RIKEN
Encyclopedia
is a large natural sciences research institute in Japan
. Founded in 1917, it now has approximately 3000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, the main one in Wako
, just outside Tokyo
. RIKEN is an Independent Administrative Institution
whose formal name is .
RIKEN conducts research in many areas of science, including physics
, chemistry
, biology
, medical science, engineering
and computational science
, and ranging from basic research
to practical applications
. It is almost entirely funded by the Japanese government, and its annual budget
is approximately ¥88 billion (US$760 million).
first proposed the establishment of a national science research institute in Japan. This task was taken on by Eiichi Shibusawa
, a prominent businessman, and following a resolution by the Diet
in 1915, RIKEN came into existence in March 1917. In its first incarnation, RIKEN was a private foundation (zaidan), funded by a combination of industry, the government, and the Imperial Household. It was located in the Komagome district of Tokyo
, and its first Director was the mathematician Dairoku Kikuchi.
In 1927 Masatoshi Ōkōchi, the third Director, established the RIKEN Konzern (a zaibatsu
). This was a group of spin-off companies that used RIKEN's scientific achievements for commercial ends and returned the profits to RIKEN. At its peak in 1939 the Konzern comprised about 121 factories and 63 companies, including Riken Kankōshi, which is now Ricoh
.
During World War II
the Japanese army's atomic bomb program
was conducted at RIKEN. In April 1945 the US bombed RIKEN's laboratories in Komagome, and in November, after the end of the war, Allied soldiers destroyed its two cyclotrons.
After the war, the Allies dissolved RIKEN as a private foundation, and it was brought back to life as a company called , or . In 1958 the Diet passed the RIKEN Law, whereby the institute returned to its original name and entered its third incarnation, as a , funded by the government. In 1963 it relocated to a large site in Wako
, Saitama Prefecture
, just outside Tokyo
.
Since the 1980s RIKEN has expanded dramatically. New labs, centers, and institutes have been established in Japan and overseas, including:
In October 2003 RIKEN's status changed again, to Independent Administrative Institution
. As such, RIKEN is still publicly funded, and it is periodically evaluated by the government, but it has a higher degree of autonomy than before.
and other fields). is a Japanese abbreviation of this.
"The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research" was formerly used as an alternative English name, or a kind of subtitle, for RIKEN. But in 2003, when it became an Independent Administrative Institution, this name was officially discarded, and the English appellation is now just "RIKEN", in capital letters. The media sometimes refer to it as "Riken" or "the Riken institute".
"RIKEN" is pronounced as a single word: /ˈrɪkɛn/ (-ken). The full Japanese name, "Rikagaku Kenkyūjo", is sometimes pronounced "Rikagaku Kenkyūjo", this may be used less often but is not incorrect as it is merely an example of abbreviation.
Japan
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...
. Founded in 1917, it now has approximately 3000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, the main one in Wako
Wako, Saitama
is a city located in the southern part of Saitama, Japan, bordering on Tokyo.As of 1 May 2008, the city has an estimated population of 76,221. The total area is 11.04 km²....
, just outside Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. RIKEN is an Independent Administrative Institution
Independent Administrative Institution
An Incorporated Administrative Agency or in lay terms an Independent Administrative Corporation or Independent Administrative Institution is a newly designed type of legal body for Japanese governmental organizations regulated by the Basic Law on Reforming Government Ministries of 1998...
whose formal name is .
RIKEN conducts research in many areas of science, including physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, medical science, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and computational science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, and ranging from basic research
Basic Research
Basic Research is an herbal supplement and cosmetics manufacturer based in Salt Lake City, Utah that distributes products through a large number of subsidiaries. In addition, their products are sold domestically and internationally through a number of high-end retailers. Dennis Gay is the...
to practical applications
Applied research
Applied research is a form of systematic inquiry involving the practical application of science. It accesses and uses some part of the research communities' accumulated theories, knowledge, methods, and techniques, for a specific, often state, business, or client driven purpose...
. It is almost entirely funded by the Japanese government, and its annual budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
is approximately ¥88 billion (US$760 million).
