Messages from the President

Japanese Page

2025

New Year’s Greetings (January 1, 2025)

I would like to offer everyone my best wishes for the New Year.

Last year, we had another sweltering summer, making the drastic change of Japan's climate toward a subtropical one all the more apparent. There has also been rapid progress in generative AI after the emergence of ChatGPT two years ago, and it has gained a growing presence in our daily lives through myriad new online services. Our living environment, which is becoming a fusion of the real and virtual, is bringing about major transformation to government elections and other decision-making systems throughout society.
As we face these substantial changes to natural and human environments, RIKEN reaffirms its mission to contribute to society through science, and we will continue moving forward to confront these new challenges.

The Start of the Fifth Mid- to Long-Term Plan

From April 2025, RIKEN will enter its fifth Mid- to Long-Term Plan period.
When I assumed the position of President in April 2022, I shared the following message with everyone:
"I believe that the ideal situation is one where the science that scientists themselves choose to pursue will naturally overlap with the research that is necessary for the future of all, and that mutual trust between science and society deepens and becomes ever more interconnected."

My belief remains unchanged. However, in the short time since I delivered that message just three years ago, the challenges faced by humankind have grown all the more severe, and society is becoming increasingly expectant for science to overcome those challenges. In order to properly respond to these demands, RIKEN must continue to grow by developing new measures. Together with all of RIKEN's personnel, I have designed new measures and furthered reform to carry out this mission.

Promoting the TRIP Concept and Science that Connects

RIKEN carries out high-level cutting-edge research in a wide range of natural science fields. Physics is my area of expertise, and through speaking with RIKEN researchers from various fields, I felt firsthand that truly advanced research arises from the excitement and empathy that cuts across disciplines. Through these exchanges, it became clear to me that when talented scientists hold discussions and directly inspire each other, it leads to research that could only be done at RIKEN. With these ideas in mind, I set out to create the concept of "TRIP" - Transformative Research Innovation Platform of RIKEN platforms.

This concept aims to create a grand platform that organically links RIKEN's cutting-edge platforms in various fields to create new knowledge.

Researchers worldwide compete fiercely in their respective fields. While we support them steadfastly in these noble efforts, we also need a way to connect them naturally with researchers in other fields.

The key to providing this is the advanced utilization of data. Fortunately, RIKEN has several interdisciplinary initiatives centered on data already underway. The concept of TRIP has permeated throughout RIKEN far faster than I expected thanks to the results of these initiatives.

The second TRIP Project Retreat was held at RIKEN's Kobe campus on November 26 and 27 last year, attended by about 200 people on-site and online. Presenters explained their initiatives for "Science that Connects" under the concept of TRIP, and discussions were held about the further expansion of the concept. I heard numerous reports where cutting-edge research that had previously been done in individual labs and centers flourished with a new depth and growth as it came in contact with research in adjacent fields, and with advanced data science research. Furthermore, I felt reassured as I started to see the potential of this project to address global challenges, bringing about social change with the power of science.

Over the 7 years of the fifth Mid- to Long-Term Plan, I would like to develop that potential even further using the concept of TRIP as a base. To this end, RIKEN will adopt a new system of research "domains" that take a cross-cutting perspective of science, encouraging chemistry between researchers of different fields and creating more opportunities for RIKEN's unique research to arise. With researchers' natural curiosity as our driving force, we will continue creating the wisdom needed to overcome humanity's collective challenges.

Global Commons

A new structure will be organized to dynamically link all of RIKEN including the TRIP Headquarters, creating four domains: physical science, life science, mathematical/computational/information science, and environmental science, along with the pioneering science that carries on the tradition held since RIKEN's establishment. Environmental science, in particular, is a vital field that pursues the knowledge and systematic technologies indispensable to conserving our Global Commons, the one and only Earth that humanity calls home.

