Message from Director-General

This is the third year since Nanotechnology Researchers Network Center of Japan has established. The last two years, we have supported nanotechnology researchers with the goals of sharing information and sharing user facilities. The main reason we focus on "sharing" is that we think it is particularly important that there is no boundary in research fields at nano scale, and it needs sharing of knowledge and technology for further development.

We have issued e-mail newsletter, enhanced our Web site and internationalized our activities. Through workshops and bilateral symposiums with the United States, France, Sweden and other countries, we have encouraged information exchanges among researchers. In addition, we had young researchers' exchange programs and school for converging research fields to enable researchers to expand their expertise to new areas. We promoted and supported facility use and also had introductory training school for users of the facilities as part of the support for broader use of electron microscopes and other facilities.

New year's resolution is that we move a step ahead from sharing to both domestic ad international networking. Not only storing shared information, it also needs to be available where and when needed. For that purpose, Web interaction must be utilized more effectively. We will construct a network that makes gathering and disseminating information easily and promotes information exchange and discussion among researchers. We will also have links internationally and disseminate wide variety of nanotechnology research information. Information must be up-dated, credible and analyzed to make it clear and comprehensible. Therefore, we will put more efforts on our research activity to gather and analyze information.

Assuming that information network via Web is a virtual network, the network constructed by researchers around the world is a real network that enhances and promotes advanced researches. We will have symposiums and workshops for information exchange among researchers and international researchers' exchange programs and school for young researchers in multi-disciplinary fields effectively. We hope that this center will become a "salon" where leading researchers in Japan and other countries mingle together in any occasion. We would be delighted if researchers in university, institute, and industry as well as young researchers who will lead the next generation will mingle together in our salon.

Teruo KISHI

Director-General, January, 2004
Message from Director-General (2007)
Message from Director-General (2006)
Message from Director-General (2005)
Message from Director-General (2002)