Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I am honored to be here today and deliver my congratulatory remarks for the opening of the Joint Research Lab of the Institute for Solid State Physics and the IBS Center for Correlated Electron Systems. I would like to begin by recognizing and thanking Director NOH Tae Won of CCES and Director MORI Hatsumi of the Institute for Solid State Physics for their hard work in preparing for today's event.

I would also like to thank Dr. OH Se-Jung, President of Seoul National University, for taking his time to attend today's event.

The IBS Center for Correlated Electron Systems was launched in 2012 and in less than seven years the Center has grown rapidly to more than 100 researchers and staff. During the fifth year review of the Center, the review panel members highly praised the scientific excellence of the research staff and state-of-the-art research infrastructure of the Center. I am pleased that the Center will be collaborating with the Institute for Solid State Physics, which has been at the research forefront of condensed matter physics in Japan, since its establishment in 1957.

IBS places high importance on providing researchers with an environment where they are able to fully engage in creative research themes to produce useful scientific knowledge for humanity. I firmly believe that the Joint Research Lab will be a great example of an environment where outstanding researchers are immersed in science research driven by intellectual curiosity. I also believe the lab will be a venue for groundbreaking research and creative knowledge, and it will grow into a global research hub in materials science.

I wish to once again warmly extend my congratulations on opening of the new Joint Research Lab. Thank you for not only your participation, but all of your hard work. I wish you all the success in your future endeavors.

Thank you very much.