History
In 1913 the well-known scientist Jokichi TakamineJokichi Takamine
was a Japanese chemist.-Early life and education:Takamine was born in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, in November 1854. His father was a doctor; his mother a member of a family of sake brewers. He spent his childhood in Kanazawa, capital of present-day Ishikawa Prefecture in central Honshū, and was...
first proposed the establishment of a national science research institute in Japan. This task was taken on by Eiichi Shibusawa
Eiichi Shibusawa
' was a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". He spearheaded the introduction of Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many reforms including use of double entry accounting, joint stock corporations and modern note-issuing...
, a prominent businessman, and following a resolution by the Diet
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
in 1915, RIKEN came into existence in March 1917. In its first incarnation, RIKEN was a private foundation (zaidan), funded by a combination of industry, the government, and the Imperial Household. It was located in the Komagome district of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, and its first Director was the mathematician Dairoku Kikuchi.
In 1927 Masatoshi Ōkōchi, the third Director, established the RIKEN Konzern (a zaibatsu
Zaibatsu
is a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of World War II.-Terminology:...
). This was a group of spin-off companies that used RIKEN's scientific achievements for commercial ends and returned the profits to RIKEN. At its peak in 1939 the Konzern comprised about 121 factories and 63 companies, including Riken Kankōshi, which is now Ricoh
Ricoh
or Ricoh, is a Japanese company that was established in 1936 on February 6th, as , a company in the RIKEN zaibatsu. Its headquarters is located in Ricoh Building in Chūō, Tokyo....
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Japanese army's atomic bomb program
Japanese atomic program
The Japanese program to develop nuclear weapons was conducted during World War II. Like the German nuclear weapons program, it suffered from an array of problems, and was ultimately unable to progress beyond the laboratory stage before the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese...
was conducted at RIKEN. In April 1945 the US bombed RIKEN's laboratories in Komagome, and in November, after the end of the war, Allied soldiers destroyed its two cyclotrons.
After the war, the Allies dissolved RIKEN as a private foundation, and it was brought back to life as a company called , or . In 1958 the Diet passed the RIKEN Law, whereby the institute returned to its original name and entered its third incarnation, as a , funded by the government. In 1963 it relocated to a large site in Wako
Wako, Saitama
is a city located in the southern part of Saitama, Japan, bordering on Tokyo.As of 1 May 2008, the city has an estimated population of 76,221. The total area is 11.04 km²....
, Saitama Prefecture
Saitama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
, just outside Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
Since the 1980s RIKEN has expanded dramatically. New labs, centers, and institutes have been established in Japan and overseas, including:
- in 1984, the Life Science Center in Tsukuba
- in 1995, the Muon Research Facility at the Rutherford Appleton LaboratoryRutherford Appleton LaboratoryThe Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
in the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... - in 1997, the Harima Institute, the Brain Science Institute in Wako, and the center at the Brookhaven National LaboratoryBrookhaven National LaboratoryBrookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
in the USAUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... - in 1998, the Genomic Sciences Center
- in 2000, the Yokohama Institute, which now contains four centers for research in the life sciences
- in 2002, the Kobe Institute, which contains the Center for Developmental Biology
In October 2003 RIKEN's status changed again, to Independent Administrative Institution
Independent Administrative Institution
An Incorporated Administrative Agency or in lay terms an Independent Administrative Corporation or Independent Administrative Institution is a newly designed type of legal body for Japanese governmental organizations regulated by the Basic Law on Reforming Government Ministries of 1998...
. As such, RIKEN is still publicly funded, and it is periodically evaluated by the government, but it has a higher degree of autonomy than before.
