International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics
Encyclopedia
International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA from MAterials NanoArchitectonics) is a special research unit established in 2007 at the National Institute for Materials Science
(NIMS) within the World Premier International (WPI) Research Center Initiative by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
and other countries to conduct research at NIMS. The organizations providing foreign researchers are named "satellites" and currently include
MANA advisors include Nobel Prize
laureates Harold Kroto
and Heinrich Rohrer
, as well as other prominent scientists (C. N. R. Rao, Galen D. Stucky
, etc.) and industry leaders (L. Schlapbach, CEO of Empa
).
MANA members include such recognized scientists as Omar M. Yaghi
, Christoph Gerber
, James Gimzewski
, Mark Welland
and others.
MANA currently (September 2008) employes only several tens members,
originating from at least 9 countries (Japan, UK, US, China, India, Russia, France, Italy and Sweden). However, the number of employees is planned to increase up to about 200.
and Science
, and more are expected to come in the nearest future.
Another unusual feature of MANA is that although it is located in Japan and most its employees are Japanese, its primary language is English. This feature reflects the initiative of NIMS to become a leading and truly international scientific center.
- a technology allowing to manipulate a group of atoms or molecules. Consequently, much effort is devoted to the synthesis and characterization of various nanomaterials
and nanostructures with the results published in the main scientific journals and the MANA research and MANA news pages.
in Seoul
, Korea
. The exchange of researchers and research information between the two institutions is projected as a crucial factor in collaborative research on the development and evaluation of sustainable chemical technology and nano-biofusion technology.
National Institute for Materials Science
is an Independent Administrative Institution and one of the largest scientific research centers in Japan.- History :The growth and development of today's scientific research center has passed through several phases in a number of locations:...
(NIMS) within the World Premier International (WPI) Research Center Initiative by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
Members
MANA brings together outstanding researchers from JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and other countries to conduct research at NIMS. The organizations providing foreign researchers are named "satellites" and currently include
- University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
(UK) - University of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
(US) - Georgia Institute of TechnologyGeorgia Institute of TechnologyThe Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
(US) - CNRS (France)
- University of TsukubaUniversity of Tsukubais located in the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture in the Kantō region of Japan. The University has 28 college clusters and schools with a total of around 15,000 students...
(Japan) - Tokyo University of ScienceTokyo University of ScienceTokyo University of Science is a private university of science and technology in Japan...
(Japan) and - Hokkaido UniversityHokkaido UniversityHokkaido University is one of the most prestigious universities in Japan. It can be seen in the several rankings such as shown below.-General Rankings:...
(Japan).
MANA advisors include Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
laureates Harold Kroto
Harold Kroto
Sir Harold Walter Kroto, FRS , born Harold Walter Krotoschiner, is a British chemist and one of the three recipients to share the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley....
and Heinrich Rohrer
Heinrich Rohrer
Heinrich Rohrer is a Swiss physicist who shared half of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics with Gerd Binnig for the design of the scanning tunneling microscope .-Biography:...
, as well as other prominent scientists (C. N. R. Rao, Galen D. Stucky
Galen D. Stucky
Galen D. Stucky is an American inorganic materials chemist noted for his work with porous ordered mesoporous materials such as SBA-15.-Notability:...
, etc.) and industry leaders (L. Schlapbach, CEO of Empa
Empa
The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology or Empa is an interdisciplinary Swiss research and service institution for applied materials sciences and technology...
).
MANA members include such recognized scientists as Omar M. Yaghi
Omar M. Yaghi
Dr. Omar M. Yaghi is an American chemist, currently the Jean Stone Professor of Chemistry at University of California, Los Angeles. He and his research laboratories design and produce classes of compounds now known as metal-organic frameworks , zeolitic imidazolate frameworks , and covalent...
, Christoph Gerber
Christoph Gerber
Christoph Gerber is the director for Scientific Communication at the Institute of Physics, University of Basel.Christoph Gerber is the co-inventor of the atomic force microscope...
, James Gimzewski
James Gimzewski
James Kazimierz Gimzewski is a Scottish physicist of Polish descent who pioneered research on electrical contacts with single atoms and molecules and light emission using scanning tunneling microscopy.-Background:...
, Mark Welland
Mark Welland
Sir Mark Edward Welland FRS FREng, is a professor and the head of the Cambridge University Nanoscience Centre. He started his career in nanotechnology at IBM Research, Yorktown Heights, U.S., where he was part of the team that developed one of the first scanning tunneling microscopes.Having...
and others.
MANA currently (September 2008) employes only several tens members,
originating from at least 9 countries (Japan, UK, US, China, India, Russia, France, Italy and Sweden). However, the number of employees is planned to increase up to about 200.
Purpose and structure
The purpose of establishing MANA is very unusual for a scientific institution in a way that a relatively small unit (MANA, about 50 employees) is put forward to lead the research of a large scientific body (NIMS, about 1500 employees). In fact, MANA is considered as a mechanism of reorganization of the whole research system of NIMS. Consequently, best young scientists from all over the world are hired to conduct research, and the elite senior scientists are invited to guide them. Despite very young age of MANA, important results have already been obtained and published in major journals, such as NatureNature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
and Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, and more are expected to come in the nearest future.
Another unusual feature of MANA is that although it is located in Japan and most its employees are Japanese, its primary language is English. This feature reflects the initiative of NIMS to become a leading and truly international scientific center.
Research directions
The research directions of MANA are based on the concept named nanoarchitectonicsNanoarchitectonics
Nanoarchitectonics is a scientific jargon term coined at the National Institute for Materials Science for one of its leading units, International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics...
- a technology allowing to manipulate a group of atoms or molecules. Consequently, much effort is devoted to the synthesis and characterization of various nanomaterials
Nanomaterials
Nanomaterials is a field that takes a materials science-based approach to nanotechnology. It studies materials with morphological features on the nanoscale, and especially those that have special properties stemming from their nanoscale dimensions...
and nanostructures with the results published in the main scientific journals and the MANA research and MANA news pages.
Scientific cooperation
In September 2008, MANA embarked on a new program of scientific cooperation with the Yonsei UniversityYonsei University
Yonsei University is a Christian private research university, located in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1885, it is one of the oldest universities in South Korea, the top private comprehensive universities in South Korea, and is widely regarded as one of the top three comprehensive...
in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. The exchange of researchers and research information between the two institutions is projected as a crucial factor in collaborative research on the development and evaluation of sustainable chemical technology and nano-biofusion technology.
External links
- MANA web site
- Official web site of NIMS
- NanoarchitectonicsNanoarchitectonicsNanoarchitectonics is a scientific jargon term coined at the National Institute for Materials Science for one of its leading units, International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics...