About TIMS

Tsukuba Research Center for Interdisciplinary Materials Science (TIMS) was established in the University of Tsukuba in April 2003. The mission of the Center is to build upon the achievements of Dr. Hideki Shirakawa, an emeritus professor of this university who was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2000, to create a future-oriented functional materials group and to construct innovations for cross-disciplinary research on material science through collaboration and integration of engineering and science, and to bring the fruits of research to society.

To achieve these goals, a de facto standard based on materials creation needs to be created. As shown in Dr. Shirakawa’s research on polyacetylene, most new breakthroughs have come from interdisciplinary studies. Consequently, interdisciplinary based studies with mid- to long-term perspectives may lead to the discovery and development of new concepts, materials and mechanisms. The Center was set up to provide opportunities for cross-disciplinary study based on this philosophy.

The research organization of the Center covers five research cores. Ten full-time academics, who also belong to four research institutes (materials science, applied physics, chemistry and physics) in the Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, are conducting studies as a hub of research on future-oriented functional materials in various fields. These fields include the creation of functional polymers, creation of a new molecular transform method for constructing functional supermolecules, design of new bio-materials that work under physiological environments, the construction of nano-scale structures on a silicon surface and development of evaluation technology, and investigation and control of new quantum phenomenon in nanostructured conductors.

Organization

Members

		Name
Research Director		Tatsuya Nabeshima	Professor	Chemistry
Frontier Materials Creation	Hybrid Materials Core	Masaaki Ichinohe	Assoc. Prof.	Chemistry
	Hybrid Materials Core	Masaaki Nakamoto	Lecturer	Chemistry
	Core of Nano Structure and Material Physics	Jun-ichi Fujita	Professor	Applied Physics
		Nobuhiko Kobayashi	Assoc. Prof.	Applied Physics
		Hideaki Kano	Assoc. Prof.	Applied Physics
	Quantum Material Core	Yasuhiro Hatsugai	Professor	Physics
	Quantum Material Core	Akinobu Kanda	Professor	Physics
Functional Assembled Systems	Molecules and Materials Transformation Core	Tatsuya Nabeshima	Professor	Chemistry
		Takashi Nakamura	Assist. Prof.	Chemistry
		Ryota Matsuoka	Assist. Prof.	Chemistry
	Functional Correlated Materials Core	Yutaka Moritomo	Professor	Physics
		Wataru Kobayashi	Assist. Prof.	Physics
		Eiji Nishibori	Professor	Physics
		Hidetaka Kasai	Assist. Prof.	Physics
	Functional Polymer Research Core	Takaki Kanbara	Professor	Materials Science
		Junpei Kuwabara	Lecturer	Materials Science
		Yohei Yamamoto	Assoc. Prof.	Materials Science
		Masashi Kijima	Professor	Materials Science
Nano-Green Functions	Functional Carbon Core	Junji Nakamura	Professor	Materials Science
		Takahiro Kondo	Assoc. Prof.	Materials Science
		Hiromasa Goto	Assoc. Prof.	Materials Science
		Seiya Tsujimura	Assoc. Prof.	Materials Science
	Energy Conversion Core	Takeaki Sakurai	Assoc. Prof.	Applied Physics
	Energy Conversion Core	Kazuhiro Marumoto	Assoc. Prof.	Materials Science
	Molecular Optical Function Core	Tatsuo Arai	Professor	Chemistry
		Yoshinobu Nishimura	Assoc. Prof.	Chemistry
		Atsuya Momotake	Lecturer	Chemistry
Visiting Professor		Masaki Takeguchi	NIMS
		Toshiyuki Mori	NIMS
		Yutaka Matsuo	University of Tokyo Univ. of Science and Technology of China
		Kenta Amemiya	KEK
		Shinichi Komaba	Tokyo Univ. of Science
		Hironori Arakawa	Emeritus at Tokyo Univ. of Science
		Hiroyuki Yasuda	AIST
Visiting Associate professor		Takeshi Yasuda	NIMS
Visiting Associate professor		Itaru Osaka	Hiroshima University
Visiting Researcher		Masao Arai	NIMS
Visiting Researcher		Yasuo Norikane	AIST
Clerical Staff		Keiichi Ota	Chief
Clerical Staff		Emiko Ohmori	Secretary

History

2011

Apr. 1	TIMS changed some contents and structure in April 1st, 2011. The research organization of the Center is composed of twenty-six academics who belong to five research institutes (materials science, frontier science, applied physics, chemistry and physics) in the graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, and covers nine research cores.
Mar. 9-10	The 3rd International Symposium on Interdisciplinary Materials Sience(ISIMS-2011) was held at Tsukuba International Congress Center Epochal.

2010

Apr. 2-3	The 3rd Hsinchu-Tsukuba Joint Workshop on Nano and Bio-related Materials and Technologies was held at the National Tsing Hua University.
April	Prof. Nabeshima has been appointed as the new director of TIMS form April 1st, 2010 in place of the previous director, Prof. Youiti Ootuka. Prof. Nabeshima belongs to the Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Frontier Science.

2009

Nov. 18-19	The 4th International Symposium on Atomic Technology (ISAT-4) was held at Seaside Hotel MAIKO VILLA KOBE.
Oct. 11-12	The 2nd Tsukuba-Hsinchu Bilateral Symposium on Advanced Materials Science and Technology(TSAMS-2009) was held at Tsukuba International Congress Center Epochal.　This event was a collaborative symposium between National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan) and University of Tsukuba.
Mar. 9-10	The 2nd International Symposium on Interdisciplinary Materials Science(ISIMS-2009) was held at Tsukuba International Congress Center Epochal Tsukuba.
Mar. 5-6	The 3rd International Symposium on Atomic Technology (ISAT-3) was held at Tokyo International Exchange Center.

2008

October	"SI-IMS" performed a collaboration with NIMS-MANA and established the University of Tsukuba satellite office on campus.
July 14	"Pre-Stategic Initiative for Materials Science" changed some part of its contents and structure was adopted by the Organization for the Support and Development of Strategic Initiatives as "Strategic Initiative (A)" (SI-IMS) . The duration is for three years, and it is until the end of academic year 2010-2011.
Mar. 25	We held a joint workshop with the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Nebraska, and concluded the agreement for academic exchanges and cooperation.
Mar. 13-14	The First International Symposium on Interdisciplinary Materials Science(ISIMS-2008) was held at Tsukuba International Congress Center Epochal Tsukuba.

2007

Oct. 19	Pre-Stategic Initiative for Interdisciplinary Materials Science(Pre-SI-IMS)was approved by University of Tsukuba.
Oct.1-2	The Second International Symposium on Atomic Technology(ISAT-2) was held at Awaji Yumebutai International Conference Center.
Mar.16-17	Joint hosting of the First International Symposium on Atomic Technology (ISAT-2007) held in International Congress Center Epochal Tsukuba.

2006

Apr. 1

Start of “Atomic-Technology Project” (2006-2009): inter-university collaboration program with Center for Atomic and Molecular Technologies (Osaka University) and Polyscale Technology Research Center (Tokyo University of Science) .

2003

Nov.10-11	Opening Ceremony and Lectures by four Nobel laureates, Prof. Hideki Shirakawa, Prof. Alan J. Heeger, Prof. Alan G. MacDiarmid, and Prof. Leo Esaki.
Jun. 17	Start-up Symposium at Tsukuba Center for Institutes.
Apr.1	Establishment of TIMS.

Logo of TIMS

The small circle in the center and the ellipse around the center represent an atom, while the open marks in the central part represent S (Science), the collaboration of 3 fields, and “Kawa (river symbol)”, a part of Shirakawa.