Organizational structure
The main divisions of RIKEN are listed here. Purely administrative divisions are omitted.- Headquarters (mostly in Wako)
- Center for Intellectual Property Strategies
- Advanced Center for Computing and Communication
- RIKEN Structural Genomics/Proteomics Initiative
- Next-Generation Supercomputer R&D Center
- XFEL (X-ray Free Electron Laser) Project Head Office
- Wako Institute
- Discovery Research Institute (curiosity-driven research on a wide range of basic subjects)
- Frontier Research Institute (fixed-term projects; also has centers in SendaiSendai, Miyagiis the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and the largest city in the Tōhoku Region. In 2005, the city had a population of one million, and was one of Japan's 19 designated cities...
and NagoyaNagoya, Aichiis the third-largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous urban area in Japan.Located on the Pacific coast in the Chūbu region on central Honshu, it is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japan's major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba, and Moji...
) - Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science
- Brain Science InstituteRIKEN Brain Science InstituteRIKEN Brain Science Institute, often abbreviated as RIKEN-BSI, is a non-profit research institute focusing on neuroscience located in Wakō city, Saitama Prefecture in greater Tokyo area, Japan. It was established to lead the field of neuroscience in 1997 as one of institute in RIKEN...
- Initiative Research Units (research by young scientists in unexplored fields)
- Tsukuba Institute
- BioResource Center
- Research Collaborative Groups
- Harima Institute
- RIKEN SPring-8SPring-8SPring-8 is a synchrotron radiation facility located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan and run by the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute. The machine consists of a storage ring containing an 8 GeV electron beam...
Center
- RIKEN SPring-8
- Yokohama Institute
- Plant Science Center
- Center for Genomic Medicine
- Research Center for Allergy and Immunology
- Omics Science Center
- Systems and Structural Biology Center
- Bioinformatics And Systems Engineering division
- Center of Research Network for Infectious Diseases
- Kobe Institute
- Center for Developmental Biology (developmental biologyDevelopmental biologyDevelopmental biology is the study of the process by which organisms grow and develop. Modern developmental biology studies the genetic control of cell growth, differentiation and "morphogenesis", which is the process that gives rise to tissues, organs and anatomy.- Related fields of study...
and nuclear medicineNuclear medicineIn nuclear medicine procedures, elemental radionuclides are combined with other elements to form chemical compounds, or else combined with existing pharmaceutical compounds, to form radiopharmaceuticals. These radiopharmaceuticals, once administered to the patient, can localize to specific organs...
medical imagingMedical imagingMedical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes or medical science...
techniques) - Molecular ImagingMolecular imagingMolecular imaging originated from the field of radiopharmacology due to the need to better understand the fundamental molecular pathways inside organisms in a noninvasive manner.- Overview :...
Research Program (Laboratories for Symbolic Cognitive Development, BiolinguisticsBiolinguisticsBiolinguistics is the study of the biology and evolution of language. It is a highly interdisciplinary field, including linguists, biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, mathematicians, and others...
, and Language Development.)
- Center for Developmental Biology (developmental biology
Miscellaneous facts and recent achievements
- Two RIKEN scientists have won the Nobel prize for physicsNobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
: Hideki YukawaHideki Yukawané , was a Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate.-Biography:Yukawa was born in Tokyo and grew up in Kyoto. In 1929, after receiving his degree from Kyoto Imperial University, he stayed on as a lecturer for four years. After graduation, he was interested in...
in 1949 and Shinichiro TomonagaSin-Itiro Tomonagawas a Japanese physicist, influential in the development of quantum electrodynamics, work for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 along with Richard Feynman and Julian Schwinger.-Biography:...
in 1965. - The SPring-8 (Super Photon Ring 8GeV) facility in HarimaHarima, Hyogois a town located in Kako District, Hyōgo, Japan. The town shares its name with Harima Province, one of the old provinces of Japan. Harima was known as Ae village until April 1962...
is the world's largest and most powerful third-generation synchrotronSynchrotronA synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator in which the magnetic field and the electric field are carefully synchronised with the travelling particle beam. The proton synchrotron was originally conceived by Sir Marcus Oliphant...
radiation facility. - The RIKEN Genomic Sciences Center in Yokohama was one of the sixteen institutions that formed the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium.
- In July 2004 a team at RIKEN created the first confirmed instance of element 113UnuntriumUnuntrium is the temporary name of a synthetic element with the temporary symbol Uut and atomic number 113.It is placed as the heaviest member of the group 13 elements although a sufficiently stable isotope is not known at this time that would allow chemical experiments to confirm its position...
