The signing ceremony between the two instititutes took place at RIKEN’s HQ in Wako, Japan on November 25. The MoU will strengthen further collaborations in the construction of an accelerator between the the Rare Isotope Science Project (RISP) of IBS and RIKEN’s Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science. The ceremony was attended by the Korean Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Yang-Hee CHOI; Doochul KIM, the President of IBS; Hiroshi Matsumoto, the President of RIKEN; and Soon-Chan Jeong, the Director of the RISP amongst other VIP guests.

“This MoU is significant in that it is between the two major research institutes representing Korea and Japan,” said the President of IBS, Doochul Kim. He went on to express his hope that collaborations between the two will produce “plenty of meaningful research outcomes.”

RIKEN’s Nishina Center is named after Yoshio Nishina, a Japanese physicist who constructed the first particle accelerator in Japan. As the Center is currently operating the Rare Isotope Beam Factory (RIBF), the RISP has been conducting joint workshops and regular consultation meetings with the Center since 2012. They will deepen collaborations by launching a joint research project for RIBF detectors.

RIKEN was established in 1917 and is Japan’s largest comprehensive research institute. The institute is renowned for its broad spectrum of research covering a range of disciplines from basic to applied science. It is headquartered in Wako-si in Southern Japan and hires close to three and half thousand personnel across its 9 research centers spread throughout Japan and another 27 dotted around the world.

photo. Signing Ceremony for the General Agreement between RIKEN and IBS

photo. Signing Ceremony for the General Agreement between RIKEN and IBS
left: Hiroshi Matsumoto, the President of RIKEN
middle: Yang-Hee CHOI, the Korean Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning
right: Doochul KIM, the President of IBS

photo. Visitors to RIKEN's Nishina Center