What's WPI
What is WPI Program?
The WPI Program (World Premier International Research Center Initiative Program) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) 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 (MANA) was launched on October 1st of the same year.
| Host institution | WPI research center | Research fields |
|---|---|---|
| Tohoku University | Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR) | Materials Science |
| University of Tokyo | Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) | Astrophysics |
| Kyoto University | Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) | Meso-Control & Stem Cells |
| Osaka University | Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC) | Immunology |
| National Institute for Materials Science | International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics | Nanotechnology & Materials Science |
| Kyushu University | International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER, selected in 2010) | Energy & Environment |