Progress Plan for Maintaining Academy Center Certification
World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI)
Host Institution

National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Research Center

International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics

Host Institution Head

Kazuhito Hashimoto

Center Director

Takayoshi Sasaki

Administrative Director

Tomonobu Nakayama

Please prepare this Progress plan based on your application for WPI Academy. Summarize the Center’s future plans with regard to thefollowing 8 items within five A-4 pages. (Also fill out the appendices at the end of this form.)

1. Overall Image of Your Center* Describe the Center’s overall image including its identity.

MANA was established in October 2007 with NIMS as host institution, under its vision of "creating a
new paradigm in nanotechnology to form a world-class research center for new materials research anddevelopment". Since its establishment, MANA has forged that new paradigm based on its unique newconcept of nanoarchitectonics, and has come to be recognized as a world-class research center utilizing
nanotechnology. As a result, since 2017, as one of the WPI Academy centers, MANA has carried out
research activities of top international level while enhancing its function as a hub for international
circulation of the world’s best brains. In 2017, MANA has been positioned as a center of NIMS
specializing in basic fundamental research. Two strongly application-oriented research fields were moved
out of MANA to another center of NIMS. MANA has since then been active in three consolidated
fundamental research fields (Nano-Materials, Nano-Systems, and Nano-Theory) with young
Independent Scientist doing cross-field research.
The originality and the level of research that MANA promotes are supported by the principles ofnanoarchitectonics, the presentation of grand challenges, measures for promoting challenges and fusion
research, international research networks and brain circulation networks. For example, MANA has
published 5,251 papers so far, with 180 of all papers reaching the top 1% “most-cited” papers. The
average Impact Factor (IF) of the papers published by MANA in 2019 (501) reached 6.95, and the figure
has been steadily increasing after participating in the WPI Academy. In addition, MANA’s Field-Weighted
Citation Impact (FWCI) value of 2.18 objectively shows that it is a research center comparable to many
top-level research institutions in the world, as this index was designed to fairly evaluate and compare
the quality of papers published by research institutes around the world.
MANA already focuses on not only the promotion of world-class research (creation of various artificial
new materials using nanosheet technology, basic to practical application of atomic switches, invention
and practical application of highly sensitive/parallel molecular sensors, development of surface
superconductors/local superconductors), but also on the creation of new and original research. Recent
examples include the realization of optical topological materials and their application to surface emitting
lasers, the control of molecular shapes by local excitation, the development of data-driven odor sensing,and the development of a decision-making device using ionics.
MANA places importance on the promotion of brain circulation and appoints world-renown researchers
as MANA PIs to establish overseas satellites. In 2018, Prof. Gero Decher of Strasbourg University inFrance, and Prof. Thomas E. Mallouk of Pennsylvania State University, USA were newly appointed assatellite PIs. As a result, MANA is now an organization with seven overseas satellites after including thefive satellites that it has traditionally operated. Including these satellites, MANA actively invites overseas
researchers and promotes the dispatch of MANA researchers to overseas institutions. From 2018, tolaunch continuous international collaborative research with particularly close partners, we introduced apolicy for special support of MoU-based invitation/dispatch. Additionally, to expand international brain

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circulation, it is necessary to also expand the international network of researchers, for which we holdnumerous international conferences and workshops (including co-sponsorships) for developing anddiscovering new international collaboration.

2. Mid- to Long-term Research Objectives and Strategies* Describe new challenges in the Center’s research objectives and plans after FY 2020.
* Describe your future research strategy and plans and research organization including your line-up of Principal Investigators, and youroutlook for fostering and securing the next generation of researchers.