, which is now known as "Unutrium". On April 2, 2005 the same team successfully created it for the second time. - On May 23, 2005, the eight-storey RI (radioisotope) Beam Factory Experiment Facility opened in Wako.
- The RIKEN Super Combined Cluster is one of the world's fastest supercomputerSupercomputerA supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
s. In January 2006, RIKEN set up the Next-Generation Supercomputer R&D Center, with the purpose of designing and building the fastest supercomputer in the world, and in June 2006, it announced the completion of a one-petaflops computer system designed specially for molecular dynamics simulation. Currently a new system, the K computerK computerThe K computer – named for the Japanese word , which stands for 10 quadrillion – is a supercomputer being produced by Fujitsu at the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science campus in Kobe, Japan. In June 2011, TOP500 ranked K the world's fastest supercomputer, with a rating...
is being installed at RIKEN and despite it being still not finished, it topped the LINPACKLINPACKLINPACK is a software library for performing numerical linear algebra on digital computers. It was written in Fortran by Jack Dongarra, Jim Bunch, Cleve Moler, and Gilbert Stewart, and was intended for use on supercomputers in the 1970s and early 1980s...
benchmark with the performance of 8.162 petaflops, or 8.162 quadrillion calculations per second, with a computing efficiency ratio of 93.0%, making it the fastest supercomputer in the world. The complete project enters service in November 2012. - There are a small number of graduate students at RIKEN, but it does not award degrees itself.
The name "RIKEN"
The full Japanese name of RIKEN is , which literally means "The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research" (though it now also conducts research in biologyBiology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
and other fields). is a Japanese abbreviation of this.
"The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research" was formerly used as an alternative English name, or a kind of subtitle, for RIKEN. But in 2003, when it became an Independent Administrative Institution, this name was officially discarded, and the English appellation is now just "RIKEN", in capital letters. The media sometimes refer to it as "Riken" or "the Riken institute".
"RIKEN" is pronounced as a single word: /ˈrɪkɛn/ (-ken). The full Japanese name, "Rikagaku Kenkyūjo", is sometimes pronounced "Rikagaku Kenkyūjo", this may be used less often but is not incorrect as it is merely an example of abbreviation.
List of presidents
- Haruo Nagaoka (October 1958 – October 1966)
- Shirō Akahori (December 1966 – April 1970)
- Toshio Hoshino (April 1970 – April 1975)
- Shinji Fukui (April 1975 – April 1980)
- Tatsuoki Miyajima (April 1980 – April 1988)
- Minoru Oda (April 1988 – September 1993)
- Akito ArimaAkito Arimais a Japanese nuclear physicist, known for the interacting boson model.Arima was born 1930 in Osaka. He studied at the University of Tokyo, where he received his doctorate in 1958. He became a research associate at the Institute for Nuclear Studies, the University of Tokyo in 1956. He became a...
(October 1993 – June 1998) - Shunichi Kobayashi (August 1998 – September 2003)
- Ryōji NoyoriRyoji Noyoriis a Japanese chemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001. Noyori shared half of the prize with William S. Knowles for the study of chirally catalyzed hydrogenations; the second half of the Prize went to K. Barry Sharpless for his study in chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions...
(October 2003 – present)
Notable scientists and other people from RIKEN
- Dairoku Kikuchi, mathematician and the first Director of RIKEN
- Kikunae IkedaKikunae Ikedawas a Japanese chemist and Tokyo Imperial University professor in Chemistry who, in 1908, uncovered the chemical root behind a taste he named umami. He discovered the common component that produced the flavor of meat, seaweed and tomatoes was glutamate, which produces the sensation of umami.He also...
, discoverer of monosodium glutamateMonosodium glutamateMonosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate or MSG, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, one of the most abundant naturally occurring non-essential amino acids....
and the umamiUmamiUmami , popularly referred to as savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.-Etymology:Umami is a loanword from the Japanese meaning "pleasant savory taste". This particular writing was chosen by Professor Kikunae Ikeda from umai "delicious" and mi ...
flavor - Hantaro Nagaoka, postulator of the Saturnian model of the atomAtomThe atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons...
