Formal link established with Japan's National Institute for Materials Science

A delegation from the Japanese organisation - Professor Yoshio Bando, Dr Kazushi Miki and Michiko Kobayashi - visited the LCN for the ceremony. UCL was represented by Professor Michael Worton, Vice-Provost (Academic & International), Professor Gabriel Aeppli, joint Director of the LCN, and Dr David Bowler (UCL Physics & Astronomy).

Dr Bowler, a principal investigator at the LCN, said: "The NIMS is one of the largest materials science research institutes in the world, and is striving to become the best. I have had links with researchers from the NIMS for about eight years. I have collaborated with Dr Miki since 1995, when we were both in Oxford. He is a well-respected researcher, and is head of an important research group in the NIMS."

Professor Bando is Head of the International Centre for Young Scientists, an ambitious five-year programme funded by the Japanese government aimed at bringing outstanding researchers from Japan and the rest of the world into close contact.

At the signing, Professor Aeppli described the long record of collaboration between UCL and the NIMS. Professor Bando congratulated the LCN, which was formally opened in November 2006, on its achievements to date. Professor Worton noted that UCL's relationship with Japan stretched back to 1863 - when it welcomed some of the earliest Japanese students ever to reach Europe - and included the education of two Japanese Prime Ministers, Hirobumi Ito and Junichiro Koizumi.

The LCN is a new UK-based multidisciplinary research centre, purpose-built to enable work at the forefront of science and technology. Its aim is to provide the nanoscience and nanotechnology needed to solve major problems in information processing, healthcare, energy and environment.

To find out more, use the links at the bottom of this article.

First image: Dr Miki and Dr Bowler (standing), with Professor Aeppli, Professor Bando and Professor Worton

Second image: Professor Bando and Professor Worton

• Links:
• London Centre for Nanotechnology
• National Institute for Materials Science
• International Centre for Young Scientists