Institute of Innovative Research, 
Tokyo Institute of Technology.

About

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As part of Tokyo Institute of Technology’s restructuring of its research system, the Institute of Innovate Research (IIR) was newly established on April 1, 2016 with approximately 180 faculty members whose mission is to promote the highest level of research.

The IIR is characterized by large-scale research laboratories, medium-sized research centers, and research units that conduct cutting-edge research in small teams. We have expanded our research capabilities under the strong guidance of its first director-general, Kazuya Masu, and his successors Fumio Koyama and Toru Hisabori.

The new financial year has started under the lingering cloud and negative impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, amid which the IIR continues to thrive with 179 full-time faculty members, 11 full-time administrative staff (belonging to the administrative departments), 154 part-time faculty members, 185 part-time staff, and 1,155 supervising students (as of April 1, 2021). As a research organization of a designated national university, we continue to champion basic research, applied research, and development research. In addition, we will promote fundamental research as academia and endorse the activities of the Organization for Fundamental Research to nurture young researchers. Moreover, as part of our research on social issues, we will also contribute to the "Initiatives for Overcoming Disasters Caused by COVID-19," which is being independently pursued by researchers aiming to help society break free of COVID-19.

We value three things in managing the IIR. The first core value is freedom. The origin of research lies in the freethinking and intuition of researchers. There are countless examples where the research and interests of a single researcher have yielded results that have shaped history. Even organizations themselves, such as research laboratories, are free to choose the direction in which they go. The second core value is autonomy. In order to conduct research freely and at the same time protect and nurture long-term basic research, it is essential for the organization to be autonomous. In the future, it will be ideal from a strategic point of view to conduct research-related activities as a financially independent research organization. And finally, I hope that our institute will be an organization that delivers smiles continuously — smiles when discovering new facts after a series of experimental failures, smiles when a research project is adopted and when it successfully concludes, smiles when a start-up is launched, smiles when a new horizon emerges from cross-disciplinary discussions, and the smiles when faculty, staff, and students talk with each other (although this may be difficult in the current climate). I do believe that the total sum of these smiles will help in realizing the goal of our institute, which is to bring well-being to society along with the fruits of our research.

We look forward to your continued guidance and encouragement in the activities of the Institute of Innovative Research.

April 1, 2022

Director-General, Institute of Innovative Research (IIR)

Naoto Ohtake