In light of our success so far with center formation and center management, as well as with thepromotion of international brain circulation, MANA will essentially maintain/continue its current policy
and continue activities within its host institution NIMS. As research guidelines, in addition to promotingworld-class research, we will continue to place importance on challenging research and fusion researchthat brings new developments to basic research.
[Promotion of world-class research]
The promotion of world-class research at MANA is supported by PIs who are internationally active toplevel researchers. MANA regularly reviews its PI structure and will continue to do so. In particular, fromFY2020, the host institution NIMS launched a research project to prioritize quantum material research.
There are great expectations for MANA in this project and Dr. Takashi Taniguchi (NIMS Fellow and Highly
Cited Researcher) has been invited to join MANA. He is well known for the synthesis under pressure of
the world's highest quality h-BN and for his joint research and development with a number of world toplevel research institutions. This has created a framework for MANA to lead quantum material research.
In addition, an electro-active materials team has been established at MANA under the leadership ofworld-famous Professor Hideo Hosono from Tokyo Institute of Technology to develop new materials. We
hope that the participation of Prof. Hosono, who has a wealth of experience and knowledge in worldclass research, will be a positive stimulus for young researchers.
[Support for challenging research and fusion research]
An original and bold foundation for taking on risky research is indispensable to the center’s medium tolong-term research development. MANA will continue to encourage proposals for the “Challenging
Research Program (CRP)” to receive research funding for outstanding ideas. Furthermore, through the“Theorist-Experimentalist Pairing Program (TEPP)”, we will continue to gather proposals from NanoTheory fields and existing fields (other researchers). These programs play a role in the generation ofseeds and are not intended to lead directly to world-class research in the short term. However, nurturing
and developing the research that MANA's proud young researchers have proposed as their own ideas
leads to the development of world-leading next-generation researchers and also plays a major role in
MANA's medium-long term center revitalization.
[Research organization, PI structure, training and securing of next-generation researchers]
MANA is responsible for creating seeds as a basic fundamental research center within NIMS, and theresearch leading up to the applied/practical application phase is transferred to other research centers
and incorporated into the research activities of NIMS as a whole. MANA implements a structure which
includes a deputy center director/administrative office head to support the leadership of the center
director, and it responds to research progress and new development, and consistently reviews its
research organization that supports the research of new members while maintaining its administrative
office organization. In particular, regarding PIs, MANA makes sure to include not only already establishedworld-class researchers, but also those who anticipate the research of the future and are highly active inthe development of such research that can go on to be globally recognized, thus ensuring restructuringthat considers overall balance.

3. Management System of the Research Organization* Describe the system of organizational management via which the Center will execute the above-described research strategy and plans.

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MANA

* In Appendix 1-3, list the Principal Investigators, enter the number of Center personnel (researchers, research-support staff, andadministrative staff), and provide a diagram of the Center’s organizational management system.

The basic operation of MANA’s center is based on consensus of the center director, deputy directors andadministrative director. For example, MANA's management policy, research support program, selection of
MANA postdocs, etc. are decided by discussion under the leadership of the director. Through the MANA
Center Meeting, the center director directly informs (or discusses with) PIs, Group Leaders, andIndependent Scientists of matters to be passed on to the entire center. When implementing any
measures, the administrative director is in charge of necessary administrative procedures andadjustment of the contents of implementation according to the situation, and the final confirmation andapproval are carried out by the center director. For the implementation of the research strategies andplans shown above, there are situations in which coordination with NIMS is necessary, and in such cases,
these are handled by the center director with support from the deputy director. Any information from
MANA members may be important to the center’s operation, and in addition to grasping the detailed
situation of the research site at the group hearings that started in 2017, we maintain a flat system inwhich all MANA members are free to discuss their opinions and requests with the director/deputy
director (or the administrative office), and constantly carry out preparations for the smooth
implementation of research strategies and plans.

4. Plan for Promoting the International Circulation of World’s Best Brains* Describe your policy and concrete plan for promoting the international circulation of the world’s best brains, which is an importantfunction of the WPI Academy.

The promotion of international research collaboration and international brain circulation that we have
implemented so far is an essential element for converting new research further into top-level researchthat leads the world, as well as a vitally important activity for the cultivation of young next-generation
researchers. On the other hand, as it is also true that the COVID-19 outbreak which occurred at the endof 2019 unexpectedly revealed the vulnerability of the international collaboration system. To overcome
this vulnerability, MANA will actively incorporate the use of virtual reality into its activities related tointernational brain circulation.
Specifically, we will first of all encourage online international conferences (including workshops andseminars). To do so, we will make it possible for the organizing committee, steering committee, programcommittee, etc. to hold meetings completely or partially online. We will develop a platform that cancentrally manage conference announcements, speaker recruitment, program conferences, and the actual
holding of conferences, provide a dedicated website for each conference to researchers, and support its
operation. Going forward, we will strive to make this function as an opportunity to exchange informationthat is equivalent to or superior to international conferences where people actually gather in person, andthus shorten the time involved from planning to holding a meeting and facilitate preservation andutilization of data. We expect that the number of international research discussions, which werepreviously limited in number due to the large amount of time and effort involved in planning andexecution, will increase and that this will in turn revitalize international brain circulation. While the timedifference is inevitable, there are issues that are difficult to be addressed online. For example, overseas
researchers who can't adapt to a conference program in Japan time or joint experiments within ascientific collaboration. For issues that can't be resolved until people actually gather, we will thoroughly
examine the necessity and take advantage of the traditional measures to deal with it. MANA recognizes
that the cross-cultural interaction involved in invitations, visits, and stays are one of the driving forcesthat create new research, thus we will make sure to incorporate the advantages of an online
environment appropriately.

