Welcome to the website of the Autonomous Polymer Design and Discovery Group. I am Yuuya Nagata, the group leader. Our group combines robotic experimentation, data science, machine learning, and polymer chemistry to create new materials using approaches beyond traditional frameworks. In particular, we aim to build an environment in which researchers can focus on more creative ideas and deeper discussions through the automation and autonomy of experiments.
We welcome students and young researchers who are about to start their research, as well as those who want to take on new challenges from different fields. If you are motivated to turn your ideas into reality or develop technologies that contribute to society, we would like to work together with you to pioneer the future of materials science. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested.
Yuuya NAGATA
Email: NAGATA.Yuuya@nims.go.jp
researchmap
ORCID
NIMS Researcher Directory (SAMURAI)
Born in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, in 1980, he obtained his Ph.D. in Engineering from Kyoto University and subsequently engaged in research in organic synthesis and polymer chemistry. He served as an Assistant Professor at Kyoto University and then as an Associate Professor (Special Appointment) at the WPI-ICReDD, Hokkaido University. Since June 2025, he has been Group Leader of the Autonomous Polymer Design and Discovery Group at the Research Center for Macromolecules and Biomaterials, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). His research promotes the development of novel organic materials through experimental automation and autonomy combined with information science.
Hajime SHIGEMITSU
Email: SHIGEMITSU.Hajime@nims.go.jp
researchmap
ORCID
Born in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1984, he obtained his Ph.D. in Engineering from Osaka University and subsequently engaged in research in supramolecular chemistry and photochemistry. After working as a postdoctoral researcher at Kyoto University and serving as an Assistant Professor and Lecturer at Osaka University, he joined the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in December 2025 as a Senior Researcher in the Autonomous Polymer Synthesis Group, Polymer and Biomaterials Research Center.
His research focuses on the automation and autonomy of experiments, as well as the use of informatics to elucidate unique optical properties emerging from the self-assembly of organic dye molecules, and to leverage these properties for the development of novel materials that contribute to energy and biomedical applications.
Our group has introduced an automated synthesis robot from Chemspeed. It enables highly accurate and reproducible automation from reagent dispensing to reaction and pretreatment for analysis, allowing exploration of a large number of experimental conditions in a short time. In addition, by linking with the Bayesian optimization program (NIMO), it enables autonomous exploration, accelerating the discovery and optimization of new polymer materials.
This is a newly established group as of June 2025. We plan to recruit postdoctoral researchers and students in the future. Please consult with Nagata if you are interested.
Yuuya Nagata E-mail: NAGATA.Yuuya@nims.go.jp Group Leader National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) Research Center for Macromolecules and Biomaterials Autonomous Polymer Design and Discovery Group
305-0047 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan Central Building, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)