- Toshio Takamine, specialist in spectroscopySpectroscopySpectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Historically, spectroscopy originated through the study of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g., by a prism. Later the concept was expanded greatly to comprise any interaction with radiative...
, author of The "Near Infra-Red Spectra of Helium and Mercury" and "Absorption of Ha Line" and "The structure of mercury lines examined by an echelon grating and a Lummer-Gehrcke plate" - Kotaro HondaKotaro HondaKotaro Honda was a Japanese scientist and inventor. He invented KS steel , which is a type of magnetic resistant steel that is three times more resistant than tungsten steel. He later improved upon the steel, creating NKS steel...
, inventor of KS steel - Umetaro SuzukiUmetaro Suzukiwas a Japanese scientist, born in Shizuoka Prefecture. He was one of the students of famed German Chemist, Emil Fisher. In 1910 he was researching the effects of rice bran in curing patients of beriberi when he discovered an active fraction, which he patented as "aberic acid" . In 1935, this...
, discoverer of vitamin B1 - Torahiko Terada, physicist and essayist
- Yoshio NishinaYoshio Nishinawas the founding father of modern physics research in Japan. He co-authored the well-known Klein–Nishina formula. He was a principal investigator of RIKEN and mentored generations...
, leading atomic physicist who worked with BohrNiels BohrNiels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
, EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, HeisenbergWerner HeisenbergWerner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
and DiracPaul DiracPaul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS was an English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics... - Ukichiro NakayaUkichiro Nakayawas a Japanese physicist and science essayist known for his work in glaciology and low-temperature sciences. He is credited with making the first artificial snowflakes.-Life and research:...
, physicist and essayist - Seishi KikuchiSeishi Kikuchiwas a Japanese physicist, known for his explanation of the Kikuchi lines that show up in diffraction patterns of diffusely scattered electrons.-Biography:Seishi Kikuchi was born and grew up in Tokyo. He graduated in 1926 from Tokyo Imperial University....
, physicist, known for his explanation of the Kikuchi lines - Shinichiro Tomonaga, winner of the 1965 Nobel physics prizeNobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
for his work on quantum electrodynamicsQuantum electrodynamicsQuantum electrodynamics is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved... - Hideki YukawaHideki Yukawané , was a Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate.-Biography:Yukawa was born in Tokyo and grew up in Kyoto. In 1929, after receiving his degree from Kyoto Imperial University, he stayed on as a lecturer for four years. After graduation, he was interested in...
, physicist who won the 1949 Nobel prizeNobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
for his prediction of the pionPionIn particle physics, a pion is any of three subatomic particles: , , and . Pions are the lightest mesons and they play an important role in explaining the low-energy properties of the strong nuclear force.... - Ryōji NoyoriRyoji Noyoriis a Japanese chemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001. Noyori shared half of the prize with William S. Knowles for the study of chirally catalyzed hydrogenations; the second half of the Prize went to K. Barry Sharpless for his study in chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions...
, current President, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2001 - Tadashi WatanabeTadashi Watanabeis a Japanese computer engineer. Watanabe is the project manager of the RIKEN Next-Generation Supercomputer R&D Center. He played a central role in the development of the NEC SX architecture. Watanabe was awarded the Eckert–Mauchly Award in 1998, and the Seymour Cray Computer Engineering...
, head of RIKEN's Next-Generation Supercomputer R&D Center - Masatoshi Takeichi, discoverer of the cadherin family of cell-cell adhesion molecules and head of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology
External links
- RIKEN official website (in English and Japanese) – this official website is the source for all of the information in this article
- RIKEN Research (English and Japanese) – A resource for up-to-date information on key achievements of RIKEN researchers.
- Life at RIKEN (English) – An information resource for prospective RIKEN researchers from outside of Japan.
- Twitter feed (English)