premier International Research Center (WPI) Initiative | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
These centers are to create a research environment of a sufficiently high standard to give them a highly visible presence within the global scientific community - that is, to create a vibrant environment that will be of strong incentive to frontline researchers around the world to want to come and work at these centers.
In 2007, NIMS and four national universities were selected for grants, and the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA) was launched on October 1st of the same year.
To date*, 14 research centers have been selected as WPI centers by meeting these four objectives: advancing leading-edge research, establishing international research environments, reforming research organizations, and creating interdisciplinary domains.
In 2017, five prior WPI centers including MANA were certified as WPI Academy Centers: a new framework intended to take the vanguard in internationalizing and further renovating Japan's research environment to accelerate and expand the global circulation of the world's best brains.
*as of December 1, 2021
■ World Premier International Research Center (WPI) Initiative | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Challenges in Building Top-world Institutes
New WPI Mission
- Leading-edge research
- Fusion research
- System reform
- Globalization
- Social value of basic research
- Nurturing next generation
World-Leading Scientific Excellence and Recognition
- The Highest Level of Research Impact
- Expanding Knowledge Frontiers through Interdisciplinarity and Diversity
Global Research Environment and System Reform
- Harnessing Talent and Potential through Global Brain Circulation
- Interdisciplinary and Inter-organizational Capacity Building
- Effective, Proactive and Agile Management
Values for the Future
- Societal Value of Basic Research
- Human Resource Building: Higher Education and Career Development
- Self-sufficient and Sustainable Center Development
WPI Research Centers (14) / Research Fields *as of December 1, 2021
| WPI Research Center | Host Institution | Research Fields |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR) * | Tohoku University *1 | Mathematics / Materials Science |
| Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) * | University of Tokyo *1 | Mathematics / Physics / Astronomy |
| Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) * | Kyoto University *1 | Cell Biology / Materials Science |
| Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC) * | Osaka University *1 | Immunology / Imaging / Informatics |
| International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) * | National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) *1 | Nanotechnology / Materials Science |
| International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) * | Kyushu University *2 | Energy Science / Materials Science |
| Interrnational Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS) * | University of Tsukuba *3 | Sleep Medicine / Pharmaceutical Science |
| Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) * | Tokyo Institute of Technology *3 | Earth & Planetary Science / Life Science |
| Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM) * | Nagoya University *3 | Chemistry / Plant & Animal Biology |
| International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN) | University of Tokyo *4 | Neuroscience / Artificial Intelligence |
| Nano Life Science Institute (NanoLSI) | Kanazawa University *4 | Nano Imaging / Life Science |
| Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (ICReDD) | Hokkaido University ※5 | Computational Science / Information Science / Chemistry |
| Institute for Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi) | Kyoto University ※5 | Human Biology / Mathematics / Bioethics |
| International Center for Quantum-field Measurement Systems for Studies of the Universe and Particles (QUP) | High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) ※6 | Measurement Science |
*1 adopted in 2007, *2 adopted in 2010, *3 adopted in 2012, *4 adopted in 2017, *5 adopted in 2018, *6 adopted in 2021
* WPI Academy Centers