Message from the Director
"The times have finally caught up with us." I am aware that this may be an irreverent attitude, but I would like to say that we at the Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University, think this way. Going back 13 years, in 2011, our Institute started a Joint Usage/Research Center project certified by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT). The Center's name is the "Zero-Emission Energy Research Center," and its mission is to investigate energy that minimizes the emission of harmful substances such as carbon dioxide. It's hard to imagine now, but when we started this Center project, there were quite a few skeptical opinions about the significance and importance of this mission. This Center project received high end-of-term evaluations in both the first term from 2011 to 2015 and the second term from 2016 to 2021. We believe that the significance and importance of this mission have been widely recognized in society, and that the contribution of our Institute in this mission has been highly rated. In response to them, we are currently implementing the third phase of the Center project from 2022 to 2027. The times have caught up with us, but in order to stay ahead of the times, we have established the Integrated Research Center for Carbon Negative Science (ICaNS) in 2022, which investigates "Carbon-Negative Energy" that is a further advance of "Zero-Emission Energy".
The Institute of Advanced Energy was established in 1996 with the aim of investigating the state of energy by going back to the laws and principles of nature, and creating new energy theories for the next generation and cutting-edge technologies. The Institute has 14 research fields in three divisions, each named energy generation, conversion, and utilization. In addition, the Institute has "Laboratory for Complex Energy Processes", which have equipment for common use in the above-mentioned Joint Usage/Research Center project and support the Center project, and the aforementioned ICaNS. The Institute has established two priority multidisciplinary research areas as its core. One is "plasma/quantum energy," which aims to realize nuclear fusion, and the other is "soft energy," which aims for highly efficient energy use and conversion based on biological energy usage principles and material science.
Each research field of this Institute functions as a collaborative course with the Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, and a considerable number of master's and doctoral course graduate students are assigned, allowing them to work in a cutting-edge research environment. We also contribute to undergraduate education by providing lecture classes throughout Kyoto University. Furthermore, since 2019, we have been carrying out the MEXT's project, "Formation of an International Collaborative Laboratory at the International Center for Advanced Energy Science Research and Education", together with the Graduate School of Energy Science, expanding the scope of our educational and research activities internationally.
In Japan, too, the goal of "virtually eliminating greenhouse gas emission by 2050" has been set, and carbon neutrality is now a goal for societies worldwide. In order to achieve virtually zero greenhouse gas emission, it is necessary not only to effectively introduce existing technologies in the processes of energy generation, conversion, and utilization, but also to create new theories and technologies from various scientific perspectives. IAE has been committed to pursue a wide range of research aimed at Zero-Emission Energy, which will play an increasingly important role in achieving carbon neutrality and providing a variety of new energy technology options that can respond to infectious diseases, natural disasters, and other problems.
Under the Kyoto University's academic culture of freedom, Vice Director Kazunari Matsuda and all of our faculty and staff will strive to contribute to research activities as well as education and international corporation, as a research Institute that is ahead of the times. We appreciate your continued support.
Director Masato Katahira
