Greetings from the President

The National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) consists of the five research institutes of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the National Institute for Fusion Science, the National Institute for Basic Biology, the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, and the Institute for Molecular Science and has provided researchers at universities and research institutes nationwide with the joint use of our state-of-the-art equipment and a place for leading joint research as a core research institute in the field of natural sciences involved in space, energy, materials, life, etc., and with striving to enhance the roles and functions of each research institute by consensus of researcher communities, has pressed ahead with cutting edge research in each specialized field.

Inter-university research institutes were reorganized into four organizations by incorporation in 2004 and their position as institutes that independently and autonomously conduct education and research was strengthened. However, steering both sides to fulfill the social missions of an organic collaboration between research institutes which is originally based on different research communities and an institute as a whole is extremely important.　In addition, these institutes have provided the basis for developing original research and have played a role in supporting our researchers to continue to produce high-quality research. Their mission has been to flourish with research communities centered on universities.

NINS has promoted research in a wide range of academic fields, from astronomy to brain science, and each of the five research institutes, which are constituent institutes, has research communities based on different academic fields. When looking at expanding academics and creating new interdisciplinary fields, development confined within one research institute corporation has been limited, and collaboration with universities including the entire inter-university research institute corporation and joint use/research centers has been indispensable. For this reason, the initiatives of the Inter-University Research & Education Alliance, which was established through collaboration between the four inter-university research institute corporations and SOKENDAI (Graduate University for Advanced Studies), the Research University Consortium consisting of national, public, and private universities and the inter-university research institute corporations have already started. Furthermore, we believe that the six-year period of the fourth medium-term target period from FY 2022 to FY 2027 is an important period in which the future state of inter-university research institutes will be further questioned. 

To move toward a future with a sense of pride through technological innovation and social innovation, it is essential to promote the utilization of higher education human resources. As a leading institute for research communities, NINS will contribute to the importance of higher education and activities to promote the penetration of higher education human resources into society through science.

We look forward to your continued support and cooperation to NINS.

April 2022

President Maki KAWAI