The Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) jointly held a ceremony for the grand opening of the N Center on SKKU’s Natural Science Campus in Suwon, a complex composed of three buildings with a total gross floor area of almost 30,000 m2. The large-scale research facility will enable more focused group research for basic science and permanently house two IBS Centers: the Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics (CINP) and the Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research (CNIR).

The newly established IBS Conference, titled ‘2015 IBS Conference at SKKU: Nanoscience & Neuroimaging’, coincided with the ceremony and focused on promoting IBS Centers' vision and research outcomes, coupled with raising their global recognition. A host of foreign experts from China and Europe within the field of Nanoscience and Neuroimaging participated in the conference.

The participating scholars and experts in the IBS Conference will share the latest research outcomes on graphene, carbon nanotubes, thermoelectric modules and neuroscience imaging. In all over 30 speakers were invited to share in the event and give lectures on neuroscience and neuroimaging.

Mr. Jung’s speech was warmly received and followed by IBS President, Doochul Kim. “At this N Center, outstanding scientists will immerse themselves in their research,” said the president, “I expect the passion and creativity of researchers will be stimulated and lead to a great deal of new knowledge.”

The speeches concluded with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, after which guests were taken on a tour of the N Center. A vast array of high-tech equipment was displayed, including a pulse and atomic layer deposition and a thin film zone. On the first floor of the complex an optical spectroscopy and electron tunneling zone will employ cutting-edge laser technology to create new materials. The CNIR wing of the complex houses a specialist MRI zone and a floor dedicated to the study of the brain.