In October 2024, RIKEN, the University of Tokyo, and the University of Tokyo Center for Global Commons (CGC) held a joint event called the Global Commons Forum. We invited Dr. Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, who proposed the concept of "planetary boundaries," to give the keynote speech. He reported on a health check of Earth's systems based on scientific data, which revealed that our planet is in a dangerous state past the point of recovery. The forum brought together leaders from the frontlines of economics and academia worldwide and saw them discuss how we as humans can bring about changes in our collective behavior, and strategies to keep the Global Commons from collapsing.

Collaborative research between RIKEN, the University of Tokyo CGC, and PIK has also begun. By combining the basic science undertaken by RIKEN with PIK's focus on systems science, this research will bring the world guidelines for humanity, encouraging behavioral transformation in economic and social spheres. This research also calls on the basic science community worldwide, aiming to transform the latent power of basic science into an immense power capable of solving global problems.

The universality of scientific research and the trust it evokes create solidarity, and I am confident that this will be a driving force for behavioral change rooted in passion and empathy across national borders.

The Rapid Development of AI and Cutting-edge Semiconductor Research

The Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry last year were both awarded for research that is deeply connected to AI. In the last several years, generative AI based on deep learning and large language models has spread worldwide in the blink of an eye, effecting major changes to the modalities of global economics, government, and culture. At the same time, the problem of electricity consumption to support these technologies is growing more severe. As the use of large language models spreads dramatically, servers for AI learning, said to be six times the size of conventional servers, have been created, and the energy consumption rate is surging.

It has been forecast that by 2027, the electric power used by data centers worldwide will grow to exceed 8 percent of all power supply capacity. This is due to increases in the amount of data handled and transferred and to the explosive growth in the number of calculations. To effectively reduce power consumption, we need revolutionary technological innovations that will almost fully disrupt the status quo, and as scientists, we face the challenge of creating the new knowledge needed for these innovations.

In addition to the rapid advances in large-scale computational science and quantum computational science underway at RIKEN, innovations in semiconductor devices are also essential. To pursue this, we are promoting new cutting-edge semiconductor science aiming to drastically lower energy consumption, including research to pioneer energy-conserving memory and quantum functional devices based on new principles.

An event called SEMICON Japan 2024 was held in December last year. As the Japanese government continues making large-scale investments in the cutting-edge semiconductor industry, the event saw a major increase in exhibits for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and from adjacent industries, with the number of exhibitors and visitors both growing to almost two times that of two years ago. Over the three days of the event, there were exhibitions by 1,100 companies and organizations and 100,000 visitors. I gave a keynote speech at the opening session, asserting that in order for the Japanese government's investments to lead reliably to economic growth and bring us to victory, we must draw up a vision for a new era and ascertain what technologies are needed to attain that vision.

Physical Intelligence

I have no doubt that computational technologies will expand even further thanks to varied innovative technologies such as high-performance semiconductor chips for inference computing, quantum-classical hybrid computing, and a fusion of photonic and electronic devices. More accurate and larger-scale digital twins will also become a reality.

As we pursue energy use optimization for overall systems, the inference calculations by generative AI that now take place entirely on Cloud servers will likely be distributed to other sites for calculation, using Edge computing, Cloud computing, or something between the two. In particular, as the development of high-speed and low-energy chips specialized for inference calculations proceeds, they will become able to be installed in Edge devices, which will allow machines equipped with advanced sensors to communicate with the Cloud, obtaining extremely high-level knowledge and carrying out independent actions. As a result, advanced cyber-physical systems that combine physical and cyber spaces in real time could be built, allowing the full automation of self-driving cars or complex systems such as manufacturing sites for semiconductor back-end processes, and bringing significant changes to the form of society and industry. To prepare for this kind of future, I want RIKEN as a whole to take the lead in carrying out the leading-edge science called "Physical Intelligence" that we will need.

Expansion of Computational Capabilities

We are also working on expanding humanity's computational abilities even further. A crucial research theme for this is hybrid computational science, which links quantum computing with high-performance computing (HPC).