5. Plan for Disseminating the WPI Program Achievements* Describe your policy and concrete plan for disseminating WPI center achievements both within the host institution and to otheruniversities, especially their experience and know-how accumulated on establishing top world research institute and advancing system
reforms.

MANA has been positioned as the research center for responsible for nanomaterials research within
NIMS since 2009, and since the beginning of the Fourth Mid-term Plan of NIMS in 2016, it officiallybecame one of the research centers of NIMS. This is because from a relatively early stage, MANA and its
host institution NIMS were not completely independent, but had a system for sharing information on

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MANA

research policy to operation. Therefore, if MANA engages in new activities that cause obstacles tocomply with NIMS rules, MANA will develop experience and know-how within its host in ways thatencourage changes and adjustments to the NIMS rules. Outside the host institution, we will place
importance on cooperation with the WPI Academy activities for situations involving the whole country.
Regarding the horizontal development of experience and know-how in organizational management, we
published a well-received book (which is still popular today) that summarizes experiences at MANA and
ICYS. On the other hand, since practical problems in operating the center depend largely on theorganization, such as general affairs and accounting, we believe it is appropriate to carry out horizontal
development through the WPI Center website in the form of a Q&A. MANA plans to publish "opinions
and experiences from a researcher's perspective" in 2022-2023, as a reference for organizations setting
their own rules.

6. Plan for Sustaining the WPI Brand* Describe your plan for sustaining and enhancing the WPI brand.

In addition to the initiatives that MANA has been implementing so far, including issuing MANA ebulletins, holding international symposiums and workshops, utilizing the MANA alumni association, andconducting science enlightenment activities for the general public, we will strive to renovate visitor
accommodation.
MANA e-bulletin uses a press wire distribution service to introduce MANA’s findings, which enables
immediate posting to many news sites and a broad viewer reach. Viewers access the “for reading”
information, making this useful not only for disseminating results, but for also promoting the WPI brand.
Additionally, regarding the holding of international symposiums and workshops mentioned above, they
are particularly useful for improving WPI awareness as a WPI center in the research community.
Therefore, we focus on topics of high interest and plan opportunities for active researchers to gather.
Further, the MANA alumni association network is an important asset that MANA has built up as a WPI
center so far, and some of its alumni have already taken up important positions in Japan and overseas.
As its utilization is becoming the key to improving WPI reputation and brand name, and revitalizing
international brain circulation, joint research support measures are being examined to raise "alumni
awareness". Regarding science enlightenment activities, the “reform of presentation techniques” led by
MANA Outreach is necessary. In the past, the Outreach team practiced presentation techniques from theperspective of researchers. In the future, we will work to interpret MANA findings and present them innovel ways through collaboration between researchers and Outreach from an Outreach staff perspective.
To that end, we have increased the number of Outreach staffs in FY2020. We will also continue to callattention to the use of WPI nomenclature. WPI-MANA notation is used in most research papers andother copyrighted works, but we would like to make it used even more so.
Lastly, we would like to touch on the renovation of visitor accommodation. It is very important to havevisitors from both in and out of the country observe research sites and directly convey activities in theirpresence. On the other hand, many visitors cannot enter due to space or safety issues. Furthermore, we
never expected to face a situation in which people’s actions would become so restricted, as seen withthe recent COVID-19 epidemic. We consider creating research videos as an outreach tool that can beoffered online and implementing virtual laboratory tours on demand (using AR and VR technology forreal-time infiltration of laboratories) as methods that can possibly solve these problems all at once.

7. Support by Host institution* Describe measures that the host institution is and will take to support and sustain your Center.

While the MANA system is incorporated into the NIMS management system as appropriate, NIMS
contributes 100 million yen annually to MANA from its grants for operational expenses subsidy as adiscretionary expense for the Center Director. In addition, "Support System for Curiosity-driven
Research,” unique to NIMS, has been established to support primarily basic fundamental research.
Although this is not a system specifically for MANA, it is considered to be effectively a research support
measure for MANA, as MANA's mission is to conduct basic fundamental research within NIMS. NIMS
continues to allocate 90 permanent staff members as research resources and appropriate research
space, and it provides maximum support in MANA’s center operations while ensuring that this policy
remains unchanged in the future.

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8. Resource Allocation Plan

* Describe your plans over a 5-year period for allocating resources acquired from the host institution (e.g., financial resources andpositions) and from external research funding to use in carrying out the Center’s functions and activities described above.
* In Appendix 4, enter concrete numbers in the Resource Allocation Plan.

