2025

April 9 | URICAS MOU renewal signing ceremony was held at RIKEN Wako Campus in Japan: RIKEN and Malaysia’s USM have committed to further strengthening the long-standing partnership

USM-RIKEN Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Advanced Sciences (URICAS) was established in February 2015 by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and RIKEN. The programme aims to promote interdisciplinary research and exchange among young researchers.

The fruitful partnership between RIKEN and USM, which was started in 1993, is one of the successful models of the collaboration between RIKEN and the research institutions in the Southeast Asia.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of URICAS. Following the recommendation of review committee appointed from external experts, RIKEN and USM have decided to extend the URICAS project for another five years. The MOU renewal signing ceremony took place at the RIKEN Wako Campus on 9 April 2025.

There are ３delegation from USM for this ceremony: Professor Dr. Habibah A. Wahab (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation), Professor Sr. Dr. Mastura Binti Jaafar @ Mustapha (Deputy Director II: Research Excellence, Research Creativity and Management Office) and Dr. Eugene Ong Boon Beng (URICAS Coordinator).

The researchers from URICAS project and RIKEN Singapore Representative Office Director Yukiko Yamaguchi-NISHIDA as well as staff from RIK’s International Collaboration section of Global Strategy Division attended the ceremony.

With the extension of this collaboration, RIKEN and USM have reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthening our long-standing partnership.

Dr. Kyoko Nozaki, RIKEN Executive Vice President, and Professor Dr. Habibah A. Wahab (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation) from USM at MOU renewal signing ceremony at RIKEN Wako Campus in Japan.

A group photo of the ceremony participants at RIKEN Wako Campus

March 10-13 | RIKEN joined SuperComputingAsia 2025 in Singapore

RIKEN participated in the SuperComputingAsia 2025 (SCA2025) held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre Marina Bay Sands in Singapore from 10 to 13 March 2025.

The SupercomputingAsia (SCA) is an annual conference co -organised by supercomputing centres of the region including those in Australia, Japan, Singapore and Thailand. It aims to promote a vibrant and shared high-performance computing (HPC) ecosystem, for both the public and private sectors, in Asia. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘HPC and Quantum: Empowering AI, Science, and Innovation’.

The researchers from RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) gave presentation on Fugaku, the world-renowned supercomputer, and the new project for the next-generation computing platform Fugaku NEXT. R-CCS also set up a booth to showcase its research activities and promote SCA/HPCAsia 2026. The SCA/HPCAsia 2026 will be held in Osaka, Japan on January 26-29 January 2026, co-organised by RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) .

RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) booth at the SuperComputingAsia 2025 in Singapore

2024

November 17-18 | USM-RIKEN Interdisciplinary Collaboration on Advanced Sciences (URICAS) 10th Symposium & Review Meeting was held at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia

On 17-18 November 2024, the USM-RIKEN Interdisciplinary Collaboration on Advanced Sciences (URICAS) 10th Symposium & Review Meeting was held at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia. The researchers from RIKEN and USM presented their collaborative research works and discussed their research findings actively. In addition, 4 external reviewers were invited to join this symposium and assist to compile the review report of URICAS project.

USM-RIKEN Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Advanced Sciences (URICAS) was established as a collaborative program by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and RIKEN in February 2015 to undertake interdisciplinary research as well as to promote further exchange of young researchers. The fruitful collaboration between RIKEN and USM, which was started in 1993, is one of the successful models of the collaboration between RIKEN and the research institutions in the Southeast Asia.

At the workshop

Group photo of the participants

July 22 | The Singapore-Japan Workshop on AI4Science held in Singapore

On July 22, 2024, the Singapore-Japan Workshop on AI4Science was held at the CREATE Tower in Singapore. Researchers and Admin staff from RIKEN attended the workshop along with other Japanese researchers and government officials to discuss areas of research collaboration with Singaporean counterparts in the field of AI.

At the workshop

July 2 | A*STAR-RIKEN Joint Workshop on Catalysis and Sustainability was held at Fusionopolis, Singapore

On July 2, 2024, the A*STA–RIKEN Joint Workshop “Catalysis and Sustainability” was held at Fusionopolis, in Singapore. This one-day workshop, which was attended by over thirty researchers from RIKEN and Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) and Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment (ISCE2) of Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), was an opportunity to exchange the latest research results and discuss future joint research.

Group photo at the workshop

July 1 | NTU-RIKEN Joint Workshop on Workshop on Frontiers of Catalysis Chemistry and Devices was held at NTU, Singapore

On July 1, 2024, The NTU-RIKEN Joint Workshop “Frontiers of Catalytic Chemistry and Devices” was held at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Thirty-five people, including scientists and students, participated, and there was a lively Q&A session and discussions to deepen future collaboration.

At the workshop

Participants from RIKEN