Along with our domestically produced quantum computer "A," RIKEN is earnestly developing software stacks for hybrid computing by connecting IBM's newest quantum processors and Quantinuum's trapped-ion quantum computer with our supercomputer Fugaku. The results of calculations carried out by linking Fugaku with IBM Q were announced in May 2024. Using the respective strengths of the quantum computer and Fugaku in collaboration, we calculated the electronic states of the cluster structures of iron and sulfur, which play a catalytic role in nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis in microorganisms. As a result, we were the first in the world to demonstrate that quantum chemistry calculations can be performed on cluster structures with numbers of electrons and orbitals at a scale that is difficult to calculate with HPC alone. Until now, quantum computing research has tended to focus on the demonstration of the "quantum advantage," the idea that quantum computers are clearly more advanced than HPC. However, this research showed the world that we have entered an era of vying for "quantum usefulness," the importance of finding which problems we should use quantum computers to solve and how. The results of these research are the subject of global attention, marking the shift to this era.

Basic Quantum Science Research

At the same time, we must not forget that as we have entered the era of full-scale applied quantum computing, it is more important than ever to make efforts to gain a greater understanding of its fundamentals. At RIKEN, we have decided to launch a Fundamental Quantum Science Research program that will reexamine the fundamentals of quantum science, and by delving deeply into its principles and rediscovering them, will allow us to identify new technological trends.

As part of this program, we will return to the fundamentals of quantum science, focusing on aspects such as non-equilibrium and open systems.

We will begin by working on new research topics that lie at the heart of matter, such as elementary particles and nuclear physics, in cooperation with the EIC project led by Brookhaven National Laboratory in the United States. In anticipation of this, we have decided to establish a quantum physics network research base in Japan in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, Osaka University, and other institutions. Furthermore, as a new development in quantum science, I think it would be wonderful if we could also take on the challenge of exploring the principles and functions of quantum science in the life sciences. This is, as of now, a completely unexplored area.

Developing the Life Sciences

Currently, just over half of RIKEN researchers are engaged in life sciences. We are preparing a major project in that area called "Science across the Life Course."

This ambitious project aims to understand life in a more comprehensive and holistic way by grasping it as a series of processes from reproduction, development and regeneration to aging, and incorporating analytical methods from the social sciences. I anticipate that this will lead to a deeper scientific understanding not only of the life of individuals but also of the evolution of life and the changes that occur over generations in the societies and environments that living organisms create.

Sustainable Research Activities

In October 2024, we co-hosted the Global Summit of Research Institute Leaders in conjunction with the annual STS forum in Kyoto. The meeting was attended by leaders of 23 research institutes from around the world. RIKEN served as co-chair with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and as co-host with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). The theme of the 13th meeting was "Reducing our ecological footprint without compromising research excellence."
The participants of the summit introduced a variety of initiatives aimed at reducing their environmental impact while maintaining high-level research activities, and a discussion was held on future initiatives. They adopted a joint statement that stated, "As leading research institutions, we recognize that we have an important role to play in performing research that will support and encourage the creation of greener societies. At the same time, the international commitment to achieving net zero emissions means that we must achieve a balance between reducing our own ecological footprints while maintaining high-level research that will help achieve that goal." I was reminded once again of the need for RIKEN to take the lead in addressing sustainability in research activities.

In Closing

I believe that this year will be a crucial one in which we will see the research projects we have been preparing for from 2022 to 2024 come to fruition together. We will proceed full-tilt with the development of Fugaku NEXT, the successor to Fugaku, and the development of SPring-8-II.

I also know that the overlap between "the science that scientists themselves choose to pursue" and "research that is necessary for the future of all" I referenced at the beginning will be realized through our different programs. At the same time, I am eager to see us carry out research that further delves into the depths of science to uncover new aspects of nature.

With a belief in the creativity of science and its power to move people, and with the innovations brought by "Science that Connects," we will strive to achieve a brighter future for everyone. As RIKEN's Fifth Mid- to Long-Term Plan begins this April, we look forward to your support and collaboration.

January 1, 2025
Makoto Gonokami
President, RIKEN