NIMS is currently operating according to it’s the Fourth Mid-term Plan (2016-2022) with MANA clearly
positioned in it. Going forward, in 2023, NIMS, as a whole, plans to shift to the research management
approach in line with the next Mid-term Plan, but MANA, the world-class research center cultivated by
the WPI program, will continue to be supported by the host institution. In particular, this support
includes the following.
1) Allocation of about 90 permanent employees with MANA
2) Research support through the Mid-term Plan research projects and important projects operated by
NIMS3) Allocation of special expenses to support the leadership of MANA’s center director
4) Support for Support System for Curiosity-driven Research through the NIMS internal research funding
system5) Appropriate assignment of new employees and Independent Scientists
6) Maintaining the names of the WPI-MANA Building, MANA Building and Theoretical Research Building
and appropriate allocation of space.
In line with the policy of maintaining the WPI center, the next Mid-term Plan of NIMS would containappropriate resource measures for MANA.
Although MANA has already acquired large research budgets, such as the JST-Mirai Program andCREST, we need to further increase external funding. MANA uses its challenging and fusion research
together with the NIMS internal research funding system, to perform preliminary experiments necessary
to prepare proposals to increase the external funding. At the time of application, experienced
researchers give advice.

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MANAAppendix 1

List of Principal Investigators   If the number of principal investigators exceeds 10, add columns as appropriate.
   Give age as of 1 April 2020   For investigators who will not participate in the Center project at the time of submission of this Progress Plan, indicate
the time that their participation will start in the “Notes” column.
Name

1

Director

Takayoshi Sasaki

Deputy Director/
2 Administrative Director

Tomonobu Nakayama

Age

64

58

Affiliation
Academic degree,(Position title, department,
Specialtyorganization)
Director,
Ph.D. in Science,
International Center for Materials
The University ofTokyo, 1985,
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA),
National Institute for Materials Science Nanosheet and Soft
Chemistry(NIMS)
Deputy Director/Administrative
Ph.D. in Physics,
Director,
The University ofTokyo, 1999,
International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National Scanning Probe
Microscopy
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D. in Science, The
University of Tokyo,
1996,
Materials Science, Solid
State Chemistry &Physics
Ph.D. in Engineering,
Waseda University,
2007,
Inorganic Synthetic
Chemistry, Inorganic
Materials Chemistry

Effort(%)*(Notes)Enter "new" or"ongoing"

100

ongoing100

ongoing100

ongoing20

ongoing(Cross-appointed with
UQ / MANA)

20

ongoing(Cross-appointed with
QUT / MANA)

80

ongoing(Cross-appointed withThe University ofTokyo / MANA)

20

ongoing(Cross-appointed with
MANA / The Universityof Tokyo)

53

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

39

Professor, Australian Institute for
Bioengineering and Nanotechnology(AIBN), The University of Queensland

59

Professor, Science and Engineering
Faculty, School of Chemistry &Physics, Queensland University ofTechnology

Ph.D. Moscow Institutefor Ferrous Metallurgy,
1990,
Nanotubes andnanowires

57

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D., Tokyo Inst.
Tech., 1990,
Supramolecular
Chemistry and Surface
Science

53

Professor, Department of Advanced
Materials Science, Graduate School of
Frontier Sciences,
The University of Tokyo

Ph.D. in Physics, The
University of Tokyo,
2001, Organic
semiconductors

57

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D., The University ofTokyo, 1990,
Photocatalyst, Ecomaterials

100

ongoing49

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D. in Engineering,
University of Tsukuba,
1998, Semiconductor
physics andengineering100

ongoing

10 Kazuya Terabe

57

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D. in Materials
Science, Nagoya
Institute of Technology,
1992,
Nanoionics, Solid StateElectrochemistry and100

ongoing

11 Kazuhito Tsukagoshi

52

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D., Osaka
University, 1995,
Nano Electronics

100

ongoing

3 Takao Mori

4 Yusuke Yamauchi

5 Dmitri Golberg

6 Katsuhiko Ariga

7 Junichi Takeya

8 Jinhua Ye

9 Naoki Fukata

12 Xiao Hu

13 Yoshihiko Takano

14 Tadaaki Nagao

15 Tsuyoshi Miyazaki

58

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D. in Physics, The
University of Tokyo,
1990,
Condensed Matter
Physics

100

ongoing

54

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D., Yokohama City
University, 1995,
Superconducting
Materials,
Nanomaterials, Physics

100

ongoing

53

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D., Waseda
University, 1995,
Surface and Interface
Nanoscale Physics,
Plasmonics, Nanoscale
Materials Optics

100

ongoing

53

International Center for Materials
Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) , National
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Ph.D., The University ofTokyo, 1995
first-principles
calculation

100

ongoing

49

Center for Green Research on Energy Tokyo, 1998,
and Environmental Materials, National Condensed-matter
Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) Theory, Computational

5

ongoing

58

Professor, School of Materials Scienceand Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology

Ph.D. in Physics,
Arizona State
University, 1987,
Emerging Devices forEnergy Generation

10

ongoing(satellite)

68

Professor, Chemistry andBiochemistry,
University of California, Los Angeles

Ph.D. in Physical
Chemistry,
University ofStrathclyde, 1977,
Neuromorphic Network

20

ongoing(satellite)

62

Professor, CEMES,
Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique (CNRS)

Ph.D. in Applied
Mathematics,
Ph.D. in Quantum
Physics, Molecular
Device Engineering

20

ongoing(satellite)

68

Professor, Faculty of Science,
Department of Chemistry,
University of Helsinki

Ph.D. in Chemistry,
University of Toronto,
1979, Functional
Nanoparticles andNanointerface

20

ongoing(satellite)

49

Professor, Department of Physics &Astronomy,
University College London

Ph.D., University of
Oxford, 1997, Largescale Order-N DFT
Calculations

20

ongoing(satellite)

65

Professor, Department of Chemistry,
University of Pennsylvania

Ph.D. in Chemistry,
University of California,
Berkeley, 1983,
Nanoscale Chemistry10

ongoing(satellite)

63

Professor, the Faculty of Chemistry,
University of Strasbourg

Ph.D., Johannes
Gutenberg University
Mainz, 1986, Fazzy
Assembly

10

ongoing(satellite)

Ph.D., The University of

16 Yoshitaka Tateyama

Physical Chemistry

17 Zhong Lin Wang

18 James K. Gimzewski

19 Christian Joachim

20 Françoise M. Winnik

21 David R. Bowler

22 Thomas E. Mallouk

23 Gero Decher*Percentage of time that the principal investigator will devote to his/her Academy center work vis-à-vis his/her total working hours.
NIMS - 1

MANA

Appendix 3

Appendix 3

Diagram of Organizational Management System- Diagram separately the Center’s organizational management system and its position within the host institution in an easily
understood manner. If you are planning to change your organization management system and/or its position within the host institution inor after FY 2020 compared to their description in Appendix 3-1 of Activities report, show the changes in the diagram.

Since FY2020, the electro-active material team has established. Also, the Independent Scientist, NIMS
Distinguished Fellow and NNIMS fellow are collaboration to research with three fields.
Takano Mori (PI, GL)
Takayoshi Sasaki (PI, GL)
Yusuke Yamauchi (PI, GL)
Dmitri Golberge (PI, Gl)

Takayoshi Sasaki(Director)

Katsuhiko Ariga (PI, GL)
Takano Mori
(Field coordinator)

Junichi Takeya (PI)Jinha Ye (PI, GL)
Naoki Fukata (PI, GL)
Renshi Ma (GL)Takashi Nakanishi (GL)
Jonathan Hill（GL)Naoto Shirahata (GL)Tomonobu
Nakayaka(Deputy Director)

WANG Zhong Lin (PI)*MALLOUK Thomas E. (PI)*Nano-Materials

DECHER Gero (PI)*Kasuya Terabe (PI, GL)
Kasuhito Tsukagoshi (PI, GL)
Xiao Hu (PI, GL)

Kazuya Terabe(Field Coordinator)

Yoshihiko Takano (PI, GL)
Tadaaki Nagao (PI, GL)
Takashi Uchihashi (GL)
Yutaka Wakayama (GL)
Taichi Terashima (GL)GIMZEWSKI James K. (PI)*
JOACHIM Christian (PI)*Nano-System

WINNIK Françoise M. (PI)*Arai Masao (GL)

Tsuyoshi Miyazaki(Field Coordinator)

Akihiro Tanaka (GL)
Tsuyoshi Miyazaki (PI, GL)
Yoshitaka Tateyama (PI)Nano-Theory

BOWLER David R. (PI)**Satellite PI

Yutaka Wakayama(Deputy Director)

Fellow

Hideo Hosono

Electro-Active Materials team
Fellow

Takashi Taniguchi
Managing Researcher

Independent Scientists
ICYS-WPI-MANA Researcher

Tomonobu Nakayaka(Administrative Director)

NIMS - 1

General Affair Team
Planning and Outreach Team

MANA

Appendix 3

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MANA